TWO Second World War veterans from Gwent are to be immortalised in the French town they bravely fought to liberate.

Sixty years since Dave Edwards and Tom Griffiths battled in trenches to free Nazi-occupied France, the pair are returning as heroes.

In 1944 as newly-mobilised privates with the Monmouthshire Regiment they fought hand-to-hand battles on the front line to push the Germans out of France.

Now a primary school in one of the towns they helped liberate, Mondrainville, is to be named in honour of them.

Proudly displaying his Defence and North Europe Service Medals and regimental crest, former policeman, Mr Edwards, told the Argus he was delighted about the naming. He said: "It's an absolute honour.

"I hope our names will help to keep the story of the war, of the many British soldiers who didn't come back, alive for the children in France and elsewhere."

Mr Griffiths, 79, and Mr Edwards, also 79, who both now live in Abergavenny, served in the Second Battalion of the regiment for four years in the closing stages of the 1939-45 conflict and later in peacetime. The Monmouthshire Regiment lost more than 600 men in the 11 months after D-day, and Mr Griffiths and Mr Edwards lost many friends. Retired businessman Mr Griffiths, also sporting his Defence and North Europe Service Medals, said returning to France always brought back painful memories.

He said: "I didn't return to Normandy for 40 years after the war. But once I did, I kept on going back, it has some kind of pull on me.

"Several of my friends from the regiment are buried together out there. Visiting Normandy and seeing their graves just makes me realise how privileged we are to be here when so many never came back."

Mr Griffiths and Mr Edwards will now travel to France for the re-naming ceremony at "L'ecole Edwards-Griffiths" on June 5.

Children and teachers from Abergavenny's Harold Road Primary School, which is twinned with the village school, will also be joining them for the naming ceremony.

Mr Griffiths said: "I'm looking forward to the day, but it will be a case of sad nostalgia, too."