HARRY Sanders has visited Sword Beach in Normandy on four occasions.

The first time was on June 6, 1944, when, as part of a 40-strong specialist ammunitions supply unit, he endured a four-hour voyage of hell in rough seas from Plymouth to the French coastline as bombs and bullets rained down from every direction.

Now aged 83, but then just 21, the former textile mill worker was understandably terrified as the beach-head loomed closer, the sea and sand awash with bodies and blood.

The last time Harry set foot on Sword beach, at Lion Sur Mer, was on Sunday, quite a world away from the D-Day landings of 60 years ago.

The sea front ricocheted with the sound of cheers rather than bombs and bullets. The sands had been washed clean of young men's blood. Pride and emotion took the place of terror.

Harry, like many other veterans who returned to the Normandy beaches to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the greatest amphibious invasion in history, was revered by the French and again reminded of his status as hero and liberator.

A message presented to Harry by a young French schoolgirl summed up the host nation's gratitude. She wrote: "Waves and tides have washed clean the beaches but that sand is the sand of your blood for our liberty . . ."

Whether the veterans were British, American, Canadian or European, the French people's message was the same: "We will never forget you".

Harry, from Kay Brow in Ramsbottom, said: "It is always an emotional journey returning to what was on D-Day known as Sword Beach.

"The coastline town of Lion Sur Mer was the first village I moved through as the Allied forces attacked the Normandy beaches. The people of this village turned out in their hundreds to honour us. I was moved to tears."

While world leaders -- including the Queen, Prime Minister Tony Blair, USA President George Bush and Jacques Chirac, the president of France -- gathered at Arromanches for the main D-Day commemoration parade and Service of Remembrance, Harry and 30 ex-Royal Marine Commando soldiers were feted by the population of Lion Sur Mer.

"Forget your dignitaries and all that pomp and ceremony," said Harry. "Myself and 30 Royal Marine veterans were treated to a unique experience, where a small town honoured us and presented us with special commemorative medals.

"They were queuing up to have photographs taken with us. It was amazing."

It was in 1942 that Harry, who was born and raised in Oldham, volunteered to join the Royal Army Ordnance Corps and trained as an ammunitions examiner.

He was a member of a 40-strong specialist unit when the orders from the War Office told them they would be taking part in an invasion of Europe.

He said: "We left Havant near Portsmouth in a flotilla at 7am and suffered a four-hour journey across the stormy Channel to Normandy. Stuka planes were swooping down strafing everything in their path.

"The beach was littered with bodies, blood and equipment. The commander of our flotilla refused to land on the beach so a couple of Royal Marines waded through the water with metal posts and attached rope to them. We jumped into the sea up to our necks and waded forward."

With forward troops already clearing the limited German-beach resistance, Harry and his team reached an apple orchard half-a-mile in land where they immediately began the task of building bivouacs. They had not slept for 72 hours.

Their main task was to provide ammunition supply lines but this was hindered, not just by the fact that the town of Caen was proving difficult to take from the Germany occupiers, but also because poor weather conditions made it virtually impossible for supplies to be shipped into France. The ingenious Mulberry harbours -- huge platforms floated from England and then submerged, created platforms on which to land equipment for the forward line troops.

Harry and his men were bogged down for nearly three months until the order was given to blitz Caen and move forward.

He said: "After it had been bombed to smithereens, we moved forward at quite a rate."

By September Harry reached Brussels and remained there until the end of the war, even marrying a local girl, who sadly left him a few years after he returned to England.

He is now married to Alma and they have three sons, Ken, Nick and Neil, who accompanied their father during his latest return to French soil.

Harry has also been diagnosed with terminal cancer and knows, like many other veterans of that historic day, he will not be around in ten years time to mark the 70th anniversary.

"I am 83-years-old," said Harry. "I have had sixty years to live my life. There were many young boys who landed on those beaches in 1944 who did not have the chance to live."