The last time Fred Goddard was in a tank, he almost died when an enemy shell slammed into its turret.

The young driver-wireless operator of the Crusader was fighting the Axis forces in Tobruk, North Africa during the Second World War when he was seriously wounded.

But yesterday, at the age of 83, Fred stepped back into a tank for the first time and said: "It's a dream come true.

"I have waited for this moment for 59 years and it's been really satisfying."

The grandfather of four was given the 15-minute trip in the grounds of the Tank Museum at Bovington, Dorset, in a 1945 Sherman.

It came after he asked whether it would be possible to ride on one of the museum's operational tanks, but staff had always declined, citing problems with insurance as the reason.

After Fred wrote a book recalling his brush with death during the war, his friend, Jean Brice, of Gower Road, Haywards Heath, wrote to the museum again and they agreed.

Fred, of Bentswood Road, Haywards Heath, said: "I didn't want to drive the tank, so I sat in the same position, watched by my children and grandchildren and I felt quite at home.

"I had to have help to get into the tank because I can't run up one side and down the other like I used to.

"It was very good and it brought back a lot of memories, good and bad, but I don't regret it for a minute."

Museum spokesman David Butt said: "We don't normally do the tank rides but we have had so many requests we thought we should start.

"Fred is the fifth person to have a go and seemed to enjoy every minute."

Fred joined the Army in 1938 and was posted to France and later North Africa. In his book, Battlefields of Life, he recalled the horrifying moment his tank was hit: "There was a tremendous explosion inside our tank.

"I went straight out through the top and all I remember next was coming round on the ground by the tank with my face covered in blood. There was so much gunfire around me.

"I realised that I had been wounded in my head, back and foot."

Fred was shot again in the leg before being captured and becoming a prisoner of war for two and a half years. He was eventually released after being exchanged for four Italian soldiers.

After the war, he spent four years in and out of hospital recovering from his injuries before setting up his own plumbing business which is now run by his sons.

Mr Goddard's book, which only had a print run of 560, is now with an Edinburgh publishing house which may give it a wider release.