D-Day veteran proudly awarded Légion d’honneur medal

A D-Day veteran has become the latest war hero to be presented with the Légion d’honneur medal for his services during the Normandy Landings of World War Two.

Aged just 19, Len Couzens, the father of town centre hairdresser Greg Couzens, of the Royal Navy MGB landed on the Normandy coast on 6 June 1944, taking in landing crafts and guarding the fleet against enemy boats and submarines.

Ready and waiting on the south coast, Mr Couzens, now 93, was in a landing craft during the first wave of assault at 6am. He described it as ‘a terrifying experience’, with ‘deafening noise’ and ‘dreadful sights.’

 

Mr Couzens with a photograph of himself at 19

 

Mr Couzens, a formal postal worker, was presented with the accolade on 7 June at the National Memorial Arboretum in Burton-on-Trent by the Consul Honoraria de France.

The war hero was joined by his wife, Pat, and youngest son, Greg, who said: “It was a proud moment with my father being presented with the Legion of Honour medal.”

 

Len Couzens with son Greg

 

Len wears his medal, accompanied by proud wife Pat

 

Established in 1802 by Napoléon Bonaparte, Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur is the highest French order of merit for military and civil merits, retained by all the divergent governments and regimes later holding power in France.

 

Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur