Queen delivers poignant speech paying tribute to ‘her resilient D-Day generation’ Trump leaves the UK after three-day state visit Theresa May reads heartbreaking letter of veteran The definitive story of D-Day – by those who lived to tell the tale A Hitler Youth past, and he confronted his family on D-Day: the incredible story of Ernest Salter Andrew Roberts | 75 years after D-Day we’re still astounded by the sheer scale of Operation Overlord D-Day 75th anniversary flypast: Route, times and where to watch the aircraft in Portsmouth The Queen delivered a poignant speech, paying tribute to the resilience of “the wartime generation – my generation” as part of the D-Day commemorations in Portsmouth. An emotionally-charged performance was watched by world leaders, royalty and hundreds of veterans in Portsmouth to mark the 75th anniversary of the landings. Theresa May read out a heartbreaking love letter from Captain Norman Skinner of the Royal Army Service Corps to his wife Gladys on June 3 1944. The D-Day veteran died with it in his pocket. Some 60,000 members of the public are expected to attend the Portsmouth Naval Memorial on Southsea Common for the event over the course of the day, which marks the 75th anniversary of the biggest amphibious invasion in military history. Considered a turning point in the Second World War, Operation Overlord saw thousands killed and injured after it launched on June 6 1944. As part of the commemorations, a selected few will re-enact the parachute jump in Normandy. Mrs May will be making her final official appearances as Prime Minister during the D-Day commemorations which continue on Thursday across Normandy. A mass security operation has been launched in the wake of Mr Trump’s attendance at the event – as part of his UK state visit. Some critics have claimed his presence draws focus away from the veterans. Representatives from every country that fought alongside the UK will attend commemorations as well as The Prince of Wales, members of the armed forces and veterans, all of whom are over 90 years old. D-Day 75th anniversary: The Portsmouth and Normandy celebrations, in pictures Stay with us all day for live coverage. 7:50PM Fantastic shots of the flotilla This, from the Sky News helicopter. The scenes at sunset coming out of Portsmouth Credit: Sky News And this from Portsmouth Harbour. MV Boudicca leaves the harbour to great cheers Credit: REUTERS/Hannah McKay 7:40PM Sajid Javid makes a D-Day power play The Tory leadership hopeful is taking the time to meet veterans, and world leaders… Privilege to spend the day commemorating DDay75 with veterans and our closest allies. We must never forget the sacrifices of the past pic.twitter.com/FckowQpzGI— Sajid Javid (@sajidjavid) June 5, 2019 7:13PM Meanwhile in Ireland… President Trump has just landed at his golf course in Doonbeg. This video was taken by his assistant Dan Scavino Jr. .@realDonaldTrump and @FLOTUS Melania landing on Marine One in Doonbeg, Ireland!��������☘️ pic.twitter.com/uVU9kEZwnx— Dan Scavino Jr.���� (@Scavino45) June 5, 2019 Henry Samuel in France, says that Trump’s relatively brief visit on D-Day tomorrow is seen as a snub, according to Le Monde, the authoritative French daily. “Trump turns his back on Europe”, wrote the newspaper on its front page dated tomorrow. The chill comes from the fact that US president “will be limiting his presence on June 6 and the continent to a few hours”. During the short visit, Mr Trump will pay tribute to the fallen soldiers at the US cemetery of Colleville-sur-mer overlooking Omaha beach and then have lunch and a bilateral meeting with President Macron of France in Caen before leaving. The brevity was, it wrote, “a symbol of the worsening relations with Emmanuel Macron, France and Europe”. It also fumed that the US President had “called for a hard Brexit with Europe” while in the UK. But at least Leo Varadkar is happy… I think they’re fans of Ireland pic.twitter.com/0EzjUwvuxJ— Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) June 5, 2019 6:56PM The Prime Minister waves off the veterans Prime Minister Theresa May, joined by her husband Philip and Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt have waved off the MV Boudicca from the HMS Queen Elizabeth. Theresa May, centre, waves goodbye to the veterans Credit: BBC The MV Boudicca passes the HMS Queen Elizabeth Credit: BBC We have a live stream of the sail past at the top of this page, and everything you need to know about the event here. 6:49PM Everything you need to know about the sail past Gareth Davies has prepared this fascinating piece about which ships are greeting the MV Boudicca. It’s got everything you need to know about the sail past. D-Day 75th anniversary sail past: Route, times and where to watch the ships in Portsmouth 6:40PM Watch the sail past live on the Telegraph 6:34PM MV Boudicca preparing to set sail Magnificent scene at sea as we get ready to wave the Royal British Legion ship onward to France carrying dday veterans and their families to Normandy dday75royalnavy ����⚓️⛴ pic.twitter.com/IvacCpAqG2— Royal Navy (@RoyalNavy) June 5, 2019 All eyes are back on Portsmouth as a boatload of veterans prepares to travel across the Channel. The Royal British Legion have chartered a cruise liner, the MV Boudicca, to take the Normandy veterans on a tour of D-Day commemorative events. A Royal Marine Band and a Guard of Honour – formed by the company of the HMS Queen Elizabeth – will join Prime Minister Theresa May, Secretary of State for Defence Penny Mordaunt and First Sea Lord Sir Philip Jones to honour the veterans as the MV Boudicca passes. The crew of HMS Queen Elizabeth will form Procedure Alpha – lining the decks around the ship, wearing their No 1 uniform, with medals. As the vessel departs it will be escorted by a Type-23 Royal Navy frigate, HMS St Albans, a Canadian warship and four Royal Navy P2000s. As the ships sail out there will be up to 11 Royal Navy warships lined up on their route from the harbour out to NAB Tower. The full sail-past will take no longer than 10 minutes and will be accompanied by a Spitfire flypast. It is scheduled to start at 7.25pm. D-Day commemorations – Sail past Everything you need to know is here. 6:20PM John ‘Jock’ Hutton and Harry Read have made it safely to France Here they are, aged 95 and 94, both enjoying a well earned sit down. All smiles in Sannerville Credit: Sky News A very touching image of Jock Hutton, 94, who is taking a moment to drink it all in. Jock Hutton takes a moment Credit: Sky News 6:15PM One of the nonagenarians has touched down Safe touchdown in Sannerville Credit: Sky News A warm embrace Credit: Sky News Ninety year old nerves of steel Credit: Sky News 6:03PM We’re waiting for these chaps Watch DDay75 Airborne veterans Harry Read & Jock Hutton as they board their aircraft at @IWMDuxford with the @RedDevilsOnline to parachute onto the Sannerville drop zone in Normandy to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day pic.twitter.com/uEmZH5QUFV— 16AirAssaultBrigade (@16AirAssltBde) June 5, 2019 Harry Read, 95, and John “Jock” Hutton, 94, both parachuted into Normandy