D-Day veteran 'cracks jokes' with King Charles as heroes enjoy a day to remember

D-Day veterans enjoyed a day to remember in the Portsmouth sun today, as surviving war heroes came together, along with their families, senior royals, military figures and politicians, to mark the 80th anniversary of the Normandy Landings.

Keith Whiting, 98, from Northampton, who served on HMS Ramillies, told the Daily Express he was “more than pleased” to make it to the 80th anniversary, conscious that for him “this could be the last one”.

Keith was only 18 when he set off for the “chaos” of Sword Beach, tasked with peppering the German artillery, enabling Allied forces to get a foothold on the French coast.

Standing tall, Keith, who was honoured with the French Legion d'Honneaur in 2019, beamed as he told our reporter of his meeting with King Charles at the end of the ceremony.

“I made Charles laugh because Prince Philip was on board our ship - he served on board the Ramillies”, he said, adding that he “cracked a few jokes” with the monarch.

Another of the veterans that shared an audience with the King was Vera Brett, 99, who joined the Women's Royal Naval Service as an 18-year-old.

Vera’s son Andrew Relf, 77, and his wife Jean spoke to Daily Express about Vera’s wartime work doing “research on radar”.“She was 19 on D-Day”, Jean said, “and she was here in Portsmouth, and she finished work at 5:30pm, went to bed.

“That night - rough seas - the Solent was full of ships, she said the next morning they’d all gone.”

Andrew and Jean spoke glowingly of hero Vera’s meeting with the monarch. “Wow! He’s really… [a] family man isn’t he?”, Jean said.

Andrew chimed in: “He was talking to Vera for a long time - very, very convivial”.

Arthur Page, 100, who turns 101 on Thursday, made his way down from the New Forest along with his three granddaughters.

He said that he was “a pilot in the Fleet Air Arm” who served in the Far East at the end of the war. The veteran confirmed that he also fought in Europe, but sharply quipped “don’t ask me about it because I can’t remember it very well!”.

The sun-soaked seaside event was part-service of remembrance, part-West End musical, with theatrical performances interspersed with testimonies, diary readings and sombre speeches.

Recollections from Normandy vets like Eric Bateman, which brought tears to the eyes of those in attendance, were punctuated with upbeat period performances.

None more so than Call The Midwife’s Helen George rendition of Vera Lynn’s wartime classic ‘We’ll Meet Again’, which was met with fluttering Union Jacks and rousing applause.

The 4,000-strong audience on Southsea Common was also made up with hoards of schoolchildren - notable given the event felt as much about preserving the memory of D-Day among future generations, as it did about honouring Britain’s greatest.

Two youngsters that certainly won’t forget the event in a hurry were Rory Fisher, 10, and his brother Dylan, 7. Dylan’s favourite moment of a wonderfully patriotic day? When the Red Arrows' “aircraft flew past”, of course.