HE'S been named the saviour of a French town and is returning there this weekend for a special liberation celebration - but for Major George Warren, it was all in a day's work.

The 89-year-old veteran will tomorrow step out on parade in Lisieux, a Normandy trading town east of Caen, 60 years after he led his troops into the town and freed it from German occupiers.

He went down in legend as the mysterious English officer who, on August 24, 1944, rescued nearly 300 people hiding in the crypt of Lisieux's vast basilica.

It was only last year that French officials discovered the name of the man they have dubbed the "Deliverer of the Basilica," and invited him to their celebrations.

Now the great-grandfather from High Firs Road in Sholing is set to receive a medal from the French government as well being honoured by the people of Lisieux.

But modest Major Warren insists he was just doing his job.

"We were in pursuit of the enemy and we were doing this every day," he said. "We had already liberated village after village. It was all in a day's work."

The brave soldier was in the 7th Armoured Division - the Desert Rats - when they landed on Normandy's shores two days after D-Day. Their task was to reach Belgium, liberating towns and villages along the way. But when they arrived in Livarot, a village to the south of Lisieux, their batallion came under heavy fire and a third of the 90 men were killed or wounded.

George Warren, then just 29, was ordered to take over.

Their next stop was Lisieux, a major road and rail junction that was crucial to the German army and a town that had been reduced to rubble by bombings.

Only the stately basilica, a pilgrimage venue containing relics of St Theresa, was untouched - and it was deep in the crypt that Major Warren found terrified women, children and nuns sheltering from attack.

"We gave them food and medical attention. We did as much for them as we could before moving on," he said.

"They were delighted, of course. Lisieux havingsuffered as it did, it was a great day for them."

It was not until 2003 that the French discovered the name of their rescuer, when Major Warren's daughter, Elizabeth, visited the town and spoke to basilica leaders.

The veteran travelled to France yesterday with ten members of his family where, among various dignitaries and officials, he will meet one of the people he found in the crypt.