A soldier whose bravery helped change the course of World War Two has died.

John Stone was a mine expert who carried out a daring reconnaissance mission of the Normandy beaches just before the D-Day landings.

Wearing dark clothing, he crept up the beach and got to within 40 yards of German soldiers while he examined deadly bombs they had laid.

He discovered wooden poles with anti-tank mines on top positioned along the shoreline that would have been hidden at high tide and devastated landing craft....