A D-DAY veteran has died aged 99.

Roy Smart, a resident at Steeton Court Nursing Home, served with the 1st East Riding Yeomanry Regiment.

He was a 23-year-old corporal in the armoured regiment when he stormed Sword Beach, Normandy, with his comrades on June 6, 1944.

Mr Smart was part of a Sherman Firefly tank crew.

After the landings, fierce combat followed in northern France.

And then in October that year, the regiment supported the 53rd (Welsh) Division of infantry as it fought to liberate the Dutch town of ‘s-Hertogenbosch from German occupation.

Nine years ago, Mr Smart – who lived at Laycock prior to moving into a nursing home – was reunited for the first time since the Second World War with a soldier he served alongside.

He and Frank Reed were in the same regiment and fought from Normandy through to northern Germany, where they parted company in 1945.

They had first got to know each other in Bingley, where their unit had trained for the anticipated liberation of France.

The friends lost touch after the war and Mr Reed moved to Australia, but they were put back in contact with each other through another veteran.

Mr Smart said at the time of their reunion: “We had a very good regiment because we were well trained.

“The biggest battle we fought was at ‘s-Hertogenbosch. In five days our division suffered 350 casualties and out of that 144 were killed.”

He added that after taking part in the crossing of the Rhine, he remembered seeing Winston Churchill giving the V for victory sign while being driven past.

Mr Smart made emotional trips back to the Netherlands, in 2004 and 2009, to attend memorial services commemorating the Battle of ‘s-Hertogenbosch – marking the 60th and 65th anniversaries.

And Mr Smart was later honoured by the French Government for his involvement in the D-Day landings. It was announced in 2014 that the highest honour France could give would be awarded to all surviving veterans from the operation.

Mr Smart’s daughter, Mrs Dianne Williamson, says: “Dad worked all his life – from a young schoolboy helping out in the family dairy business to well into his 70s as a self-employed painter and decorator.

“In his retirement he continued working in both his garden and allotment, while looking after his late wife Annie.

“Gardening had always been his hobby and he liked nothing more than to give his produce to others.”

Mr Smart leaves daughters Dianne and Cathryn, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.