The officer and his men were overrun by the Germans several days after 10,000 British airborne troops landed behind enemy lines in Holland in September 1944 as part of the doomed Operation Market Garden mission. As they were being marched away, Lt Reynolds spotted a grinning German cameraman shooting a video of the captured British soldiers. Out of a combination of anger and frustration, he gave the two-fingered salute to the camera.

He said: “I was so angry at the loss of fine young men and the carnage. Down the road I saw a German chap with a camera and a huge grin on his face and I thought ‘What a ba*****’ and gave him the opposite V-sign.

“It was an act of defiance but a momentary lapse of military discipline, which given the circumstances seemed totally justifiable.” 

Lt Reynolds, who had lied about his age to join the Army, spent the rest of the war in a PoW camp in Brunswick, Germany, alongside his commanding officer, Captain AH Willcocks.

After being freed when the camp was liberated by US forces in April 1945, he returned home and met and married Eulalie Willcocks – the younger sister of his commanding officer.

The couple made a home in Pulborough, West Sussex, where Lt Reynolds lived until his death. 

His wife died 13 years ago.

Historian Steve Penticost, who once interviewed Lt Reynolds, said: “Men like Jack Reynolds seemed to have an indomitable spirit.

“It was an iconic image of Arnhem and one that he was very proud of because it summed up exactly what men like him felt, even though it wasn’t the conduct you’d expect of an officer.

“When I visited him he had this photo hung up on the wall of his lounge.”

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