SLOWLY but surely 95-year-old D-Day veteran Frank Hall climbed the steep stone steps of Clifton Hampden Church to join fellow veterans for a special memorial service.

They joined together in the sunlit graveyard today to remember Major John Howard, who masterminded the daring glider raid on Pegasus Bridge for soldiers in the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944.

The wreath-laying ceremony for the inspirational leader first took place at the church near Abingdon in 2014, to mark the 70th anniversary of D-Day.

Veterans from the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry gathered at St Michael and All Angels Church to remember the former Oxford city policeman, who led 2nd Battalion D Company in the raid to secure two vital bridges over the Caen Canal.

Frank Hall, 95, from Stonesfield, near Witney, was the only D-Day veteran able to attend.

A private in the Ox & Bucks, he arrived on Sword Beach shortly after John Howard’s men secured the bridges.

Father-of-two Mr Hall, who was at the ceremony with son Stephen, said: “I missed last year because of the bad weather so I’m pleased to be back.

“I knew John Howard - he was a lovely man.

“I was lucky - I was in transport - and by the time we arrived on Sword Beach things had quietened down.”

Mr Hall was among about 40 veterans and their families who gathered for the annual memorial service.

Derek Chivers, 84, a relative of Major Howard, laid the wreath at his grave.

He said: “It’s a fitting tribute and I’m pleased to be here with such a brave bunch.”

Terry Roper, chairman of the Royal Green Jackets Association, welcomed veterans to the service, led by retired vicar Rev Marcus Braybrooke.

Mr Roper said: “They used compass bearings and stopwatches to land the gliders as close to the bridges as possible.

“John Howard’s men overwhelmed the German garrison within minutes and once the bridges were secure it stopped the Germans from being able to counter-attack.

“John Howard was very well respected - a legend in the regiment and in France.”

Mr Roper told veterans they were gathered to ‘pay homage’ to Major Howard, whose inspired leadership led to the capture of the bridges, ‘one of the most decisive actions of the Second World War’.

Major Paddy Proctor MBE, who served with the Royal Green Jackets Territorial Army, from 1968-2000, was among those paying respects.

He said: “I met Major Howard several times in the early 1980s at reunions at Pegasus Bridge - it’s incredible how close those gliders got to the bridges.”

Major Howard retired to Burcot near Abingdon after the war with wife Joy and he died aged 86 in 1999.