during the 1944 operation. Mr Read was a 20-year-old wireless officer with the Royal Signals when he was pushed out of the plane in the early hours of June 6 1944. Mr Hutton, who descended to the famous Pegasus Bridge, was 19-years-old and serving with the 13th Lancashire Parachute Regiment when he jumped. They’re getting ready to land now. 5:55PM Touchdown in France Phoebe Southworth, in Sannerville has been speaking to veterans who are watching the parachutists come in. Kenneth Lang, 96, was part of the 13th (Lancashire) Parachute Battalion, having joined the forces when he was just 19. He parachuted into Granville at about 1am on D-Day then spent the following weeks fighting off German forces as they tried to recapture bridges that had been taken by British forces. The great-grandfather and father-of-four told The Daily Telegraph: “When I was about to jump from the plane I wasn’t thinking about anything apart from the job that I had to do. “We shouldn’t have been thinking about anything else. It’s what we were trained to do. “I just chatted to my colleagues – we were close, we’d been together for about 12 months at that point.” Kenneth Lang, 96, was part of the 13th (Lancashire) Parachute Battalion on D-Day Credit: Telegraph Kenneth was discharged from duty when a piece of shrapnel shattered the top of his left hand about three weeks after D-Day. He said of the horrific injury: “The top of my hand was all exposed and bones were protruding out of it. “I was holding a gun at the time and the shrapnel went straight through my wrist and out of the other side.” It was only 45 years after the war that he felt able to celebrate D-Day. “I was just glad that it was over after the war ended,” he said. This is a video showing the first landings. Parachutists landing in Sannerville this afternoon to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day DDay75DDayLandingpic.twitter.com/RQUXbZKcPi— Phoebe Southworth (@PhoebeS1992) June 5, 2019 5:35PM Parachutists from the Dakota planes are preparing to land The first parachutists are about to touch down in Sannerville. Our reporter Phoebe Southworth is on the ground and will be hearing from them soon. There will be four waves of jumpers. Nearing Caen. https://t.co/30Ep6jXbNPDDay75DaksOverNormandypic.twitter.com/w0jyAnAXD1— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) June 5, 2019 5:18PM Veterans share their stories Senior Reporter Patrick Sawer is in Portsmouth and has been chatting to some remarkable veterans. Les Budding It was Les Budding’s job to keep Frederick Collins and his comrades alive on D-Day. At the tender age of 19 the Royal Marine was tasked with laying down covering fire to keep the Germans pinned down, while Collins, and the rest of 45 Commando, waded onto Sword Beach. It was a vision of hell through which, by some miracle, both men survived. They never met and it was only five months ago that Mr Budding discovered Mr Collins had been on his landing craft, after his carer mentioned his father had also taken part in the Normandy landings. As they swapped memories, it emerged Philip Collins’ father Frederick had in fact been among the troops on Mr Budding’s landing craft that day. Mr Collins died some years ago, and Mr Budding, now 94, was determined to travel to Portsmouth yesterday to remember him and all those who never made it back from the D-Day beaches. “I count my blessings that I’ve got this far,” he said. “The noise from the guns made our ears bleed. It was just the most incredible sight. Awful. We all saw some terrible things, but we were so focused on what we had to do we just had to get on with it.” Mr Budding, who provided covering fire for two waves of troops wading ashore, says he now despairs at the arguments between European leaders and the British government over our countries’ future relations, given the sacrifice that so many made for the continent’s peace and freedom. “To think of what me and my comrades, lads like Philip’s father, did for Europe, it’s disgusting we can’t sort things out,” he said. Philip Collins said: “I’m just so proud of what men like Les and my father did. We owe them all so much.” Les Budding, on the rights, tands with Philip Collins, 62, who is the son of the late F.E. Collins of 45 Commando, who fought alongside Budding on D-Day Credit: AP Photo/Ben Jary Bessie Thomas When her screen lit up in the early hours of June 6 1944 Bessie Thomas realised something big was up. Having spent her time tracing the route of enemy aircraft making their way across the Channel on bombing raids over England, the young radar operator now noticed heavy traffic going in the opposite direction. “I was watching the screen for enemy planes coming our way as usual,” said Mrs Thomas, who was stationed in Suffolk with RAF Fighter Command. “Suddenly the screen was full of planes flying over to France. It was the moment we realised something was happening. “We’d been waiting for it, but it was a few days before we and the public were told it was D-Day.” Mrs Thomas, now 95, said she and her colleagues were acutely aware of the importance of their role, but she wears her obvious pride lightly. “I was doing something to win the war. But I was only a little cog in a big wheel. I was privileged to take part.” Mrs Thomas, who after the war married and had two children, hopes this week’s commemorative events in Portsmouth and Normandy will remind people of the sacrifice that is sometimes required to protect a way of life from mortal threat. “We didn’t run off when the war started. We all did our bit,” she said. “And I want us to keep that feeling.” British Royal Air Force Chief of the Air Staff Sir Stephen Hillier chats to veteran Bessie Thomas (R), aged 95 during the commemorations for the 75th Anniversary of the D-Day landings in Southsea Common, Portsmouth Credit: Photo by Cpl Cathy Sharples /BRITISH MINISTRY OF DEFENCE 4:59PM Touchdown in Shannon Following on from his three day state visit to the UK, President Trump is now in Ireland where he will meet Leo Varadkar, Ireland’s Taoiseach. Then, he will fly to his Trump golf course in Doonbeg. The first picture of the First Couple Credit: REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne 4:44PM President Trump lands on Irish soil This is the first time he has visited Ireland since becoming president of the United States. Here is the fist picture of Air Force One on the tarmac. U.S. President Donald Trump lands in Ireland Credit: REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne 4:40PM D-Day proclamation signed by 16 countries represented in Portsmouth I’m delighted that the 16 countries represented at D-Day commemorations in Portsmouth have today agreed a historic Proclamation affirming our shared responsibility to ensure the horror of the Second World War is never repeated.DDay75pic.twitter.com/Sd2mQczehm— Theresa May (@theresa_may) June 5, 2019 In it, is the phrase “We commit to work construcively as friends and allies to find common ground where we have differences of opinion.” The document will now be donated to the Imperial War Museum. 