Don Sheppard, 103, from Basildon, who is Essex's oldest Normandy veteran, fought on the beaches on 6 June 1944 as a Royal Engineer.

He is hoping to attend a special service at the Living Memorial at Rettendon, near Chelmsford.

"It'll bring back a lot of memories for us," Mr Sheppard told the BBC.

The centenarian served in north Africa and Sicily prior to D-Day when he landed on Juno Beach.

"We were helping the Canadian advance party shifting mines, and we eventually made it - but we had quite a few casualties," Mr Sheppard said.