After years of thinking he wouldn’t qualify, a Dovorian veteran has finally received his Legion d’honneur medal for serving in Normandy in the Second World War.

Sidney Goldsack, 87, who is known to friends as Peter, received his medal last Friday and said it is “absolutely gorgeous”.

Mr Goldsack, of St David’s Avenue, Aycliffe, joined the Merchant Navy when he was 14 years and nine months old in 1943.

He said: “When you’re that age, it’s an adventure.

“I was working in Cherbourg in Normandy. The American troops went in and we went in almost immediately behind them.

“We made the harbour fit for ships to come into. I was in salvage work then, we followed the army up through France and up into Holland. That’s where I was when the war ended.”

Mr Goldsack, who lives with his wife Beryl, 84, stayed in the Merchant Army until 1948. He had 10 years off during which time he met his wife of 56 years before returning to the navy until 1987.

He worked on the cross-Channel ferries for 29 years during his service before leaving to work on the hovercraft at Dover and security at the Channel Tunnel in Folkestone, where he retired in 1993.

He said: “I’ve had a full life, a great life. It’s been one I’ve enjoyed.”

Mr Goldsack, who also has five other medals for his service, said he didn’t know whether the Merchant Navy were eligible for the Legion d’honneur and in applying, he was making a stand to show that he thought they should be.

Then he received a letter from Sylvie Bermann, the French ambassador to London, which said: “ I offer you the warmest congratulations on this high honour in recognition of your military engagement and your steadfast involvement in the liberation of France during the Second World War.”

Mr Goldsack’s daughter Roberta Smith applied for the medal and the others on her dad’s behalf.

“It’s something extraordinary,” he said. “I’m really pleased with it.”

The medal took three years to arrive but Mr Goldsack, who also has another daughter Denise Doms and a son Paul Goldsack, along with six grandchildren and nine great grandchildren, said it was worth it.

He will shortly find out if there will be a ceremony held to formally present him with his medal and has been liaising with the French Consul in Dover.