D-Day veterans attended the unveiling at a special ceremony

Until now the town's D-Day monument commemorated only the American involvement in the Normandy landings 59 years ago.

But the wording has been changed to reflect the contribution of both countries.

D-Day veteran Ken McCaw, who sailed from Dartmouth, was delighted.

He said: "As we set sail all the riverbanks were lined with people cheering us.

"But there were hundreds of landing craft, so they could tell what we were doing."

Hundreds of landing craft were waved off from Dartmouth

Many young Britons like Ken sailed from Dartmouth for the landings.

But the memorial referred only to the ships of the United States Navy.

No-one really knows the reason for the omission, but a few years ago members of the LST & Landing Craft Association decided to get the wording changed.

The reworded monument was unveiled during a rededication service.

In his short address, the chaplain of Britannia Royal Naval College, Ken Bromwich, said that recent events gave the memorial particular poignancy.

He said: "Some of the first casualties in the recent war for the freedom of Iraq were members of landing craft crews and despite all the technology and our understanding of modern warfare, they were still there on the beach.

"At the end of the day it's down to the individual heroism of men and women."

D-Day was a pivotal moment in British history - and for the veterans like Ken McCaw, they will never forget it.

He said: "It was the turning of the tide. We were being beaten by the Germans left right and centre and we had so many narrow squeaks that it was wonderful to be participating in it."