A D-Day veteran from Falmouth who was "blown up" in France, but didn't talk about his war-time experiences until many years later, was awarded the Legion d'Honneur medal at a ceremony on Monday.

Bernard Hellings, now 96, was presented with the medal, France's highest distinction, by Andrew Munson, of the French Consul in Penzance-Newlyn, watched by four generations of his family, from his two daughters down to his great-great-grandson.

On receiving the medal, Mr Hellings said: "I feel a great honour indeed, but I think the award is not only awarded to me, but to all the mates I made and all those who lost their lives in action. It is especially for one who was my mate from the time I joined the Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry right through - unfortunately he was killed not long after I became a casualty myself."

Mr Hellings, who has lived in Falmouth all his life, was conscripted in November 1940 and joined the Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry not long after marrying his teenage sweetheart, Joan Pinch, of Penryn. He was able to make occasional trips home at the start and their daughter, Elizabeth, was born just before Christmas 1941.

As the war escalated, Mr Hellings was posted further from home until three weeks before the D-Day landings in June 1944 he was transferred to the Herefordshire Regiment and came ashore at Gold Beach in Normandy.

“We had it rammed into us to get off the beach as fast as possible," said Mr Hellings. "I remember jumping into freezing cold water in the dark and then running. I kept thinking get off the beach, stay alive, get home.”

Immediately after the D-Day landings Mr Hellings was transferred again, this time to the Royal Warwickshire Regiment (Monty's Regiment). The regiment was involved in the Battle of Caen which meant getting through the dreaded bocage hedgerows where the defending German army had a strong advantage. There were constant ambushes and it is estimated that one man was lost for every yard gained.

Unable to liberate Caen by land via the backdoor of Villiers-Bocage, General Montgomery launched a second assault, this time by air along with a land assault from the Bourguébus ridge to the south of Caen. The Royal Warwickshires were following tanks in the Royal Armoured Division and Mr Hellings was blown up when a nearby tank took a direct hit.

He woke up in an Army Casualty Hospital. "I was still unconscious, but then heard a woman's voice," he said. "I came around and two nurses were giving me a blanket bath - that certainly woke me up."

Mr Hellings was transferred back to England where he was treated for shell-shock. He was then sent to the South African Army PoW Repatriation Unit in Hove and finally to a German PoW camp in Colchester where he remained until demobbed in April 1946.

Mr Hellings returned to Falmouth where he set up home in Waterloo Place with Joan and trained as a painter and decorator. Their second daughter, Linda, was born in 1951.

It was Mr Hellings' grand-daughter, Bridie Toft, who applied for the medal. “Until recent years, pap has never spoken of his war experiences, but when he did begin to open up I wrote everything down. As well as the big stories, I wanted to capture the smaller everyday experiences, too.

“Like many young men at the time, pap was a conscript and along with regular soldiers, their bravery helped in the liberation of not just France, but the whole of Europe. We owe so much of the life we have today to the men and women involved in World War II. I can't help thinking on a personal level though, that if pap hadn't survived the war none of the generations that he and gran started would be here today to see him receive his medal.”

Mr Hellings was joined at the ceremony, hosted by Falmouth's mayor Grenville Chappel, by his two daughters and some of his five grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and the youngest of his three great-great-grandchildren, ten-month-old Rolan.