A KIDDERMINSTER Second World War veteran has returned to an Italian port - more than 60 years after landing there with the Allied forces - thanks to help from a Lottery grant.

Fred Jennings made his way back to Salerno, in southern Italy, last month to mark the 62nd anniversary of Operation Avalanche on September 9.

The Stourbridge Road resident made the trip with his wife, Cathleen, and daughter, Mary, after receiving money from the Heroes Return scheme.

Mr Jennings served as a driver in the Royal Leicestershire regiment after being called up for the conflict in 1942.

He said: "I can still remember the beach that we landed on in the bay. It was quite wide with beautiful white sands.

"It does sound obvious but the whole place has changed so much. I could barely recognise it from the time I was there.

"Salerno is so much more built up now, with hotels, restaurants and shops. It was fantastic to go back and I would like to have stayed a bit longer.

"My daughter drove more than 500 miles in a hire car, taking me to some of the other villages and towns that I passed through."

Mr Jennings, who still volunteers for the St John Ambulance service, travelled to many destinations around the globe during his five years in the Army.

His active service in Tunisia, Italy, Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Greece and Austria is remembered in a bulging folder that has taken many years to compile.

The trip allowed Mr Jennings to fill in the gaps of his collection after he lost almost everything he gathered from his time in Italy when he was wounded in 1944.

He explained: "I had got a lot of pictures and other things from my time there but they all vanished when I was wounded. It gave me the opportunity to get some photographs in the towns and villages that I visited.

"Most of the people we came into contact with were friendly and interested to know why we there. A man in a bar came to speak to me because he could remember the landings and the battle of Monte Cassino."

Mr Jennings returned to Italy as a motor mechanics instructor in a town north of Venice before leaving the forces in 1947.

Applications for the Heroes Return Scheme, which has helped 38,000 people go back to the places where they served, are no longer being considered.