A WIRRAL war veteran is the latest to receive the highest French military honour.

Ron Balshaw, from Birkenhead, learned he was recipient of the prestigious Legion d'Honneur in a letter from the French Embassy.

The 94-year-old was awarded in recognition of his efforts during the Normandy landings in 1944.

He was handed the medal by Birkenhead MP Frank Field during a presentation at The Shrewsbury Lodge Hotel in Oxton.

It was awarded by the French government in recognition of his part in the D-Day landings on minesweeper the MMS280.

He swept the channel off the Normandy coast in heavy seas and storms in the days prior to and including D-Day itself ensuring a safe passage for the D-Day fleet across the channel and onto the beaches.

Ron was a stoker at the time on the MMS280 or 'Mickey Mouses' as they were fondly referred to by their crews.

Stories from his time on minesweepers range from Lewis guns being discharged at Poole Harbour clearing the jetty in record time to saving an engineer from a stricken minesweeper hit by a mine in Liverpool Bay.

He recalled: "It wasn't easy to rescue someone when they had been at the rum all day".

Ron also had a lifelong passion with heavy horses, Shires mostly. It starting with his Grandfather's horses in the North End of Birkenhead before the war.

From 1974 until 2004 he bred and showed his horses.

After the war having risen to the rank of Petty Officer Ron was demobbed and became a Birkenhead Bobby for a couple of years before settling on a career in the local fire service until his retirement in 1974 when he concentrated on his love of his Shire horses and joined Freemasonry for good measure.

His time in the Masons has been spent fundraising for many local and national charities and helping his community in 'a quiet unassuming manner'.

He retired from horses in 2004 at the age of 80 upon instruction from his family but is still an active Mason to this day.