D-Day veteran from Sheffield to receive his war medals after 81 years

Douglas Halley, who served in the Royal Artillery, landed in Normandy on D-Day as part of the second wave of troops.

Now a great-grandfather, and just shy of his 103rd birthday, he is finally to be awarded the medals he has never seen as an historian steps in to help him.

Mr Halley’s grandson Luke said the family had never seen the originals - or known what had become of them.

And the veteran himself, who first enlisted at the age of 20, said: “It’s something good to have, after everything we went through.”

His grandson added: “He lost his brothers in arms. The medals might be a piece of metal, but it’s something he can remember them by.”

Mr Halley, of Norfolk Park in Sheffield, worked as a butcher for over 70 years with shops in Gleadless and Stradbroke.

His memories of war are of the everyday moments; finding an unused organ inside a village church in France, and sitting down to play before being reprimanded.

Stepping in as chef when the unit’s field cookhouse was blown up. And feeling “lost” as he transitioned back into civilian life at the end of the war, having been gone so long.

Of D-Day, he recalls slipping on the rope ladder as he descended from his ship, falling “petrified” into the water.

Then the bodies of fallen soldiers, and running for cover to avoid the machine gun fire.

When he closes his eyes at night, he said, he can still see the blood and the bodies in the water. He still thinks about that day when he goes to bed every night.

Ahead of his 103rd birthday in three weeks, he has been sharing his experience with researcher Joseph Smith, of The Last of The Greats projects, who is meeting with veterans to record their stories.

When Mr Smith heard that Douglas has no medals, he was able to help him and shared that he is still eligible to claim them.

They have now been granted and he will soon receive three medals; the 1939-45 Star, the France and Germany Star, and the War Medal 1939-45.

Mr Smith said: “Ultimately, I’m just happy that Luke’s family will now have something to pass down through the generations.”