PROUD D-Day veteran Fred Pope has waited patiently for 70 years to receive France's highest honour recognising his bravery.

But when the 92-year-old was finally sent the Legion d'Honneur in the post, it was addressed to somebody else and he was unable to sign for it at the post office.

Now Mr Pope, who lives with his wife Jeane, 88, in Bicester, is trying to get the correct medal in time for the couple's 70th wedding anniversary on Wednesday.

He said: "It has been a nightmare. We did hope to get the medal in time for our wedding anniversary next week.

"It would just make it wonderful."

A young man, Mr Pope was one of thousands of troops to land on Gold Beach, the code name for one of the five areas of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944.

A Royal Artillery gunner with the London Welsh Regiment, Mr Pope fought across France, Belgium, Germany and was in Hamburg in August 1944 when all of northern France had been liberated.

While he doesn't talk about his experience of the Second World War Mr Pope said he would be proud to receive the medal because he added: "There are not many of us left. I am nearly 93 and I was just 20-years-old when I went to France."

On the 70th anniversary of D-Day in June 2014, the French President announced that the Legion d'Honneur medals would be awarded to veterans to thank and honour those who helped liberate France.

Mr Pope finally received a note from Royal Mail telling him his medal had arrived at the local post office but he discovered it had been sent to a Mr Harry Paintin instead.

He said: "I sent it back to Whitehall. To think I nearly had the medal in my hands. I sent it back because Mr Paintin might be waiting for his medal too."

"It has been terrible, very disappointing."

The retired plasterer and his wife, who was a Red Cross nurse when they met in Tring, will celebrate 70-years of marriage on Wednesday but are holding out for the icing on the cake if the correct medal is delivered in time.

The great-grandparents have been in contact with the team at Whitehall and the French Embassy to try to figure out where Mr Pope's medal is.

Mrs Pope, 88, said: "Fred has kept very quiet about D-Day and is not one to talk about it, so with this it is just a shame.

"It would be great to be able to get the medal back in time for our anniversary."

The Oxford Mail has since been in touch with the Ministry of Defence and French Embassy which is working on bringing home Mr Pope's medal.

Oxfordshire chairwoman of the Royal British Legion Lynda Atkins said: “I think it is incredibly important we recognise the bravery of our armed forces and it is very good that place such as France are recognising the sacrifices of those servicemen gave during the Second World War.

“Many of these gentlemen are getting on and this is not something that can be left, we need get on and sort it out.

“It would be brilliant if we can sort it out for Fred and Jeane and if the RBL can help in any way I will try.”

UPDATE: D-Day veteran Fred Pope finally gets his Legion d'Honneur

A spokeswoman from the Ministry of Defence said France has approved more than 3,200 Legion d'Honneur medals and both organisations are working hard to ensure British D-Day veterans get their awards as soon as possible.