4:23PM Watch the display here We have the live stream of the Red Arrow display. A message from the Red Arrows to the veterans Credit: BBC 4:17PM Track the planes online This flight tracking site is following the Dakota planes as they head towards France. Now tracking: DaksOverDuxford on their way to DaksOverNormandy as 30 Dakotas mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day. Lead aircraft: https://t.co/x2eM9PYPc1DDay75pic.twitter.com/RLaTgaXTw3— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) June 5, 2019 And now the Red Arrows have taken off and are flying over Portsmouth. They’ll be performing a 23-minute display. The Red Arrows take to the skies over Portsmouth Credit: BBC 4:06PM The Dakotas are taking off A little delayed, but the 35 ‘Daks’ planes are beginning to taxi at Duxford. They’ll be recreating the path taken by the planes 75 years ago. They’ll fly over Colchester, Southend on Sea and Eastbourne before heading over the English Channel. When they get over Normandy, four waves of parachutists will jump from around 800ft. A Douglas C-53 named D-Day Doll takes off from the runway at the Imperial War Museum Duxford Credit: Joe Giddens/PA Live scenes at Duxford Credit: BBC 3:57PM The oldest parachutist jumping into Normandy Thanks Gareth. Ahead of the Red Arrows display, our Defence Correspondent Dom Nicholls has been speaking to 95-year-old Harry Read – the oldest parachutist jumping into Normandy. Previously head of the South Asian army, he was a wireless operator with the parachute regiment. Sent as a ford party for landings, he landed on June 6 at 0050 was dropped in the wrong place in an area Germans had flooded. He spent 16 hours trying to get out of the marsh and some of his comrades died there. They had been told before they left to expect a 50 per cent casualty rate on landing. “We young fellows who thought we were immortal suddenly had to change our tune. The odds on us returning were quite a deal lower than the odds of surviving. It required a mental adjustment,” he said. Harry’s stick of paratroopers met horrific anti aircraft fire as they jumped into Normandy, “tracer bullets were flying around all over the place, it was a very hazardous situation to go into”. Getting out of the aircraft was difficult because of the buffeting from the shelling that threw the men around. “Getting out was almost a pleasure even though we knew there were people waiting for us that were not very warmly disposed towards us.” They flew in low as the aircraft was a big target. As he jumped, he saw one plane nearby going down in flames. Harry says he was relieved to get out even though he was convinced there was “something quite nasty” waiting for him. He carried a sten gun which he described as awful as it was only accurate to about 50 yards. “And you don’t always want to be 50 yards away from the enemy, do you?” he asks. Veteran Harry Read, who is taking part in a parachute drop in Normandy for the 75th anniversary of D-Day Credit: Steve Parsons/PA 3:41PM Still to come this evening… There is still plenty to come this afternoon and later on this evening. 4.15pm – Red Arrows display 7pm – HMS Queen Elizabeth salute 7.25pm – Royal Navy sail past 7.40pm – Battle of Britain flypast 11pm – Midnight vigil in Normandy And with Trump taking his leave, so too does Gareth Davies. To take you through the evening on The Telegraph’s D-Day live blog is Jamie Johnson. 3:26PM Donald Trump leaves the UK The president has left the UK having boarded a plane at Southampton. Having flown from Portsmouth to Southampton on Marine One, he boarded Air Force One for a flight to Shannon in Ireland. There, he will hold talks with Prime Minister Leo Varadkar before heading to Doonbeg where he will spend the night at the Trump Golf Club. Here, we take a look at his love affair with Britain. 3:11PM D-Day veteran’s harrowing account of landings One of the veterans who met the Queen following today’s national commemorative service in Portsmouth gave a first-hand account of his involvement in the Normandy Landings The Telegraph last Saturday. Ted Cordery among those meeting Prince William at the Imperial War Museum in 2017 Credit: Reuters Ted Cordery, 95, was a leading seaman torpedoman aboard HMS Belfast during D Day. Joe Shute, who is down in Portsmouth for The Telegraph caught up with Mr Cordery, who recalled the harrowing events of the D-Day landing. “We arrived at 6am on D-Day and opened fire on the German coastal forces with our six-inch naval guns. We were about half a mile from the beach. When the Army started going inland, our job was to fire over their heads at the Germans. It seemed to work – later we received congratulations from General Montgomery. But the scene when the British troops started landing was shocking. “They were wading through water up to their waists with all the heavy equipment, and when they made it to the beach they were fired on. A number of landing craft didn’t quite reach the beach and lots of men who went into the deep water drowned. I saw them floating about in the water, which really upset me. All they went through to end up like that. “The sound was terrible. Guns firing all the time. Every broadside [volley of gunfire] pushes the ship over a considerable amount. You always had to be on the lookout for a Luftwaffe plane dropping mines, even for weeks afterwards. We were there until August. “I have tragic memories of when those poor men came back to the ship wounded. On the beaches they were put on pontoons and carried out to Belfast. I would help carry them up to the flight deck. “When I saw their injuries it broke my heart. Faces blown away, arms, legs. I doubted many of them survived. Those faces are still with me. When I think about them I can’t control my emotions. It was a very necessary operation but also a very costly one.” 2:27PM Mass parachute drop in Normandy A mass parachute drop has begun in Sannerville, Normandy. The display started on Wednesday afternoon with flypasts from the Battle of Britain Memorial Spitfire and Battle of Britain Memorial Dakota. Six paratroopers descended from the Dakota. The first parachutist out was Brigadier John Clark, commander of the British Army’s 16 Air Assault Brigade. Four C130 Hercules aircraft then flew over from which two British and two French paratroopers also emerged. Some 280 paratroopers are taking part in the event. The parachutists are landing in fields which were used as a drop zone for the 8th (Midlands) Parachute Battalion, who went on to destroy bridges in a bid to restrict German movements during the missions in June 1944. Crowds of people lined the road nearby to watch the display and have been cheering the parachutists. 