A BLIND veteran will travel to Westminster Abbey to celebrate the centenary the charity which helps him to live independently.

Leslie Eastwood, 90, from Ilford, will be one of 1,800 other veterans, staff and supporters of Blind Veterans UK at a special Service of Thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey this October (06/10).

Second World War veteran Les joined the Royal Navy in 1943.

He served on a tank landing craft during the D-Day Landings, which began the Allied liberation of northwest Europe from Nazi control.

As a Wireman, he worked on the electrical systems of the craft, which carried tanks across the English Channel and landed on Gold Beach in Normandy on June 6, 1944.

“I still remember the crossing today,” he said.

“It’s something you never forget. There were thousands of craft around you and you had guns going over your head, but you had your own job so you didn’t take a lot of interest in that.

“I don’t remember being worried but, aged 19, you have a different view on life. I suppose we were more excited than anything.”

Les has received help and support from Blind Veterans UK since 2012. He lost his sight due to bleeding at the back of his eyes. Today his side vision is misty and he has no sight in the centre of his eye.

“The only thing it didn’t affect was my piano playing,” he said.

“I used to be an electrician, but I can’t handle rewiring plugs and, when it comes to the TV remote controls, I can’t use them anymore.

“I help in the garden, but I have to be careful. Anything that’s not a big bush looks like a weed.”

Les has joined other ex-servicemen and women on training courses and has been given special equipment to help him at home, from the charity.

He added: “We’ve been to the Abbey before, being Londoners, but I’m looking forward to being with other vision-impaired veterans, meeting the crowd and the atmosphere.

“Blind Veterans UK feels almost like a family.”

The service will be conducted by the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, and will be sung by the Choir of Westminster Abbey.

There will also be a performance from Welsh classical Soprano Gwawr Edwards and readings from Blind Veterans UK supporters Barbara Windsor and David Dimbleby.

Blind Veterans UK (formerly St Dunstan’s) was founded in 1915 and the charity’s initial purpose was to help and support soldiers blinded in World War I.

The organisation has since gone on to support more than 35,000 blind veterans and their families, spanning World War II to recent conflicts including Iraq and Afghanistan.