D-Day veteran presented with Freedom of City

York's last surviving Normandy veteran has been given Freedom of the City at a special ceremony in his honour.

Now 101, Ken Cooke was only 18 and working at Rowntree's sweet factory when he was conscripted to take part in the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944.

City of York Council unanimously voted in favour of granting him the highest honour the authority can bestow in 2025.

Cooke, who has written a book about his experiences of war, said: "I want to make sure that young people know about what I went through. It's up to them to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Margaret Wells, Lord Mayor of York, presented Cooke with a certificate in recognition of the honour at St Lawrence Parish Church earlier.

She described the veteran as a special person with a wicked sense of humour.

"He tirelessly goes around schools, old people's homes and talks to them about his experiences in the war," said Wells.

"Hopefully, the children that he speaks to will realise and make their way so that there isn't another war."

Cooke was a member of 7th Battalion, Green Howards (Yorkshire Regiment) when he was part of the first wave of the invasion force landing on the beaches in Normandy.

On 4 July 1944, he was badly wounded by a mortar bomb while on patrol and sent home to recover.

Luke Hodges, an army reservist for Queensland Yeomanry at Imphal Barracks in Fulford, was among those in attendance to honour Cooke.

He said: "There's not a lot of them [veterans] now that can actually tell this story, whereas Ken can tell it.

"It's great to have that, especially a part of York as well. We should all feel privileged to have him."

Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.