ALBERT Figg, of Rough Common Road, Canterbury, spent his 24th birthday on June 12, 1944, moored off Tilbury, in Essex.

He had spent much of the early war years defending Kent from German invasion, in the process becoming the quickest gunner in the 112 Field Regiment of the Royal Artillery to reach the rank of Sergeant.

As he waited to join the Allied advance, his regiment was given little news of how the campaign was going. Their thoughts were anyway occupied by the first wave of the V-1 flying bombs, known as doodlebugs, fired by the enemy from France.

"At that time all we knew about D-Day was they were landing and forming a beachhead, but that they were having problems," recalls Sgt Figg.

"We landed on Gold beach a few days after. We'd been in the Channel for four to five days because of strong gales. Late that night we moved into a gun position behind Bayeux railway station.

"That's where I saw the first casualty: in a tank behind the gun, the driver was still sat there in his seat. I can see him now with a pair of glasses on. I can't think what happened.

"We went into action on June 24, when the big breakout, Epsom, was made. We were field gunners, carrying 25lb guns always two to three miles in the rear, and what we did was fire over the top of the front line, as a barrage to make Jerry keep his head down. Jerry was all young, fanatical SS.

"We were trying to hold the German panzer divisions in front to allow the Americans to go round and capture Cherbourg. To me it was like firing on the practice range because I couldn't see my shells fall. I used to watch them come out the end of my gun like cricket balls, but I've no idea how many Germans I killed and I don't want to know.

"Then, on the morning of July 10, my division, the 43rd Wessex, was involved in an operation codenamed Jupiter. We were ordered to attack and capture Hill 112. Rommel (the German Commander, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel) said: 'He who controls 112, controls Normandy.'

"To capture it, the 15th Scottish pulled back and Jerry put the attack in and that's when the Scottish corridor was formed between the 49th and 15th Scottish, known as Death Valley. At this point we were told to drop our range. Immediately I got that order I knew what we were doing we were firing on our own troops purposefully. It was really the only way to stop them. We had to do it.

"When the 15th Scottish, who did a great job, had walked past us on their way up they had had their thumbs up to us because they were grateful. There had been 12 of them. When they came back they were only three and they probably wanted to shoot us.

"This attack went on for 12 days, when the 43rd suffered 7,000 casualties and my 112 Field Regiment, with 24 25lb guns, fired 60,000 shells.

"It was only when the Americans broke out that the pressure was taken off the 43rd and then the 53rd Welsh Division took over, which gave us a deserved rest."

n On August 4, 1944, Hill 112 fell into the hands of the 53rd Welsh Division, which had replaced Sgt Figg's 43rd Wessex, with hardly a fight.

By August 22, 1944, 10,000 Germans had died and, although many escaped, 50,000 had been captured in this final Battle of Normandy.