A SECOND World War hero - the last remaining member of his unit - is to be honoured by Royalty next week.

Former Green Howards soldier Frederick Leach will be at Buckingham Palace on October 25 to meet the King of Norway, who is colonel-in-chief of the regiment.

The occasion is a special reception to mark the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Norway from Nazi occupation.

Mr Leach, 86, from South Bank, near Middlesbrough, is the last survivor of The Green Howards who saw wartime action in Norway, during 1940.

He was a private in B Company of the 1st Battalion, which was in the country between April 24 and May 2 in 1940, facing the German Army.

On April 28, near the town of Otta, The Green Howards were attacked by 200 Stuka dive bombers. He remembers being close to a shallow dugout on a hill-top when the aircraft attacked.

His friend jumped in the dugout, leaving Mr Leach exposed - and it was only the thickness of his greatcoat that saved him.

The Green Howards were then attacked by German tanks and infantry and waited until the Germans were within 400 yards of them before beginning controlled and accurate rifle fire.

Despite sustained German attempts to break through the line by weight of their superior numbers and equipment, The Green Howards held their line, until, at night, they made a clean break.

The expedition commander later commented that The Green Howards battalion had "fought splendidly," and after the action the Germans were unable to press an attack.

The 1st Battalion later acted as rearguard to their brigade as it gradually withdrew from Norway.

Now Mr Leach has been invited to meet King Harald and Queen Sonja, who are paying a state visit to Britain with Crown Prince Haakon.

And he has been given special dispensation from the usual dress rule of lounge suit to wear his Green Howards blazer and medals.

"I'm really looking forward to it. It's a great honour for me and for The Green Howards," he said.