OLD soldiers yesterday (Saturday, May 4) rolled out the red carpet for D-Day veteran Sammy Curry as he celebrates his 100th birthday.

The former Durham Light Infantry sergeant, who fought from the beaches of Normandy in France to Germany at the end of the Second World War, said : “I am lucky to be here today.”

He was greeted at the Peterlee Catholic Club Catholic Club by members of the Horden and Peterlee branch of the DLI/Light Infantry Association and the 68th DLI re-enactment society, as well as by family and friends.

Association branch secretary Fred Jones presented Mr Curry with a bronze statuette of a DLI bren gunner.

He said: “It is great for us to be able to honour old soldiers like Sammy. We wish him all the best.”

Mr Curry was born in nearby Horden, and followed in his father’s footsteps to become butcher.

He enlisted with the DLI shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War and went on to become an instructor at Brancepeth Castle, near Durham.

In June 1944, he was with the 9th DLI during the Normandy landings.

He said: “We fought all the way through France, Belgian and Holland. My favourite weapon was the Bren gun.

“It was quite rough at times. I am lucky to here.”

He added: “I managed to come through without a scratch. After all that I ended up on hospital in Lubeck in Germany with tonsillitis.

“I couldn’t swallow and didn’t move from my bed for six days. When I came to my senses they said they thought I was a goner. That was my worst moment.”

After the war, Mr Curry, of Peterlee, became a slaughterman and butcher.

When he turned 90, the Peterlee Catholic Club invited him to enjoy a free drink every day – an offer he took up regularly.

His wife, Dinah, died two years ago.

He has a daughter Margaret Fallon and son Samuel, as well as four grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild.

Mrs Fallon said: “My father has great sense of humour. He is just a lovely person.”

The family will have a get-together on his birthday tomorrow (Monday, May 6).