A SECOND World War veteran has been awarded a medal nearly 60 years after his part in the conflict.

Joel Aldred, 81, from Ferryhill, County Durham, found out a year ago that the Greek government had decided to honour him.

But the medal for his exploits in the Greek and Crete campaign has only just arrived at his home - appropriately, on Armistice Day.

Mr Aldred was one of only four men from the 300-strong Royal Corps of Signals to survive the war.

He was captured by the Germans after fierce fighting, in which allied troops suffered huge losses. He remained in a Yugoslavian prisoner of war camp until the end of the war, and still has a detailed diary of his time in Greece, which he hid in his shoe.

Mr Aldred said he was thrilled to receive the medal, even after such a long time.

He said: "It is funny it should come on Armistice Day, 60 years after it all happened. There's not that many of us about now. I don't think there's any in this area will have this medal because the majority of them have died."

He added: "It was pretty hard going at times in Greece and Crete, but we got over it. I was taken prisoner for four years and that was real hardship, I've got terrible memories of that part of my life - soldiers were dying for nothing at all.