2:27PM Lance Corporal, 98, on emotional day in Portsmouth For 98-year-old Richard Samson, the D-Day commemoration is a poignant chance to remember those comrades who perished during the Second World War, writes Steve Bird, who is in Portsmouth for The Telegraph. The former lance corporal who served as a gunner with the Royal Artillery can to this day vividly recall being evacuated from Dunkirk, serving in the Desert Rats in the western desert, invading Sicily before being summoned home to take part in the Normandy landings where he helped deliver supplies. Richard Samson Credit: Heathcliff O’Malley “We lost a lot more in Dunkirk than in Normandy,’ he said, with his wife, Lilian, also 98, by his side at the ceremony in Portsmouth. “But, we lost a lot of our comrades back in France during the Normandy landings. So, it’s quite emotional to be here today.” Mr Samson, from Sandwich in Kent, admits that his thoughts will turn to his close friend, Alfred Mather, who perished in a battle in the desert. “I had to bury him,” said Mr Samson, who has five grand children and three great grand children. 2:19PM ‘Visit us again,’ Queen tells Trump The Queen and Donald Trump have parted company on the third and final day of his state visit to Britain. According to CBS’ White House Correspondent Mark Knoller, her departing remarks to the president was that she hopes he “comes to this country again”. As they said their farewells, The Queen was heard to tell @POTUS she hopes he “comes to this country again.”— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) June 5, 2019 2:08PM Midshipman recalls avoiding German fire on Juno Beach Arthur Hampson, 93, from Merseyside, was a midshipman with the Royal Navy on D-Day, landing on Juno Beach. “As the ramp went down, there was quite a lot of fire coming at us from the shore,” he said. “We could see the red flashes coming from houses that the Germans were in on the waterfront. “We were popping at the window where we could see that the enemy was shooting at us.” Juno Beach in Courseulles-sur-Mer, France Credit: Jane Barlow/PA He described the service as a “great experience” but said he did not regard himself as a hero. Mr Hampson said that after D-Day, he returned to Portsmouth. “I was having a quiet pint in a pub in Southsea,” he said. “The past 24 hours seemed unreal. We were talking to people in the pub and I think they didn’t believe a word we were saying.” 2:04PM Portsmouth sergeant’s ‘overwhelming’ pride at being asked to speak Veterans have spoken of their pride at attending the D-Day 75th anniversary event in Portsmouth and said it will be an emotional chance to remember their comrades who did not return. Sergeant John Jenkins, 99, from Portsmouth, is doing a reading at the National Commemorative Event attended by the Queen, US President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Theresa May and leaders of other nations involved in the operation. Mr Jenkins was serving with the Pioneer Corps on D-Day and landed on Gold Beach on June 8 in 1944. “Obviously I will think of all my mates that didn’t come back,” he said. “I can’t say any particular one because we were all comrades together, that was the thing. “We were all comrades together and that’s what carries us through – the comradeship was really something quite marvellous.” John Jenkins, 99, on stage Credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP Mr Jenkins said he felt “overwhelmed” to be at the service and to be chosen to do a reading. “It is something that will last in my memory for a long time,” he said. 1:57PM Petty officer’s heartbreaking account of burying comrade A veteran attending the National Commemorative Event to mark 75 years since D-Day emotionally described preparing a dead serviceman for sea burial. Alfred Fuzzard, 97, from Bexhill, was a petty officer in the Royal Navy during the Normandy landings. He recounted how his task during D-Day was to protect marines from aerial and surface attacks. “We had rocket ships behind us – we could hear the shells going over the top of us,” he said. He said he could “feel the heat” of bombs that had been deployed shortly before their arrival on the beach. Later on, he began retrieving bodies from the beaches. “We started to pick up bodies and this chap we picked up on the evening of D-Day – he had to be buried,” Mr Fuzzard said, his voice cracking with emotion. “I wanted him to be sent home. But they said ‘there’s too many of them’. “He had a picture of his wife, his two children. There was me sewing him up ready for burial the next day. “I feel it now. I can just see the picture all the time, every time I think about it. “There was no name, nothing on him. When we went for D-Day we weren’t to carry any ID whatsoever but he carried this photograph of his wife. “I think he wanted to keep it near his heart in case he died. Every time I think about it, it upsets me, even now after all this. “Then we stopped picking up bodies.” Alfred Fuzzard Credit: Claire Hayhurst/PA He was on Landing Craft 30 and left Portsmouth at 2pm on the day before D-Day, carrying Royal Marines and sailors on board. “I wouldn’t have missed D-Day for the world,” he said. “It was a bit rough going over but it calmed down when we got near the beach. The RAF had carpet bombed the beaches before we got there. “It was dawn when we arrived on Sword Beach.” Mr Fuzzard, who is travelling on the Royal British Legion’s cruise to mark the anniversary, praised the RAF who “saved a lot of British lives” during the operations. 1:45PM Trump is ‘one of the boys’, veteran says The Queen, Mr Trump and Prince Charles met with six veterans following the ceremony. In a small reception also attended by the First Lady, Donald Trump told the veterans of his honour to meet them. Thomas Cuthbert, 93, said of the president: “He came across very well, he surprised me, he seemed one of the boys.” 1:44PM Hundreds of veterans to be honoured with sail past Up to 300 veterans will be honoured during D-Day commemorative events at Portsmouth on Wednesday. The Royal British Legion have chartered a cruise liner, the MV Boudicca, to take the Normandy veterans on a tour of D-Day commemorative events. A Royal Marine Band and a Guard of Honour – formed by the company of the HMS Queen Elizabeth – will join Prime Minister Theresa May, Secretary of State for Defence Penny Mordaunt and First Sea Lord Sir Philip Jones to honour the veterans as the MV Boudicca passes. D-Day 75th anniversary: The Portsmouth and Normandy celebrations, in pictures For the route, times and where to watch the ships in Portsmouth – read the article below. 1:37PM ‘NHS will never be privatised,’ says No 10 Asked if Theresa May welcomed the president’s U-turn on the NHS, a Downing Street spokeswoman said: “The Government position is that the NHS will never be privatised, and that won’t change as part of any trade deal.” The spokeswoman said she was “not aware” of any further talks between Mr Trump and Mrs May that might have changed the president’s mind over the course of Tuesday afternoon. “He set out his view,” the spokeswoman said. “What is important is that our position is very clear.” 