A BIRCHWOOD distillery paid a visit to former employee and D-Day hero Raymond Rush on the 75th anniversary of the landings.

Ray was one of the first British soldiers to land on the beaches in Normandy during the landings and was due to sail with other veterans to France as part of the commemorations.

Unfortunately, the 95-year-old was too ill to make the crossing this year but was honoured with a specially organised event at Whiston Hospital.

And Nick Smith, Quality Assurance Manager at G&J Distillery, was among those to visit Ray and provide him with a Greenall’s hamper.

"Ray and I are both members of the Armed Forces and Veterans Breakfast Club in St. Helens, but up until the day of the hospital visit, we had never had the opportunity to meet," he said.

"While talking with other members I learned that he too once worked at G&J Distillers some 35 years ago, so we immediately had something in common.

"As soon as we heard that he was unable to make it to Normandy, we knew we had to do something to cheer him up."

As part of the event at Whiston Hospital, the D-Day veteran was at the centre of a medal presentation by his local Armed Forces and Veterans Breakfast Club and was gifted a large cake.

Warrington Guardian:

"The Veterans Club decided that we’d all go to visit him wearing our medals and form a guard of honour, but the team here at G&J Distillers thought it would be nice to give Ray a hamper of goodies that would remind him of his time here," Nick contiunued.

"What Ray and his comrades went through on the beaches of Normandy is unimaginable and to say he is a hero is an understatement.

"It was a very humbling and honouring experience for me to visit him in hospital and it was great to see a big smile on his face."

During the war, Ray fought bravely as part of Operation Market Garden in The Netherlands and looked across the Rhine at the first airborne in the Battle of Arnhem.

He also defeated the Germans in the Battle of the Bulge and stood with the US 101 airborne at Bastogne in Belgium during the terrible winter of 1944.

Out of his entire company who landed on Sword Beach on D-Day, he was the only one left standing and was recently made a Chevalier du Legion d’Honour by the French government.