The diaries of a World War Two soldier have been published.

"Led Soldiers" charts the journey of Doug Mayman from his home in Skipton to the battlefields of France, Belgium, Holland and Germany.

His daughter, Joy Murphy, who typed up the diaries, said: "My dad is now 84, but was only 19 when he started to keep a diary of his war experiences and every day he would make an entry, however difficult this was.

"Sometimes he would be writing under a tank after a day's fighting."

The diaries came into print after Mr Mayman found them in his loft and handed them over to his daughter.

With the help of her husband, Patrick, she transcribed the entries.

Mr Mayman said the diaries were completely authentic, right down to original spelling mistakes.

"Thankfully there aren't too many, and I guess that's thanks to Ermysted's," he joked. "But they are all completely authentic and we were able to find records of all of my friends who were mentioned, most of them sadly killed."

There are also several references to the Craven Herald within the book, including a letter sent by Mr Mayman detailing a skirmish which took place on the Seine at Vernon on the August 28 1944.

Anyone wanting a copy of the book should email Mr Mayman at dougmayman@ talktalk.net