MEET the former soldier turned gas engineer who looks after nearly 350 graves of soldiers who died in the First and Second World Wars.

Andy Floyd hopes that the D-Day 80th anniversary commemorations may lead to others coming forward to do the same.

The 58-year-old, from Warrington, is part of a team that volunteers for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, cleaning and keeping tidy the final UK resting places of around 300,000 war heroes.

Thursday marked the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, when more than 150,000 soldiers landed by air and sea in Normandy, France, to launch an offensive against Nazi Germany.

This week is also Volunteers’ Week – the annual national celebration of volunteering, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.

Andy served for 10 years in the Royal Engineers, and he now works as an emergency gas engineer for Cadent.

He is part of the team of engineers ready to respond quickly to reports of smells of gas and other gas-related emergencies across the north west.

Like every employee of Cadent, he gets two extra days of paid leave every year for volunteering activities in support of good causes in his area.

Andy uses his to match the commitment asked of by the war grave commission, which asks its volunteers to carry out a minimum two days’ volunteering at nominated cemeteries.

Before and after photos of his cleaning efforts

Before and after photos of his cleaning efforts

He is now the lead volunteer for three sites, which involves looking after 302 graves at Warrington Cemetery, 11 in Padgate and 30 in Knutsford.

He makes sure the headstones are cleaned and the areas immediately around them are kept tidy.

“We should always honour them and keep their memory alive. I can think of no better way to use the two days of volunteering that Cadent gives me,” he said.

As well as his own service, there is also a personal, family connection to this for Andy, as both of his grandfathers, Alf Floyd and Geoff Gibson, died in the Second World War.

Geoff died in Dorset following an accident involving a tank while preparing troops for the actual D-Day landings. 

Alf was captured while fighting Italian units in North Africa and was later transferred to a prisoner of war camp in Germany.

Severely injured, his repatriation was arranged by The Red Cross, and he died at home in the UK.

Alf is buried in a churchyard in Warrington, with a headstone bearing the crest of the Royal Artillery.