A FORMER RAF hero from Almondbury has been awarded a new badge for veterans.

Mr Frank Smith, 82, of Kaye Lane, has collected the new badge for those who served during the Second World War.

He has also just returned from a trip to Crete - the island where he served part of his six-year career in the RAF.

Mr Smith - who was a wireless operator on planes - took advantage of the Heroes Return scheme, which awards grants for veterans to return to the battlefields where they served.

The money comes from the community lottery fund and the trip can include carers.

Mr Smith's trip to Crete included a service and wreath-laying ceremony.

There was also a dinner with Cretan officials.

Mr Smith said: "The details of the new badge for veterans were announced as part of the D-Day anniversary celebrations, but many people seem not to have heard of it.

"I wrote to the Defence Ministry and was delighted when they sent me a beautiful badge."

Mr Smith, who left the RAF in 1946, worked at Hopkinsons valve-makers in Birkby. He later ran his own furniture business in Wakefield.