1:24PM Trump tweets D-Day tribute before flying to Ireland As we approach the 75th Anniversary of D-Day, we proudly commemorate those heroic and honorable patriots who gave their all for the cause of freedom during some of history’s darkest hours. DDay75https://t.co/hjTkdM7VcN— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 5, 2019 1:12PM Theresa May holds meetings with world leaders Theresa May was holding a series of bilateral meetings with world leaders at the D-Day event. The Queen is flanked by Prince Charles and world leaders Credit: Jack Hill Downing Street said she had met Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki and was due to have talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Canada’s Justin Trudeau. “The main theme of the talks today is about shared security,” a Downing Street spokeswoman said. 1:02PM Donald Trump and Melania talking to British veterans The US president and his wife the First Lady were seen laughing and sharing stories with British veterans after watching the commemorations on Southsea Common. 12:58PM Queen and Charles meeting D-Day veterans The Queen and Prince Charles are meeting a selection of veterans backstage at Portsmouth. Both royals are deep in conversation with those who played a part in the D-Day landings 75 years ago. 12:50PM ‘Honoured’ Sheridan Smith ‘still shaking’ after performances Sheridan Smith, who performed twice, said “it was such an honour – I’m still shaking”. She added: “Everything they went through and these classic war songs, to be able to sing those and meet the veterans, I’m just so humbled and honoured to be here and it’s emotional “Being out there and singing We’ll Meet Again… we all pull together in a time of need, and you really feel that today. “I’ve got goosebumps.” 12:46PM Queen leaves the royal box Her Majesty has left the royal box at the end of the D-Day events. She was trailed by the rest of the world leaders, some of whom will meet the veterans. 12:40PM D-Day flypast begins One of the most striking moments of the D-Day commemorations in Portsmouth will be the UK military aircraft flypast. HMS St Albans will fire a gun salute in the waters of the Solent, adjacent to the Royal Navy War Memorial on Portsmouth Esplanade, and her four Saluting Guns will fire simultaneously to mark the start of the flypast. Here is the formation and all you need to know on the aircraft forming the spectacular aerial show. D-Day commemorations – UK military aircraft flypast Everything you need to know is in this piece here. 12:38PM Sheridan Smith performs “We’ll Meet Again” The iconic 1939 British song was made famous by singer Vera Lynn. Sheridan Smith performs We’ll Meet Again Credit: Paul Grover for The Telegraph The song is one of the most famous of the Second World War era, and resonated with military personnel going off to fight as well as with their families. 12:36PM Queen pays tribute to resilience of D-Day generation Her Majesty The Queen addresses from within the royal box on behalf of the United Kingdom and the collected Heads of Government. She pays tribute to the resilience of the D-Day generation. Her Majesty thanks the soldiers and says it is her honour to be in Portsmouth today. Here is The Queen’s address in full: “Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, “When I attended the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the D-Day Landings, some thought it might be the last such event. But the wartime generation – my generation – is resilient, and I am delighted to be with you in Portsmouth today. “Seventy-five years ago, hundreds of thousands of young soldiers, sailors and airmen left these shores in the cause of freedom. “In a broadcast to the nation at that time, my Father, King George VI, said: ‘…what is demanded from us all is something more than courage and endurance; we need a revival of spirit, a new unconquerable resolve…’ “That is exactly what those brave men brought to the battle, as the fate of the world depended on their success. “Many of them would never return, and the heroism, courage and sacrifice of those who lost their lives will never be forgotten. “It is with humility and pleasure, on behalf of the entire country – indeed the whole free world – that I say to you all, thank you.” 12:34PM Portsmouth D-Day veteran, 99, on stage British veteran John Jenkins reflects on his beach landing in Normandy and speak on behalf of all his gathered and fallen comrades. John was a platoon sergeant with the Pioneer Corps when he landed on D-Day. He is 99 years old, a Portsmouth resident and regularly talks at The D-Day Story museum. John Jenkins on stage Credit: BBC He received an MBE in the 1970’s for his service in the Territorial Army where he held the rank of Company Sergeant Major. Speaking at the service, he said: “I was 23 years old when I landed on Gold Beach. “I was terrified, I think everyone was. I look back on it as a big part of my life. “I was just a small part in a very big machine.” He said he was “honoured” to be at the service along with other D-Day veterans. “You never forget your comrades because we were all in it together,” he said. “It is right that the courage and sacrifice of so many is being honoured 75 years on. We must never forget.” He receives a huge standing ovation. 12:32PM Pipers playing on Normandy beaches Piper Alastair Parks reads an extract from Bill Millin’s autobiography recounting his experience of playing on the Normandy beaches. Piper Alastair Parks currently serves with 4 SCOTS, The Highlanders, 4th Battalion The Royal Scottish Regiment. “I jumped off the ramp as quickly as possible holding the bagpipes above my head, and landed in the water up to my waist. “I felt myself falling backwards due to the weight of my rucksack. Luckily someone pulled me upright and I struggled through the water. “There was a lot of noise, the sound of automatic fire and what appeared to be mortar shells bursting on the beach away to the right. “I placed the bagpipes on my shoulder, blew them up, and started to play Highland Laddie as I waded the few yards to the beach. “Lovat turned his head towards me when he heard the pipes. He looked at me for a moment, appeared to smile, then continued on his way. “The sound of explosions and the whine of bullets seemed very much close, even above the drone of the pipes, as I now stepped on the beach. “The Pipes and Drums Band from 4 SCOTS, The Highlanders, 4 th Battalion The Royal Scottish Regiment will start to play and march through the audience aisles.” Sergeant Stephen Bennett then reads from the memories of Private Tom Duncan of the Gordon Highlanders Regiment as he landed on Sword beach. Sergeant Stephen Bennett currently serves as a Pipe Sergeant of the Pipes and Drums Regiment, 1st Battalion Scots Guard. “I shall never forget hearing the skirl of Bill Millin’s pipes. It is hard to describe the impact it had. It gave us a great lift and increased our determination. “As well as the pride we felt, it reminded us of home and why we were there fighting for our lives and those of our loved ones.” The Pipes and Drums Band will play ‘Highland Laddie’ as they march onto the walkways either side of the Main Stage. The band will be formed of 13 pipers, 7 drummers (4 snares, 2 tenor and 1 bass) and 1 drum major with Mace. 12:29PM Emotional commemorations takes its toll A man was seen wiping tears from his eyes during the performance on Southsea Common. A man reacts during an event to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day Credit: Reuters 12:27PM Eisenhower’s speech read out on stage as part of play performance An extract from the play “Pressure” is performed. This extract focuses on the moment that Stagg tells Eisenhower there is a break in the weather. Malcolm Sinclair – who plays Eisenhower in the play “Pressure”- Eisenhower’s D-Day speech. 