Peter's pride as he returns to beach

NORMANDY warrior Peter Smoothy choked back tears as he stood on the beach where giants fell.

- Giles Sheldrick

The 99-year-old D-Day hero returned to where the gates to hell opened 80 years ago today, saying: "I am so proud that we did it - it could have been so different." Royal Navy braveheart Peter was just 19 and serving on Landing Ship Tank 215 on June 6, 1944, ferrying soldiers and equipment on to Juno Beach under heavy and constant bombardment.

Revisiting the spot where eight decades earlier pandemonium erupted, the wave of emotions that hit him became too much and he bowed his head, taking a moment to compose himself, before saying: "Sadly there are very few of us left.

"I was 19 in 1944. How many people can say that? "I just wish the public gave us more credit and thanked us for the easy way of life they have. If we had been defeated it could have all been so very different. I dare not think about it." Peter was mobbed by hundreds of locals who each wanted a picture with him and to shake his hand for the role he played in helping to liberate France from the Nazis.