A SECOND World War veteran who fought in the liberation of France is to be awarded with the country's highest order of military merit.

William Gerard Lackey, from Ulverston, helped guide bombers to target the German enemy during the conflict as part of the ground staff in the Royal Air Force (RAF).

The 96-year-old is to be formally presented with the Chevalier de l’Ordre National de la Legion d’Honneur at a ceremony on Wednesday.

“I’d like to express my gratitude to the French government for recognising the part that I and so many others played in the liberation of France from the Germans in the Second World War," said William, known as Gerard.

"Everyone who was fighting in France at this time contributed in their own way to the war effort, although sadly a lot of them did not return. With that in mind, I feel that I am receiving this medal not only for myself, but also for them.”

Born in Ulverston on February 18 1921, he initially worked at the local Co-operative Society in their tailoring department after leaving school at the age of 14.

It was in 1941 that he volunteered to join the RAF, believing that the war would soon be over.

"Basically, I didn’t want to join the army nor did I want to sign up to the navy, mainly because I couldn’t swim," he said.

Gerard then completed his square bashing in Blackpool in May 1942 before undertaking his training on radar at RAF Cranwell in July. He would soon find himself relocated to the south coast, on the Isle of Anglesey and later Swanage in Dorset, despite requests to stay north.

Gerard was deployed to France in July 1944, landing at Arromanches where he and his group were initially forced to stay in the landing craft overnight while the tanks were first unloaded.

Throughout his time in France, Gerard was on radar which helped guide the bombers to target the Germans. He says: “If our men came up against the enemy, we’d communicate where they wanted the bombers sent to. We had to set up mobile radar positions at each and every place we stopped at while in France.”

After being demobbed from the RAF in October 1946, he re-joined the Co-operative in Ulverston before later moving to GlaxoSmithKline, where he worked until his retirement in 1983.

Unfortunately for Gerard, he began to develop age related macular degeneration, which led him to start receiving support from Blind Veterans UK.

“The charity has been a massive help," he said. "Thanks to their support, I’ve been able to carry on reading papers, books and church letters – all thanks to the reading machine they gave me."

Blind Veterans UK was founded in 1915 and the charity’s initial purpose was to help and support soldiers blinded in the First World War. But the organisation has gone on to support more than 35,000 blind veterans and their families, spanning WWII to recent conflicts including Iraq and Afghanistan.

He will be presented with the prestigious honour by Philip Daniel, the Honorary French Consul of Liverpool, on behalf of French president Francois Hollande at a reunion dinner held in Barrow and organised by the charity.