OLD soldiers have launched their final battle - to make what may be their last major pilgrimage to the battlegrounds of northern France.

The Normandy Veterans Pilgrimages Club, a Durham charity, arranges visits for local old soldiers to return to the scene of the Allied landings.

They plan to return to the Normandy beaches on June 6, next year, on the 60th anniversary of D-Day.

Given the age of many of the surviving veterans, it is expected to be the last prominent pilgrimage to revisit the battlefields of 1944.

Founder member Lilian Turnbull said more than 50 club members are expected to join next year's pilgrimage.

Mrs Turnbull, whose father was killed in action in Normandy, said the club has set a £10,000 fundraising target towards next year's pilgrimage.

She has appealed to business and voluntary groups in the North-East to make contributions, however modest, to help the veterans on their way to Normandy, in June 2004.

Various donations have set the ball rolling and the fund got a major boost in the form of a £750 award.

It came from one of the club's first "pilgrimage donors", the Provincial Grand Lodge of Durham, the governing body of Freemasons in the county.

Gil Crossley, a member of the Masonic Benevolent Committee, responsible for allocating charitable grants, handed a cheque to Mrs Turnbull in a presentation at the Salutation Inn, at Framwellgate Moor, Durham, where the club regularly meets.

"This is a tremendous help and I can only say how grateful the club is to the Provincial Grand lodge for their generosity," said Mrs Turnbull.

"We owe so much to those men who, as youngsters 60 years ago, fought so hard and lost so many of their mates to break the shackles of fascism.

"I hope we can all do something positive to contribute to giving our Normandy veterans the wonderful pilgrimage to France they deserve."

Mr Crossley said: "The Freemasons of this area are both pleased and proud to be involved in this very commendable project."

He said the award was made in memory of Edward Cooper, a mason from Sunderland, who won the Victoria Cross for valour in the First World War.

Further donations can be made by contacting Mrs Turnbull, on 0191-384 0343.