A Second World War hero who took part in the D-Day landings will mark his 102nd birthday by cutting the ribbon on a new centre for veterans in Lancaster.
Sgt Richard Brock will officially open the new Bay Veterans Association hub at Lancaster Fire Station on Saturday May 30.
Sgt Brock, from Lancaster, was born on May 30 1924 and will turn 102 that day.
He was awarded numerous medals for bravery including the Legion d'Honneur, the highest military order of merit in France, after being part of the largest seaborne invasion in history.
Richard landed on the beaches at Normandy with the Allied Forces as they advanced into Nazi-occupied France in 1944.
Over the next 12 months he helped to liberate parts of France and the Netherlands, saw first-hand the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps, narrowly escaped death after a missile landed on a cinema in Belgium, was part of the famous 'A Bridge Too Far' battle, and invaded Germany's second biggest city as Hitler's forces surrendered.
Richard's dramatic and gruelling journey - staying overnight under trees, hedges and in foxholes, and constantly in danger - took him 2,000 miles from London, through France, Belgium, Holland and then into Germany as the Allied Forces were ultimately victorious.
In 2025 he met King Charles III at Lancaster Castle, and was awarded the Freedom of the City of Lancaster.
The Bay Veterans' Association hub opened in Morecambe in 2024, as a place where local veterans can go to meet each other and receive support. The Morecambe hub is based inside the Arndale shopping centre.
Dizzy Dawson, director of Bay Veterans Association, said the opening of the Lancaster hub was "part of the expansion of Bay Veterans Association, to reach more people in Lancaster".
He said the new hub was in partnership with SSAFA (the Armed Forces Charity) and Lancaster Fire Station who had kindly allowed them use of a room which will be open every second Saturday, starting on June 13, for veterans to meet and receive support they might need.
UPDATE - LISTEN to our interview with Dizzy Dawson and Rob Letch from Bay Veterans Association, Rod Steele, station manager at Lancaster Fire Station, and Martin Stevenson from Armed Forces charity SSAFA
He also said that County Councillor Gary Kniveton, founder of Bay Veterans Association, and the mayor of Lancaster would be involved in the official opening ceremony alongside Sgt Brock.
All are welcome to attend the Open Day for the Lancaster hub on May 30 from 11am.
There will be hot drinks and refreshments, you can meet the team, view the facilities, and learn about the support Bay Veterans Association offers to veterans and their families.
Bay Veterans Association thanked their partners and supporters including Lancaster Fire & Rescue Service, Age UK, SSAFA, The Veterans Foundation, and LDCVS (Lancaster District Community Voluntary Solutions) for helping make this possible.
Read more: INTERVIEW: New centre for Armed Forces veterans to open in Morecambe - Beyond Radio
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Lancaster D-Day war hero, 101, humbled to be awarded city's highest civic honour - Beyond Radio
INTERVIEW: D-Day veteran from Lancaster, 99, tells his incredible World War 2 story - Beyond Radio
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