YORK Normandy Veteran John Graham celebrated his 100th birthday today - still enjoying growing veg on his family allotment plot.

John, who received a card from the Queen, puts his long life down to a tot of whisky every night - and a regular diet of his homegrown runner beans and courgettes.

He still grows veg on the allotment his family acquired in Holgate in 1905, having caught the growing bug when he was eight, picking gooseberries from his dad’s plot.

He received the Légion d’Honneur medal a few years ago - France’s highest military honour - after landing on Gold Beach just after D-Day while serving as a gunner with the Royal Artillery Regiment.

John, who was a window cleaner in Holgate for nearly 60 years after the war, said: "I can’t believe I’ve made it to 100. I get up on a morning and live in hope I get to see another one."

His son, Paul, 70, who has carried on the family tradition and grows veg on an allotment plot next to his dad’s, said: "We’re really proud of dad. Reaching that milestone is quite an achievement.

"There can’t be many people with their own allotment at his age. He can’t do very much these days but I bring him down regularly and I help as much as I can.

"We all think the allotment has helped to keep him fit and active and all the veg he’s eaten will have been very good for him. He deserves that glass of whisky before he goes to bed!"

John celebrated the milestone birthday with family and friends at Railway Institute Bowls Club.