12:23PM Reconstruction of Normandy landings by sea played out Jonathan Bailey, dressed in 1940’s military costume, reads from the memories of Royal Naval Electrician RG Watts as he left Southampton for Normandy in June 1944. On stage he will be surround by 7 others, staged as if in a landing craft. Jonathan Bailey, dressed in 1940’s military costume, reads from the memories of Royal Naval Electrician RG Watts Credit: BBC “The troop landing craft was packed to full capacity. There was no cover for the army, just standing or sitting – exposed to the elements. “The weather conditions were atrocious. A force 8 gale was blowing. The craft, built with a flat bottom hull, was tossed about in all directions. “As the craft’s bows dived into the trough of the waves, the engines, having no resistance, due to the propeller coming out of the sea, would roar away and then the noise would stabilize when the bows came out of the trough. “By this time, I estimate that 90% of the soldiers were extremely sea sick, just holding on to anything to hand, and the crew was unable to help them. “I remember looking down from the poop deck at those soldiers and thinking what a healthy lot they were, all that training for fitness, but now old Mother Nature was laughing at us. “The stench of diesel oil and vomit all over the deck became a situation one would not forget in a hurry. “Experiencing these conditions right through a very dark night, being tossed about in such a rough sea, caused us to reach a state of exhaustion. Our eyes felt as heavy as lead.” (Source – BBC’s People’s Archive project) Max Befort, dressed in 1940’s military costume, then reads an extract from the memoir of Private Franz Gockel’s of the 352nd division German Army as he guarded the Normandy coast. “During the evening hours on the 5th of June, like so often before, a debate raged in the bunker over the possibility of invasion. “The opinions were varied, and with heated argument one group was convinced that the English or Americans would never attempt to land here. I stood at my sentry post. “Like so often before, the duty seemed to last an eternity. Finally I was relieved, and I trotted to the bunker to try to get a few hours rest before I had to be awakened again. “At the bunker stood a comrade who had also just been relieved at his post and was reporting to the sergeant of the watch over the radio. “I said to him ‘I hope that we don’t have more of those damned exercise alerts tonight’ as we so often had in the past, and I disappeared into the bunker deep under the ground. Quickly the overcoat and boots were pulled off and I dove into my bunk.” (Source – Memoirs and Diaries of Private Franz Gockel, 2nd World War Experience Centre, Leeds) 12:16PM War play extract performed on stage An extract from the play “Pressure” by David Haig is performed on stage. “Pressure” is a dramatisation of the story of British meteorologist Group Captain Hames Stagg who advised Eisenhower before D-Day. Pressure performed on stage Credit: BBC The extract will be performed by David Haig, Malcolm Sinclair, Philip Cairns, Andrew Macbean, David Killick and Mark Jax. “Pressure” is a play that centres on the true story of James Staff and Operation Overlord, in particular the weather-forecasting for the D-Day landings and the resultant tentions between Dwight D. Eisenhower, James Stagg ad Irving P. Krick. The Royal Marine Drummers accompany the performance. 12:13PM Theresa May reads heartbreaking letter from D-Day veteran Prime Minister Theresa May reads a letter from Captain Norman Skinner of the Royal Army Service Corps, written to his wife Gladys on 3rd June 1944. This letter was still in his pocket when he landed on Sword Beach on June 6. Captain Skinner was killed the day after, leaving his wife and two young daughters. “My darling this is a very difficult letter for me to write. As you know something may happen at any moment and I cannot tell when you will receive this. “I had hoped to be able to see you during last weekend but it was impossible to get away and all the things I intended to say must be written. “I’m sure that anyone with imagination must dislike the thought of what’s coming, but my fears will be more of being afraid than of what can happen to me. “You and I have had some lovely years which now seemed to have passed at lightning speed. “My thoughts at this moment, in this lovely Saturday afternoon, are with you all now. I can imagine you in the garden having tea with Janey and Anne getting ready to put them to bed. “Although I would give anything to be back with you, I have not yet had any wish at all to back down from the job we have to do. “There is so much that I would like to be able to tell you. Nearly all of which you’ve heard many, many times. But just to say that I mean it even more today. “I’m sure that I will be with you again soon and for good. Please give my fondest love to my Anne and my Janey. God bless and keep you all safe for me.” A telegram is then shown on screen, accompanied by a voice over. “Dear Mrs Skinner, it is with the upmost difficulty that I write to offer you my most profound sympathies on the untimely death of your husband. “All the time he had been under my command, he had done a grand job of work. Should there be any matters of which I could be of assistance, please do not hesitate to let me know. Yours very sincerely.” 12:10PM Memories: Soldiers gather in on the south coast Callum Woodhouse, dressed in 1940’s civilian costume, performs a read-out from the memories of civilian Alan Atkins of the build-up of soldiers and equipment on the south coast of England, June 1944. “When my father came home for his dinner, he was very excited. “It’s on Rose,” he kept saying, “we’re going for sure. This is history in the making.” “By the time we got to the top of our road we could hear a continuous roaring sound. There were lots of people going the same way as us and some were carrying little flags on sticks. Everybody was talking, even to people they didn’t know. “Some even spoke to my mother. “Good news, missus. We’re going.” “Yes”, my mother would reply, “it would seem so. I hope it is not just an exercise though.” “Not this time, missus,” another man replied, “I heard that the docks are full of boats. Full of them. Three and four deep at each berth. It’s on for sure.” “The roaring had been getting louder and louder – then we saw what was causing it. Two continuous lines of trucks, roaring down the road towards the town, and the docks. “Some trucks had tarpaulins covering huge piles of boxes and crates, but most had soldiers, standing up smiling and waving at us.” (Source – BBC’s People’s Archive project) 12:07PM ‘D-Day a national and multinational endeavour’ Chief of the Defence Staff, General Sir Nicholas Carter, pays tribute to the tactical ingenuity that lead to the success of the Normandy Landings. Chief of the Defence Staff, General Sir Nicholas Carter Credit: BBC “Technology has always played a decisive part in warfare, but never before has so much technical and engineering energy been applied to a single day’s fighting. “The marvellous range of technology that helped to make the landings succeed and ensured that over two million men and half a million vehicles could be landed in the ensuing months included amphibious and mine clearing tanks, Mulberry harbours, gliders, undersea pipelines, self-heating soup cans, air-portable motor-bikes – all reflected British ingenuity and innovation at its best. “A host of civilian scientists, mathematicians and engineers saw their ideas transformed into reality by the very best of British industry, working round the clock to deliver what was needed for the front line. “Above all D-Day was a truly national endeavour. A segment on screens will highlight the Homefront war effort.” A segment on screens highlights the Homefront war effort. 