HAD he turned to his left rather than his right, as instructed, three generations of a Birmingham family would never have been born.

As it happened, the Nazi sniper’s bullet destined for 22-year-old private James Cooper missed by millimetres, catching the top button on his coat.

It was one of several occasions when Mr Cooper, from Longbridge, cheated death while serving in Italy with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment during the Second World War.

“There was five of us on foot patrol in Anzio and we were aware a German sniper was about,” Mr Cooper explained.

“The corporal was first, looking to his left with the rest of us alternating the direction we looked.

“I was fifth in the patrol – the worst position because the sniper had more time to set his sights on the last man.

“I was supposed to look to the left but had an impulse to look to the right.

“There was a saying in the Army ‘there’s a bullet with your name on it and if it misses you’re alright’.