As the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings approaches, local historian Liz Davies writes about local veteran Jas Hunt.

This year, the nation will mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings - the military operation which marked the beginning of the end of the Second World War.

On June 6, 1944 British, American and European allies launched a seaborne invasion called Operation Overlord in order to defeat the German war machine.

Five beaches on the north coast of Normandy were chosen as the landing sites for the invasion and these were codenamed: Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha and Utah.

In the St Neots area, Gaynes Hall and RAF Tempsford airfield were playing a vital part in the war.

Gaynes Hall was hosting special agents before they were parachuted into France behind enemy lines and the airfield became the centre for the Special Operations Executive, responsible for parachuting agents, equipment and supplies to the French Resistance.

By 1944, many local men had already been fighting in the war since the autumn of 1939, but other local men joined up as fresh appeals were launched for recruits.

One of those men was Jas Hunt of Great Paxton. He was the landlord of the Black Bull pub and a butcher by trade. He joined the army in October 1940 and was assigned to the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, but then transferred to the Army Catering Corps.

He was sent on an army cookery course in January 1941 and among a number of items donated to St Neots Museum is his hand-written recipe book.

The book includes a recipe for steak and kidney pudding which needed 50lb of beef (22kg), 62lb of ox kidneys (28kg) and 3lb of onions (1kg)!

By 1943, Jas was attached to the No.12 Beach Ordnance Detachment tasked with bringing ashore essential supplies. We don’t know what Jas found when he landed on Sword beach on the morning of June 6, but evidence suggests the day began chaotically with many difficulties just getting ashore as German snipers and machine guns targeted the beach.

His obituary in the local in 1985 said he was proud to have taken part in the D-Day landings.

INFO: To commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day, Liz Davies, will be giving a talk at St Neots Museum. This will take place on June 6 at 7pm and will be repeated at 2pm on Saturday, June 8. Tickets are £10 or free for Friends of the Museum. More info at: www.stneotsmuseum.org.uk.