YORK Normandy veteran Ken Cooke celebrated turning 98 – over a pint with friends down the pub.

Members of the York Inset Scooter Club, of which Ken is club president, invited him to the Cross Keys in Dunnington.

There they shared a birthday cake specially baked for Ken by club member Jan Wiseman, and Ken sank a celebratory pint.

“He had a beer – and in true Cookie fashion he made it last all night!” said Ken’s friend and fellow scooter club member Nick Beilby.

Scooter club members gave Ken a rousing rendition of ‘Happy birthday to you’ – in tune, Nick insisted.

York Press: Normandy veteran Ken Cooke, right, cuts into the birthday cake baked for him by Jan Wiseman, leftNormandy veteran Ken Cooke, right, cuts into the birthday cake baked for him by Jan Wiseman, left (Image: Supplied)

“We really did have a super evening, and Ken thoroughly enjoyed the evening and attention,” Nick said.

So much so that he was reluctant to leave the pub on Tuesday night.

“We left before he did!” Nick said.

It has been a busy year for Ken, who took part in the D-Day landings at Gold Beach as a young Green Howards private 79 years ago.

In June, on the 79th anniversary of D-Day, he unveiled a special memorial bench at York Railway Station – the very station where he had returned home on being demobbed after the war.

York Press: Normandy veteran Ken Cooke tries out the new memorial bench at York Railway Station for size - with the Lord Mayor of York Cllr Chris Cullwick and Lady Mayoress Joy Cullwick Normandy veteran Ken Cooke tries out the new memorial bench at York Railway Station for size - with the Lord Mayor of York Cllr Chris Cullwick and Lady Mayoress Joy Cullwick (Image: Stephen Lewis)

In April, meanwhile, LNER arranged for him to ride from London to York in the cab of a very special train: locomotive no 91111 - a special War Memorial engine named 'For The Fallen'.

Ken was given a hero’s welcome when he climbed down from the cab on arriving at the station.

York Press: Normandy veteran Ken Cooke waving from the cab of LNER's ''For The Fallen' locomotive no 91111 after it arrived at York Railway Station in AprilNormandy veteran Ken Cooke waving from the cab of LNER's ''For The Fallen' locomotive no 91111 after it arrived at York Railway Station in April (Image: LNER)

York Press: Ken Cooke in the cab of locomotive no 91111 - 'For The Fallen' Ken Cooke in the cab of locomotive no 91111 - 'For The Fallen' (Image: Stephen Lewis)

A few weeks before that, in March, on another trip to London, he was given star billing at the Palace of Westminster – meeting Speaker of the House Sir Lindsay Hoyle.

Sir Lindsay told the veteran that it had been ‘an honour to meet him’.

While they were at Westminster Ken was also approached by a delegation of three visiting Ukrainian MPs.

York Press: York Normandy Veteran Ken gets star billing at Palace of Westminster. Pictured: Ken Cooke meeting Speaker of the House Sir Lindsay Hoyle York Normandy Veteran Ken gets star billing at Palace of Westminster. Pictured: Ken Cooke meeting Speaker of the House Sir Lindsay Hoyle (Image: Nick Beilby)

"They thanked him for his service," said Nick, who had helped to organise the trip on behalf of the York Normandy Veterans Association. "And he wished them well in Ukraine and told them to stick with it."

Afterwards, as they left Westminster, a policewoman with the Metropolitan Police, learning who Ken was, flagged down a taxi for him.

Nick said the day - which he planned with the help of Mark Sullivan, the York man who was one of the Yeomen of the Guard on duty at the Queen's lying in state last year - had been a 'memorable day and a once-in-a-lifetime experience'.