A SCOTTISH war veteran has become the first in the country to receive France's highest military honour for his heroic actions during the Second World War.

Harold Currie, 91, was given the Legion D'honneur at the City Chambers in Glasgow by French Consul general Emmanuel Cocher.

Mr Currie, who lives in Mauchline in Ayrshire, was just 19 when - as part of the Seventh Armoured Division, Country of London Yeomanry - he was deployed in the D-Day landings and went on to fight in the tank battle at Villers-Boucage.

Half of his regiment, including many of his friends, were killed in one day when they were unexpectedly over powered by German forces and out-gunned in the bloody battle, on 13 June 1944.

Mr Currie said: "At the age of 19 many of my friends who were killed were the same age as me, which was really tragic.

"It is a matter of sheer luck that you come out alive and unscathed.

"I remember it all very vividly."

The grandfather-of-13, who survived his service without any serious injuries - except from suffering bruised ribs when ammunition fell on his chest during a tank crash which killed his driver and co-driver - is the last living member of his regiment.

After the hard-fought battle the depleted troops continued through France to Belgium and Holland and before arriving in Berlin.

Mr Currie said everything that followed the blood-shed at Villers-Boucage was "comparatively easy".

The veteran, who was born in Liverpool, said: "When I look back, it was exciting.

"You probably shouldn't say that about a war but it was.

"Everything is exciting when you are 19."

The veteran, who had four sons with his wife Barbara, 86, is a former referee and chairman of St Mirren FC.

He is responsible for hiring Manchester United legend, Glasgow-born Alex Ferguson as manager of the Paisley club.

Mr Currie said: "St Mirren asked me if I would join the board and I said I would but that I was travelling around the world a lot and that I would be limited in the time I could spend with them.

"The manager was hopeless and so he had to go.

"Another man who came onto the scene, by recommendation, was up-and-coming manager Alex Ferguson, and things changed completely.

"At Love Street we would get 20,000 spectators at home games. Before Alex Fergusson we would get 3,000.

"Alex used to phone me at home almost every evening to have a chat about how things had gone."

When Mr Currie left St Mirren he handed over to the vice chairman, Willie Todd. Soon after Alex decided to leave and became manager of Aberdeen.

Speaking his impressions of the young manager, Mr Currie said: "He was good.

"He was still learning the trade at the time but I think he enjoyed being with St Mirren and with me."

Mr Currie is also a former director of Chivas Regal and he founded the Isle of Arran distillery in 1994. He continues to trade whisky to this day and works as a business consultant from his home.

He said: "All my friends didn't come back.

"They had no life.

"And when I think about what I have done since the war, I think about these young men who were killed.

"It is tragic."

Mr Currie was described as a "true hero" and a "role model" by Baillie Liz Cameron who, injured in a fall which resulted in broken arm and badly cut head, left her sick bed to honour the war hero.

The former Provost was returning home from an official visit to Saint-Malo in France on Saturday when she fell down an escalator in Partick Train Station.

She was rushed to The Queen Elizabeth University Hospital for emergency surgery and had pins placed in her arm and stitches in her forehead.

She said: "I should probably be in my bed but I have he utmost respect for the armed forces and I was determined to come to this ceremony to honour Harold."

Mr Currie is one of nine Scots who risked their lives during the liberation of France who will receive the Légion D’honneur.

The medal was established in 1802 and is France’s highest distinction.

On average, just 10 British nationals receive it every year.