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A World War II veteran who helped liberate the Netherlands from Nazi occupation has been awarded a medal for his service ahead of his 98th birthday.

Dennis Stevens, originally from Abertridwr, was presented with the Dutch Liberation Medal, which is given as a thank you from the people of the Netherlands to those who helped liberate it during the war.

Mr Stevens was given the medal by Lieutenant Colonel Richard Piso, the Military Attaché of the Dutch embassy in London, who gave a speech about Mr Stevens’ war experience during a ceremony in the Vale of Glamorgan.

After signing up in 1943, Mr Stevens served in D Company Fifth Battalion Welsh Regiment and after months of training, he landed at Gold Beach in Normandy, France, in June 1944.

In the 53rd Division of the Fifth Battalion, Mr Stevens was involved in the Battle of the Falaise Pocket in August 1944.

From there, he made his way to the Belgian/Dutch border and became involved in Operation Pheasant, which was a major operation to clear Nazi troops from the Dutch province of North Brabant.

The operation was broken into two sub-operations, codenamed ‘Colin’ and ‘Alan’. Mr Stevens and the 53rd Division were part of Operation Alan, which was tasked with clearing the city of ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

On October 22 1944, Mr Stevens’ battalion was tasked with clearing the northern part of the city and capturing the River Dieze bridge, which was the only bridge remaining which hadn’t been destroyed by the Nazis.

There, Mr Stevens had to face the 712th Wehrmacht Infantry Division in the morning of October 24. The bridge, which had been captured by Mr Steven’s battalion, was blown up and he was forced to surrender.

Days later, on October 27, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, or Den Bosch as it is also known, was officially liberated.

In his speech, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Piso said: “Although there were English, Scots and Irishmen within the ranks of the 53rd Division, The battle of Den Bosch was largely a Welsh one. For us Dutch, it was Operation Alan where the Welsh soldiers distinguished itself, there in the Liberation of Den Bosch.

“The reason we are here today is because of your contribution, dear Dennis, in the liberation of the Netherlands and for the moments you gave the Dutch hope, hope to be free again one day as happened on May 5 1945 until this day forward.

“The people of the Kingdom of the Netherlands will forever remain grateful and will never forget the brave men and women who took part in the liberation of the Netherlands.

“I salute you.”

On Friday March 3, a gathering was organised at Trafalgar Park care home in Nelson, where Mr Stevens was presented with a birthday gift from Caerphilly County Borough Council representatives.

Cllr Teresa Heron, who is the council’s Armed Forces Community Covenant Champion, said it was “truly humbling to hear of Mr Stevens’ bravery during the Second World War and how his contribution led to the Liberation of the Netherlands”.