Hero pigeon saved the life of military musician's great uncle

National VE Day 80 commemorations will come to an end with a concert at Horse Guards Parade.

Thousands of people will join the King and Queen for the performance, which will include music from the Second World War and showcase the stories of veterans who lived through it.

One of those who will be playing is Sergeant Kate Sandford, the descendant of a Second World War soldier whose life was saved by a pigeon, which later became the first animal to win the Dickin Medal.

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Sgt Sandford is a harpist with the Countess of Wessex String Orchestra, which is made up of musicians from the Royal Corps of Army Music.

Her great-uncle John Peberby was saved by a pigeon called White Vision that went on to be awarded the Dickin medal, the animal version of the Victoria Cross.

Speaking to BFBS Forces News in London ahead of the concert, she said her great uncle was "on board a Catalina, which is a flying boat, and it ditched into the North Sea in 1943".

"It was such bad weather, they weren't being found and all they had on board was a pigeon," she said.

"So the pigeon was released with the co-ordinates of where they had crashed.

"Through fog and storm, it reached back to base, and luckily they were able to send out a sea vessel to save them.

"That pigeon was one of the first three recipients to receive the Dickin Medal."

"He saved my great-uncle John."

The concert is set to have a celebratory tone to echo how Britain reacted 80 years ago to the news that the war was finally over in Europe.

And Sgt Sandford's music will be one element contributing to the celebration in London.