Ray Godfrey returned to Witney to lay a wreath more than six decades after first joining up as a teenage soldier.

Yesterday the 83-year-old Chelsea Pensioner stood solemnly with hundreds of others in tribute to the men of the town who sacrificed their lives for this country.

It was the first time he had laid a wreath at the town’s war memorial since he was a 15-year-old soldier, 68 years ago.

Born and bred in the town, Mr Godfrey joined B Company, the Home Guard, and helped fortify its defences as the prospect of a German invasion loomed.

He now lives in the Royal Hospital Chelsea, but chose to come back to his home town to pay his respects on Remembrance Sunday.

Mr Godfrey said: “It was wonderful to be back.

“Everybody in the town was so gracious, and so many people came up to me and wanted to say hello.

“It was so very heartening to see young and old together in tribute.

“Witney is where I am from and to be back here, paying my respects to the brave men who sacrificed their lives made the day especially poignant.”

On 14th May 1940, able-bodied men aged 17 or over were asked to register for service in The Local Defence Volunteers.

Hundreds of Oxfordshire men registered at police stations for service in the new force, and three months later the LDV was renamed The Home Guard.

There were 11 companies in the county, with headquarters in Banbury, Bicester, Chipping Norton, Bullingdon, Henley, Oxford and Oxford University.

Having signed up for B Company – and fibbing about his age – Mr Godfrey and his fellow soldiers were tasked with ensuring Britain was ready for a possible invasion.

He said: “Imagine signing up as a 15-year-old.

“It seemed to be exciting and dangerous.

“We were constantly living with the fear of a German invasion. For a long time it was a very real threat and we had to make sure everything back home was secure.”

Mr Godfrey became a Chelsea Pensioner in August last year, following the death of his wife.

After leaving their home in Moore Avenue in 1969, the couple moved around the world, including Kenya, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, for Mr Godfrey’s job as a civil engineer.

Chelsea pensioners live at Royal Hospital Chelsea, a retirement home and nursing home for former members of the British Army.

Mr Godfrey said: “We had such an exciting life and got to see wonderful places.

“After she died I enquired about becoming a Chelsea Pensioner and I was offered a room.

“It is a wonderful place to live. In London people will always stop me and ask to shake my hand and have a photograph taken.

“I never asked to be recognised, it was just thrust upon me.

“Although it’s called the Royal Hospital it’s nothing of the sort.

“It’s a barracks.

“We are all soldiers still and will be ready to serve once more if we are ever needed.”

  • Oxford’s largest memorial service took place in St Giles, where the street was closed to traffic.

    The service was led by the Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Revd John Pritchard, and hundreds of people paid their respects in the open air service.

    Representatives from other faith communities in the city also attended the service.