A FORCES veteran who serviced fighter planes during the Second World War has been handed France's top military medal.

Bill Howard is a chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur for helping to free the country from the grip of Nazi Germany.

The 93-year-old was presented with his medal at a formal ceremony arranged by the Leigh branch of the Royal Air Forces Association held at the Leigh Miners Welfare Institute.

Bill said: "There are not many of these about so it is quite a big honour.

"The first information I had was a letter from the Ministry of Defence in September.

"That was a surprise. I never expected that because I didn't think that we were eligible being in air support for the invasion of Europe."

Being awarded the highest decoration in France follows research and an application by long time neighbours and friends Alan and Alison Rhodes, with some help from the Royal British Legion.

Alan said: "Bill is not one for showing feelings but I can read Bill and he was very happy and very proud."

Bill was born in Plank Lane in Leigh and joined the town's 316 Squadron Air Training Corps as a teenager.

He served in the ATC until 1941 and a year later, at the age of 18, was conscripted to the RAF.

On completion of his training as an airframe fitter he was posted to the 222 (Natal) Squadron, which switched from Essex to Selsey Bill near Chichester in Sussex during the war.

Bill said: "We were responsible for examining and repairing the frames of the aircraft – the wings, the fuselage, the wheels and tyres but not the guns or the engine.

"I preferred the Spitfires to the Hurricanes.

"The temporary airfield was only 25 miles from the D-Day beaches.

"From the airbase we provided air support to the British troops who were involved in the landings."

He relocated with his squadron to Caen in France and followed in the wake of fighters advancing through Belgium, Holland and Germany as a succession of suitable land for ad-hoc air bases was captured.

Bill, who lives in Wingates, said: "The biggest feeling was camaraderie, the comradeship.

"Everyone knew they were there to do a job and you got on with it. We didn't bother with anything else.

"You didn't worry about homesickness and things like that, but when your job ended everybody wanted to get out.

"We arrived in Caen on my 21st birthday and the town had been blasted out of existence more or less.

"On the first night we went into Caen and there was nothing, but we found a cafe and the only thing they had was cognac.

"I don't drink so my friends celebrate my birthday with a round of cognacs."

After the war he stayed with the Co-op, working as branch manager at various stores in and around Leigh.

He gained professional qualifications at night school and then joined the North West Electricity Board as a clerk, working his way up until retirement.

He met wife Fay, a music teacher who died several years ago, through a day out with the Ramblers' Association and they were active in a Scottish dancing society.

Established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802, the Légion d'Honneur is restricted to French and foreign nationals who have served France or the ideals it upholds.