A WAR veteran from the region received France's highest military bravery award yesterday for his part in the country's liberation.

Dennis Cox, 83, a retired university librarian, served as a liaison officer on the French submarine, Curie, on patrols in the Mediterranean.

Mr Cox, of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, was one of seven British veterans presented with the Legion d'Honneur.

Some were on the D-Day beaches, others fought with Free French forces to liberate their country from Nazi occupation - all risked their lives, lost comrades, were wounded and displayed outstanding bravery, the ceremony heard.

The awards come two weeks before the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings on June 6.

A modest Mr Cox, who worked at Leeds University, said: ''I think that if you think of all those people in the East End of London being bombed by the German aircraft, they had a much harder time than I did during the war.''

Gerard Errera, the French Ambassador to Britain, presented the awards at Admiralty House in Whitehall, on behalf of the French Republic.

He said: "We will never forget what Britain has done for this fight for freedom."

The other six veterans awarded the Legion d'Honneur were: Alexander Barron, 92, originally from Mexborough, South Yorkshire, now living in Edinburgh; Major Tom Bird, 85, of Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire; Charles Kennedy, 83, from London, now living in Essex; Percy Redfern, 79, of Macclesfield, Cheshire; Frank Jones, 83, of Sutton-on-Sea, Lincolnshire; and Gordon Fleming, 79, of Hove, Sussex. Patrick Churchill, 80, of Witney, Oxfordshire, will be presented with the honour by French President, Jacques Chirac on June 6, as a representative of all British troops who landed and fought in Normandy.