A SECOND World War re-enactor suffered serious injuries to his hand in an explosion in front of hundreds of people.

John Elcock, 57, from the East Riding of Yorkshire, is a member of the Northern World War Two Association (NWW2A), and was taking part in an event in West Yorkshire on Sunday when a replica mortar unexpectedly discharged.

Surgeons fought to save two fingers and the thumb on John's right-hand in a nine-hour operation on Sunday, and he will undergo further surgery to graft muscle from his leg to try and allow him to use his other fingers.

Paul Drabble, spokesman for the NWW2A, was on the field when the blank shotgun shell used to create a pyrotechnic effect in the dummy mortar accidentally discharged, injuring Mr Elcock, who was part of the Grossdeutschland Regiment.

He said: "The guys who do this know something was wrong straight away. It went bang and we thought 'that's not right'. We turned round and saw smoke where it shouldn't be and knew something was wrong.

"It looks like playing soldiers, but it's not. The guys who do this knew something was wrong but none of us expected it to be as bad as it was with the damage to his hand. I've been a member since 2010 and we've not had that type of injury, to my knowledge, in all that time across the association."

Mr Elcock, who is married with children and from the Goole area, spoke to Mr Drabble on the phone from his hospital bed on Monday and explained what doctors had told him.

Mr Drabble said: "He was heavily medicated but seems back to the normal John, considering what he's been through.

"From what we understand they saved his thumb and two fingers. Today, we understand they are looking to graft some muscle from his leg into his hand to reattach his other two fingers to hopefully give him a hand with four fingers and a thumb. How well that works will depend on how much damage is done and whether any infection takes hold."

Mr Drabble said the thoughts of the NWW2A were with Mr Elcock and his family.