ONE of Craven’s few surviving Second World War veterans made a hugely emotional first-ever return to the D Day beaches of France to mark the 70th anniversary of the conflict’s conclusion.

Walter Evans, 94, was accompanied on his nostalgic trip back to the beach at Arromanches in Normandy by two colleagues from Glusburn Community Primary School, where he works as a volunteer non-teaching assistant, making him almost certainly the oldest person to hold the post in the country.

Headteacher Richard Hunt and teacher Mike Clayton accompanied Mr Evans, who drove a tank as part of the Royal Dragoons Guards, 7th Armoured Division, 8th Armoured Brigade, on 'Gold Beach' on June 6, 1944.

As well as the beach itself, the group visited the D Day Museum at Arromanches, Bazenville Cemetery, the first British military cemetery to be built following the landings, and the Longues-sur-Mer German artillery battery, between the landing beaches of 'Omaha' and 'Gold.'

They also took a look at the remains of the famous Mulberry floating harbours constructed by the Allies, which can still be seen offshore.

Mr Evans said: "It was a splendid trip and I am really pleased I went, especially with two lovely people like Richard and Mike.

"I was quite emotional at times and at one point I could have started crying - but I didn't.

"I was surprised by how much I could remember, even after 71 years. I knew exactly the place where I first saw two dead German soldiers. And I clearly remembered the feeling of being up to my neck in water as we were coming ashore.”

He added: "There is more housing on the shore at Arromanches now but, in some ways, it is very like it was then.

"When we were looking at the gun battery I couldn't help thinking that the people in there in 1944 had been trying to kill me!

"And, of course, the cemetery was very sad - thousands of people of all nationalities lost their lives in Normandy at that time. There was nothing heroic about it all. It was purely luck whether you lived or died. I was lucky."

The three men travelled by Eurostar train to Normandy on the three-day trip and stayed in a hotel in Arromanches.

Mr Hunt said it had been a "very special and emotional experience" to have shared the trip with Mr Evans.

He added: "Throughout the trip, whilst listening to Walter retelling and revisiting in such clear focus the events that had unfolded before him, he remained remarkably modest and acted with utmost dignity and respect as he spoke of the tragedy of what he had seen.

"To see Walter, looking into the distance on Gold Beach, playing out the events of the day so vividly in his mind, is the image that encapsulates the man and many more like him who fought on the beaches that day and during the war - noble, gracious and honourable.

"We were privileged to be allowed to listen to the memories, thoughts and feelings of this most incredible man – our hero, Walter."