12:01PM Emmanuel Macron reads last letter of 16-year-old executed fighter French President Emmanuel Macron stands and speaks during an event to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings Credit: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP President Emmanuel Macron reads in French last letter of a young resistance fighter Henri Fertet, executed at just 16 years old. My dear parents, My letter is going to cause you great sorrow, but I have seen you so full of courage in the past that I do not doubt that you will remain courageous, if only out of love for me. I am going to die for my country. I want France to be free and the French to be happy. I do not want France to be arrogant and the world’s leading nation but hard-working, industrious and honest. The most important thing is for the French people to be happy. In life, you need to know how to take happiness where you find it. Do not worry about me, I will keep my bravery and my good humour to the last and I will sing “Sambre et Meuse” because it was you, my dearly beloved mother, who taught it to me. The soldiers are coming to get me. I must hurry. My handwriting may look wobbly but it is just because I am using a small pencil. I am not afraid of death, my conscience is completely clear. Adieu, death is calling me, I do not want to be blindfolded or bound. My love to you all. Ultimately, it is hard to face death. A thousand kisses. Long live France. Sir Willard White then performs Le Chant Des Partisans, the anthem of the French Resistance. The song was one of the most important and frequently performed songs in the French Resistance and became a symbol of France’s stand against the Nazis. 11:58AM Female agents commemorated at D-Day commemorations A tribute to the female agents of the Special Operations Executive is read. Of the several hundred SOE agents working behind enemy lines, 55 were women. Members of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry will march onto the stage. The First Aid Nursing Yeomanry is (Princess Royal’s Volunteer Corps), founded in 1907, is an all-female voluntary organisation which deploys multi-faceted rapid response teams to support civil and military authorities in times of crisis. D-Day commemorations One major contribution by the FANY to the work of the SOE was in Communications, in both Signals and Cipher departments, where they received intensive training on Morse code. Another major contribution was the FANY agents in the field: they worked mainly in France. Thirty-nine of the 50 women sent into France were FANYs, of whom 13 were captured and murdered by the Gestapo. Emma Mackey, dressed in 1940s French civilian costume, reads an extract from an interview with Agent Yvonne Cormeau. “After my husband was killed in November 1940 I joined up the WAAF and I put my little girl in a school in the country. “I had declared to them that I spoke German, Spanish and that I was fluent in French. This filtered through the Ministry and suddenly I was being interrogated to see if I was suitable for the SOE, I joined them in 1943. “After extensive radio operator training I was parachuted into France on the 22nd August, north-east of Bordeaux. “The reception committee consisted of five men from the resistance. Over the next year I hid in villages with no water, and was shot at by the gestapo, then one day myself and my group leader, codenamed Hilaire had our closest run in. “We were told that Germans were getting closer to where we were based, that they were coming from the two roads from the east and the west, so we took one due south hoping to escape them; we hadn’t gone 15 Kilometres when we came face to face with one personnel carrier. “They stopped us and told to get out of the car, then they put us in the ditch, with two soldiers in between us, both had a pistol, one in my back, one in Llias back. “The soldier in charge was telling somebody on the radio that he had stopped a tobacco inspector and a woman, the woman had a district nurse card on her and what was he to do with them. We waited and waited, my perspiration was coming down, the flies were sticking to it. “I couldn’t move because if we moved they would’ve shot immediately, therefore we waited. Then the crackle came up again on his radio. “He told the two soldiers to go away and he told us “get in the car” which we did at once. Then he suddenly asked me what was in the case that had been thrown on the backseat, which of course was my radio set. “I knelt on the seat and opened it for him, he asked me what it was and I said a German word that meant radio as well as X-ray and due to the fact that I had a district nurse card, he assumed it meant X-ray and let us get out. So we got out very fast, the engine was already running.” (Source – Imperial War Museum interview with Yvonne Cormeau) 11:51AM Dancers jive to Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” is played by the orchestra whilst dancers perform on stage. The song was a major hit for American singing group The Andrews Sisters, and an iconic Second World War song. The lyrics of the song focus on a street musician who is drafted into the US Army during the peacetime draft imposed by the Roosevelt administration. 