VETERANS of the Second World War are to receive a helping hand in their bid to return to the Normandy beaches for an anniversary next year.

A party of ex-servicemen from the North-East will head to north-western France for the 60th anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion which turned the course of the Second World War, in June, 1944.

The Durham-based Normandy Veterans' Pilgrimage Club, which takes parties to France every June for the commemoration, believe it will be the last major anniversary many members will make.

A 51-strong group will travel, backed by eight volunteer Sea Cadets from the Donald Owen Clark Centre in Chester-le-Street, County Durham.

To help with the cost, the club is staging a fundraising 1940s-style VE-Swing Ball later this month.

Partygoers are invited to get into the mood by dressing in fashions of the day or in wartime regalia.

The event is being staged at the TA Centre and Drill Hall in Gilesgate, Durham, also known as the Gilesgate Armoury, on the evening of Saturday, December 20.

Club secretary is Lilian Turnbull, whose father Fred Bell died on D-Day while with the 10th Battalion of the Green Howards as part of the 1st Airborne Regiment.

She has visited Normandy every June since 1983, and began arranging for veterans to make the journey.

"It probably will be the last major anniversary many will be able to attend, so we're making a big effort this year," she said.

Tickets for the 1940s night cost £3.50 and are available from Lilian on 0191-384 0343.