DRAMATIC events in the days before the Normandy D-Day landings in 1944 and the bitter battle over Pegasus Bridge were captured in a 1962 film.

The story behind The Longest Day is one that 92-year-old Leonard Buckley, of Hereford, knows only too well.

This week, the retired bus driver, of Kings Acre, received a prestigious Legion of Honour from the French ambassador in London in thanks for his efforts in that battlethat memorable day on the bridge with the 7th Paratroopers Battalion.

His wife, Patricia and their son, Barry are "over the moon" at the award.

"Our job was to defend the bridge from German attack," Mr Buckley told the Hereford Times. "We saw men who were not in the grey German uniform, they were wearing smocks, but then we realised they were German paratroopers."

The actor Richard Todd also fought at Pegasus Bridge with the 7th Paras. He was also part of a large cast involved in the 1962 film recounting those experiences.

Mr Buckley remembered firing with his Sten gun on the bridge, and receiving a bullet through his elbow.

"I was lucky, the bullet went in the wooden butt of my gun and not in my chest."

He was taken to a first aid post, and the next day he was with others waiting to be taken off the beach.

"German plans came shooting down the coast, bullets flying everywhere, we dived under an ambulance," he added.

"When it was our time to get in the 'duck', there were lots more German planes and bullets were spraying all round the boat."

He felt he was "very lucky", though when he was fit enough he returned to take part in the Battle of the Bulge.

"I joined the Army at 18 and remained in for the duration of the war," he said.

"Seeing all those men die, people just don't realise how bad it was.

"You get good mates in the Army, like the chap I used to go drinking with, but he died from a bullet in the head."

The horror of war had a powerful effect on his own life.

"We had our son, Barry, but I said to my wife, I don't want any more children who might be cannon fodder," he said.

Barry, who lives with his wife in Estonia, was delighted to learn about the award.

"This is the highest award that can be given, we're very proud of Leonard," he said.