A Powys man is to cycle 400km in the footsteps of his grandfather, following the same journey  his relative made during the Second World War.

From June 24, Rhydian Mason will be cycling over 400km from Normandy to Paris over the course of four days.

Rhydian is taking on the challenge to raise money for Help for Heroes, as well as honouring his grandfather, T Elwyn Mason, who made the same journey 80 years ago alongside thousands of other Allied soldiers who took part in the D-Day landings.

Elwyn was also among the soldiers to be evacuated from Dunkirk in 1940, returning to France during the Normandy landings four years later to help liberate the country from Nazi occupation.

Rhydian said: “The idea came just from the notion of doing something really special before my 50th birthday. Something meaningful and challenging.

“My grandfather was on the Juno beach during the Normandy landings, alongside the Canadian Infantry Division, but prior to that he was one of the men evacuated from Dunkirk in 1940.

“It felt like a poignant way of remembering him and the other men who were on those beaches on that fateful day, especially as 2024 marks 80 years since it happened.

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“The experience changed him. Afterwards, he remained one of the nicest people I knew, but I'm told that the happy-go-lucky lad who left returned as a quiet, reserved man.

“He went through a number of horrific experiences, from facing dive bombers on the beaches of Dunkirk, witnessing the bombing of Caen and watching tracer fire in both directions over his head while making his way up that beach in Normandy. He lost a lot of friends in those years.

County Times: Rhydian's grandfather, T Elwyn Mason.

“It’s quite something, to retrace his steps, while also being able to raise funds for a worthwhile charity.

“I never realised until after he passed that my grandfather experienced vivid flashbacks to his time in the war, a classic symptom of post traumatic stress, but went unacknowledged and untreated during his time.

“There was no support network for men of his generation and the mental wounds he carried were not recognised. Help for Heroes works to provide the kind of support he lacked. They can’t help my grandfather now, but they could be helping someone else’s years down the line.

County Times: T Elwyn Mason (right) with the amphibious vehicle he drove up the Normandy beaches on D-Day.

“My grandfather wasn’t necessarily a war hero, but he was my hero. He was picked up from a life very similar to mine, from Mid Wales to war torn France at the age of 21.

“A lot of my friends and family didn’t believe me when I first told them what I was planning, but they’ve been very supporting and have offered plenty of advice. Now it’s just a case of slowly building up and training to prepare for riding 70 miles a day.”

A link to his fundraiser can be found here.