50 years since the death of Sir Winston Churchill

Today marks 50 years since the death of wartime Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill.

He visited Wolverhampton to address a 25,000-strong crowd at Molineux in the summer of 1949 as he began his bid to return the Conservatives to Government one term after being booted out by Labour and its landslide win of 1945.

The former and future Prime Minister, who would eventually get back into Number 10 in 1951, was patted on the back by crowds of people who surged forward to welcome him.

His speech told supporters not to be ashamed of being Tories and warned the country was heading for 'catastrophe' due to falling reserves of gold. And he set out his opposition to nationalising industries, such as steel, which was a huge employer in the Black Country.

Churchill topped a poll to find the greatest Briton in 2002, beating even William Shakespeare and Lord Nelson.

Commemorations of Churchill's life are taking place throughout 2015.

Exhibitions will be held at Churchill's birthplace Blenheim Palace, his family home Chartwell and at the Science Museum in London, examining his fascination with the science and technology that helped Britain win the Second World War.

Wolverhampton veterans of the Normandy landings of 1944, the pivotal moment of the Second World War, today also paid tribute to the man who was their commander.

Joe Davies, aged 91 and from Compton, who landed on Gold Beach in Arromanches with the 12th Royal Army Service Corps, said: "There has been no-one like Churchill ever since.

"There was nothing wishy washy about him. He said what we were going to do as a country and we did it."