A Falmouth-born man who served in the Home Guard during The Second World War is going to be in a television documentary with Dad's Army star, Ian Lavender.

Frank Colenso, aged 91, served in the Falmouth Home Guard from 1940 to 1942, and during this time he kept a diary of his experiences.

It was his diaries that led to Frank being discovered as they were donated to the Second World War Experience Centre in Leeds and found by the programme researchers, who asked Frank to be part of the documentary.

Frank told the Falmouth Packet: "You feel quite honoured that there's an interest taken in your old experiences and old diary accounts that in a way, from researchers' angles, are vital."

Having left school aged fourteen, Frank began an apprenticeship at the Falmouth Packet as a cub reporter, before joining the Home Guard.

Due to his small frame, he wanted to prepare his body for the tasks ahead. "I made myself a practice rifle weighing 11 lbs because I was only a lad really, size five shoes, to get my muscles toned up," said Frank.

Soon after turning 16, Frank had already proven himself on the rifle range as a good marksman, and despite being so young, he told the Falmouth Packet he wasn't scared. Instead he reflected on the experience as "an adventure for the town boys to get out into the country" explaining that "in the war time, for children growing up, bombing was normal".

Frank, who used to live on Berkeley hill, recalled adventures he had with friends in between their duties of digging trenches, rifle range drills and sitting night guard duties.

He told the Falmouth Packet about a time he had taken a boat to Penryn in the evening with friends from the Home Guard while off duty, and how they had run into bother when the night guard from their own platoon had mistaken their boat for Germans.

Frank said: "They saw this boat rowing up there, thought it was a German and challenged us, like halt who goes there? You can't really halt in a boat but next thing there was a rifle shot that kicked up the water, then you knew it was for real. At that, we were told not to use the boat anymore."

Speaking fondly of his time in the Home Guard, Frank added: "It was a team, so the platoon kept together and a lot of us were young pikes, most of us, because the old boys were often kept in the armoury looking after the weapons. It was the lovely comradeship of it."

Documentary producer, Laura Buchan, said: "This film is really an opportunity to tell the story of what it was like being young on the home front. How young men like Frank tried to live ordinary lives in extraordinary times."

Following his time in the Home Guard, Frank volunteered for the RAF as an air frame flight mechanic. He came out of the armed forces after the war and was stationed at the RAF research centre in Farnborough for 40 years, until his retirement.

A copy of Frank's diary is available in the Falmouth history records at The Poly.

Home Front Heroes (with Ian Lavender) will be on More 4 in the Autumn, date to be confirmed.