NINETY-ONE-year-old great grandfather Joe Bullock reckons he was just doing his job when he braved stormy seas in a flimsy barge and dodged heavy shelling in the D-Day landings that paved the way for the liberation of France.

But now, more than 70 years later, the Stourbridge war veteran's heroism has been rewarded with one of France's highest honours - appointing him to the rank of Chevalier (Knight) de la Legion d'Honneur.

French ambassador to the UK, Sylvie Bermann, tells him in a letter enclosing his medal: "As we contemplate this Europe of peace, we must never forget the heroes like you, who came from Britain and the Commonwealth to begin the liberation of Europe by liberating France.

"We owe our freedom and security to your dedication, because you were ready to risk your life."

Mr Bullock, who lives with his wife, Jean, aged 87, in Rectory Gardens, Oldswinford, said: "I'm very proud of it - but I never expected it. I didn't think I was a hero - it was just my job.

"The scariest thing was getting over there through the storm - our barges lurched and rolled in the waves and were nicknamed 'Wallowing Beauties'."

Mr Bullock was 18 and a carpenter when he was conscripted into the armed services in February 1943, ending up as a Leading Joiner in the Royal Navy after being ordered to bring along his own carpentry tools.

He was one of 12 men put aboard the LBE36 vessel - a Thames barge requisitioned by Winston Churchill - as it set off through rough seas to land on Sword beach in Normandy on June 6 1944.

"We landed some time in the late afternoon behind many of the other boats and our ships were firing inland, while gunfire was coming from the German batteries ashore," said Mr Bullock, now a father-of-four, grandfather-of-four and great-grandfather-of-seven.

"The next day we started repairing damaged barges on the beach and we spent three weeks there before being transferred to Juno beach, where we worked until September.

"On one occasion, I was below deck, talking to a friend, a wireman who was working on the batteries on deck.

"A shell landed nearby and the blast killed him."

Mr Bullock escaped the landings unhurt and later saw service with the navy in Cherbourg and Singapore, before heading home at the end of the Second World War and continuing to work as a carpenter until he retired.

In 2009 he returned to Sword beach, accompanied by his grandson, George Scriven, in an emotional, national lottery-funded trip to mark the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

The Legion d'Honneur was originally created in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte and the French government announced last year that it would be awarding the medal to British veterans involved in the D-day landings.

Mr Bullock received his French honour during a Royal Naval Association meeting at the Royal British Legion in Enville Street, Stourbridge, on Friday (January 8).