AFTER days of practising scaling down the side of a transport ship in full kit, the day for the Normandy invasion finally loomed large.

On the evening of June 5, 1944, Royal Engineer Arthur Cooper went up on to deck in Southampton Water and saw hundreds of tiny supply boats waiting for the off.

Mr Cooper, 88, of Fell Mead, East Peckham, recalled: "We said they can't be going on the D-Day landings. They're ever so small. Then the officer said you had better get into bed and have a good night's sleep.

"In the morning he woke us and said: 'Get ready. We're off.' That is all he said. He then brought out the rum ration. However, I said I didn't want any rum because I wanted to know what I was doing."

At around 1pm, about six hours after the assault troops had first hit the beaches, he and his colleagues scrambled down the side of the vessel for the last time.

He said: "It was very rough and the assault craft was bobbing. We had to wait until it came up and jump. We had rifles, pick axes, shovels and everything with us."

Mr Cooper said his prayers as they went in and shortly afterwards they landed on the beach.

He said: "We had to report to beach muster, then get control of the beach, make sure everything was clear and keep people on the move.

"Then the prisoners started coming in. They were a sad lot, they really were, dirty and in ragged old clothes."

Mr Cooper added: "The resistance was very poor in our section. The Americans had it the roughest on their beaches.

"We stayed on the beach and dug in beside an anti-aircraft gun. Every time it opened up we got smothered in sand."

Eventually, he and his comrades went inland and set up stores, containing everything from bridge parts to materials for road making.