A PLAY based on the real-life memories of York Normandy veterans will be brought back for five emotional performances to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day at the York Army Museum in June.

Bomb Happy tells the stories of veterans Dennis 'Hank' Haydock, George 'Merry' Meredith, Ken 'Cookey' Cooke, Ken 'Smudger' Smith and Albert 'Bert' Barritt in their own words.

Playwright Helena Fox interviewed and recorded the memories of the five men before writing her play, which follows their stories right through from D-Day to VE Day.

The play did a sell-out tour of Yorkshire in 2017. And now, thanks to a grant of £18,000 from the Armed Forces Covenant Fund to York Civic Trust and Everwitch Theatre, it will be revived for five performances at the York Army Museum from June 14-16.

As with the original show, two of the surviving veterans, Ken Cooke and Ken Smith, will take it in turns to attend the shows, and talk to the audience afterwards at a 'meet the veterans' post-show event. They will be joined by two more D-Day veterans - Douglas Petty, who served in the RAF, and Sid Metcalfe, who was with a reconnaissance unit - and two widows whose husbands were Normandy veterans.

Mr Cooke, now 94, who splashed down onto Gold Beach from a landing craft under heavy fire at 7.45am on the morning of D-Day, is looking forward to the revival.

The sell-out tour in 2017 was 'brilliant', he said. "We had full houses and standing ovations!"

There will be three evening and two matinée performances this year at the Army Museum. The play will then tour two secondary schools and two cadet bases in the York area, before a live screening at schoopls across the county, with a veterans Q&A. Ten York schools will also receive copies of the published play text.

Alongside its performances of the play, the York Army Museum will be launching a new exhibition 'D-Day 75', which will run from June 6 until September 7.

On June 6 itself, meanwhile, archivist Laura Yeoman from Explore York will give a talk about how the archives and memories of York's D-Day veterans were saved for future generations. Her talk will include video clips of the veterans discussing their experiences.

York Civic Trust chief executive Dr David Fraser said the Trust was delighted to have been able to play a part in celebrating the D-Day anniversary. "It’s great that Bomb Happy will give us all the opportunity to hear about the last months of the Second World War from those who were there," he said.

Tickets for performances of Bomb Happy at the York Army Museum are on sale now at bombhappy-dday75.eventbrite.co.uk

Further info about the D-Day events from exploreyork.org.uk and everwitchtheatre.com