A VINTAGE military vehicle which took part in the Normandy landings in World War Two has taken pride of place at a D-Day museum.

The vehicle, an AEC Matador tractor, was bought by West Malvern enthusiast Laurie Gregory more than 20 years ago.

It was used to haul field guns. Now it will become a leading exhibit at the DDay Academy Museum, at Caen in Normandy.

Military experts at the museum, using army records and the Matador’s serial number, have established that it was used by British forces in the 1944 invasion.

The museum organises visits to the historic battlegrounds of the 1944 landings in carefully-restored military vehicles, of which the Matador will become one.

It will be restored and take its place as a living exhibit at the museum in time to the 70th anniversary of the landings in June next year.

Mr Gregory bought the historic tractor at the Welland Steam Rally. It has been in store at a remote rural location outside Bromyard since then.

“I always meant to do something with it, but other things in my life intervened,” he said.

Because the Matador is still in its original condition, unlike many which were modified after the war for forestry or heavy vehicle recovery, it is a rare specimen.

Mr Gregory got in touch with the museum some months ago and in early February, the museum’s president, Jean-Pierre Benamou, came to inspect the vehicle. They found it in working order, and last month it was taken by lowloader to Portsmouth and then by ferry to France.

Mr Gregory has now travelled to Normandy to see the Matador in its new home and witness the start of the extensive restoration work.

“It’s great that it’s going to a good home where it will be appreciated,” he said. “The museum has invited me to be an honourary member and they say they’re going to name it Laurie after me. I’m honoured.

“At the museum, they’ve now discovered that it was built in 1943 and that it actually served in Normandy during the invasion of 1944. So it really is coming home.”