A NORMANDY veteran has been presented with the highest French medal of honour - thanks to a Royal British Legion handy man.

Paul Bird sprang into action when he heard about 93-year-old Eric Lawson, a veteran from Aireborough who served in the aftermath of the D-Day landings.

Paul said: “Eric had been unable to attend the planned ceremony to collect his Légion d’honneur medal – so it was sent to him in a jiffy bag.

“I just felt strongly that this was not appropriate for a man who had waded through the shores of Gold Beach with the 2nd battalion of the King’s Royal Rifle Corps in 1944.”

Paul immediately set about contacting Eric’s family, the Lord Lieutenant’s office as well as senior people at the Royal British Legion, and the armed forces charity rushed to support a special ceremony held at Cookridge Court Care Home.

Major Stanley Hardy, the deputy lieutenant of West Yorkshire, presented the medal to Mr Lawson at a ceremony attended by family and friends as well as staff from the care home. France still presents Normandy veterans with its highest military honour for their role during the country’s liberation.

Mr Lawson’s son, Roger, 69, had made an initial application for the medal but didn’t hear anything. He said: “I made the application on dad’s behalf but it just went quiet, I couldn’t find anything out.

“It was the Admiral Nurse for the Royal British Legion, Rachel Winter, who got involved and helped us to make a repeat application, and I couldn’t believe how quickly everything happened from there.

“The medal turned up in the post and it was appropriate then that we set about trying to present it to him.”

Eric landed in France early on June 7, 1944, the day after the famous Normandy offensive began during the Second World War, and just weeks after his call-up.

Son Roger said: “He would rarely talk about his experiences but after wading ashore they pushed on towards Caens and met significant German resistance, and he told me he could hear men screaming inside burning tanks. My dad was 18 years old at the time.”

Eric was taken ill with nephritis at Falaise due to what was thought to have been a toxic injection prior to combat. He was evacuated back to England to recover in a hospital in Kent, and by the time he rejoined his battalion, the war was coming to an end.

Eric was later stationed at Tripoli and then Palestine, where he witnessed the repatriation of concentration camp victims.

During his time in Palestine, Eric came down with tuberculosis, and had to have a lung removed. He then spent five years recovering in a convalescence home in Ilkley.

He married wife June, a hairdresser, in 1948 at Guiseley, and Roger was born in 1949.

The family lived in Guiseley before moving to Rawdon. Eric worked as a carpenter and a housing inspector before retiring at 65.

Major Stanley Hardy, the deputy lieutenant of West Yorkshire, said: “Our generation owes your generation a huge debt of gratitude – it’s a debt we can never, ever repay. Thank you for who you are, thank you for what you did.”

A keen sportsman in his youth, Eric was captain of the Guiseley school football team and still supports Leeds United.

Paul Bird, a fitter for the Royal British Legion’s Handy Van service in Yorkshire, said: “I’m just so pleased we were able to give Eric his medal in the proper manner, befitting of such a true hero. I’m grateful to the Legion and to the office of the Lord Lieutenant for their support. I got involved because I felt that Eric deserved recognition for his service to our country.

“Without people like Eric, the world could’ve been a very different place today.”