An 89-year-old British army veteran has been awarded France's highest honour for his role in the D-Day landings during the Second World War.
Ted Turner, who helped Canadian troops secure a beachhead in Normandy on 6th June 1944 when he was only 18-years-old, was presented with the Legion d'Honneur at the Royal Marines Museum in Southsea, England.
He said he was accepting the award on behalf of all those who never came back from the beaches.
The Belfast Telegraph quotes Mr Turner, who said, "today I was very proud, but also a bit teary. It's an honour to receive an award that started with Napoleon.
"The conditions on D-Day were terrible. We went across on landing craft with no facilities, no toilets. When we got close to the shore, we were being fired at and I saw people being shot and one of the landing craft exploded. We slept on the beach, and I remember we didn't eat for the first two days, and we never had a chance to change out of our boots or clothes," he added.
The award received by Ted Turner today was originally created by Napoleon Bonaparte, and was awarded to Mr Turner by Captain Francois Jean, consul honoraire of France.