11:51AM Donald Trump takes the stage The US president gave a short speech, before handing over to Jay Rincon, in a 1940s American military uniform, who reads a letter home from Private Arthur Pranger, 6th May 1944. Dear Mom, Well, here I am somewhere in England, we were put in private homes in this town. The people over here will do anything to help you and make you comfortable. They won’t have us clean up the room in the morning. They clean it for us. They sure go for tea in a big way over here. Every time I turn around somebody is always shoving a cup of tea in my fist. People even stop us on the street and invite us for tea and cake. The kids around here are always asking for chewing gum and candy. They can’t get that over here and everything is rationed. There’s hardly any automobiles here and everybody rides a bicycle. They told us all about the bombings over here and this place has been hit quite a few times. There haven’t been any bombings here for quite a while. They watch the movies all Americans watch and they like Bing Crosby here too. They hardly have any heat or hot water and it sure gets cold here. You sure are lucky to be in the States but you’ll never know it till you’ve come over here. They sure are surprised when we tell them everything we get in the States. Well, that’s all for now, but I’ll write again soon. Your Son, Pvt. Arthur Pranger, 86th Chemical Mortar Battalion Donald Trump Credit: Reuters 11:49AM Sheridan Smith performs ‘When the Lights Go On Again’ is performed by Sheridan Smith This song was composed and released during the Second World War and it expresses the hopes for an end to the war all over the world. Sheridan Smith’s first performance Credit: Paul Grover for The Telegraph This song was performed near the beginning of the event to illustrate when many nations across the world joined the Second World War. 11:46AM Three serving soldiers read Tehran Conference extracts Three serving military personnel from 3 of the Allied Nations read extracts from the Tehran Conference. The Tehran Conference was a 1943 meeting between Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin to discuss military strategy against Germany, that culminated in the first plans for Operation Overlord. The declaration included in the National Commemorative Event script is testament to the conference’s role in the development of the United Nations – this was the first time that other Great Powers had lent their support to Roosevelt’s great plan. 11:43AM Justin Trudeau reads extract from first Canadian Victoria Cross Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reads the Victoria Cross citation of Lieutenant-Colonel Cecil Merritt – in English and French). Lieutenant-Colonel Cecil Merritt was the first Canadian to be awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry and inspired leadership during the disastrous raid on Dieppe in 1942. President Trudeau’s grandfather James Sinclair fought in the Second World War as part of the Canadian Armed Forces. He was an RCAF Squadron Leader in the Sahara and served as an officer in the RCAF at the same time as he was an MP representing Vancouver North. “From the point of landing, his unit’s advance had to be made across a bridge in Pourville which was swept by very heavy machine-gun, mortar and artillery fire: the first parties were mostly destroyed and the bridge thickly covered by their bodies. “A daring lead was required; waving his helmet, Lieutenant-Colonel Merritt rushed forward shouting ‘Come on over! There’s nothing to worry about here.’ “He thus personally led the survivors of at least four parties in turn across the bridge. Quickly organising these, he led them forward and when held by enemy pill-boxes he again headed rushes which succeeded in clearing them. “After several of his runners became casualties, he himself kept contact with his different positions. Although twice wounded Lieutenant-Colonel Merritt continued to direct the unit’s operations with great vigour and determination. “He then coolly gave orders for the departure and announced his intention to hold off and ‘get even with’ the enemy. “When last seen he was collecting Bren and Tommy guns and preparing a defensive position which successfully covered the withdrawal from the beach. Lieutenant-Colonel Merritt is now reported to be a Prisoner of War.” (Source – London Gazette 35729, 2nd October 1942) 11:41AM Churchill’s famous speech played to audience An extract from Winston Churchill’s famous “We Shall Fight on the Beaches” speech plays on Southsea Common. “The British Empire and the French Republic, linked together in their cause and in their need, will defend to the death their native soil, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of their strength. “Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. “We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; We shall never surrender.” 11:39AM Extract from French civilian in Paris as country fell Antonia Desplat, in 1940s Parisian costume, reads an extract from the memoir of Violette Leduc, a civilian living in Paris as France fell. “The enemy were advancing, they were gaining ground, everyone else had cleared out. I was scared, I begged my mother to leave. We finally left at half-past five one morning, through the silent streets, the silent buildings. “It was heart-breaking to see the bricks, the stones, the pavements, the churches, the benches, the squares, the bus stops, the curtains and the shutters all abandoned to their solitude, everything induced such pity. “Paris was a human ruin. We followed the procession streaming along both sides of the road. Mothers nursing their infants in the ditches, young girls tottering along in heels, soldiers singing as they were driven past in trucks, mountains perched on the top of cars and one man making his solitary way with a mattress on his back. “Suburbanites hung out of their windows to watch us pass, our misfortune had become a funeral cortege.” 11:30AM D-Day veterans on stage in Portsmouth D-Day veterans, proudly adorning their gallantry medals, have received an enormous standing ovation by the guests as they walked to the front of the stage in Portsmouth. he audience were entertained by the Tri-Service Orchestra who performed a medley of music from the 1940s before the event began. D-Day veterans, front row, stand on stage Credit: AP They were also treated to the spectacle of a guard of honour, formed of military personnel from Royal Navy, Army and RAF marching through the spectator aisles and onto the main stage. The Queen’s arrival in the royal box was signalled by a fanfare from musicians from the Band of the Royal Marines and the Tri-Service orchestra performed the national anthem. The orchestra performed John Williams’ Hymn to the Fallen which opens the D-Day based war film Saving Private Ryan, and has become associated with Second World War remembrance and memorials. 11:28AM Stunning D-Day display of video of pictures shown The gathered guests are being shown images of the D-Day landings and videos of soldiers’ moving recollections of landing in Normandy. World leaders representing the Allied nations who took part in the D-Day landings also attended, including French president Emmanuel Macron, prime minister of Canada Justin Trudeau and President Donald Trump, who is coming to the end of a three-day state visit to the UK. Other guests included Australia’s prime minister Scott Morrison, prime minister Charles Michel from Belgium, the Czech Republic’s prime minister Andrej Babis and president Prokopis Pavlopoulos from Greece. Chancellor Angela Merkel represented Germany. The PM of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel also attended, as did his counterparts from the Netherlands Mark Rutte, Norway’s Erna Solberg, Poland’s Mateusz Morawiecki and Slovakia’s deputy prime minister Richard Rasi. They all met the Queen before the event began – a first for Mr Macron – and then posed for a group photograph with the monarch and Prince of Wales. 11:24AM God Save Our Queen greets Her Majesty The national anthem has rung out over Southsea Common to greet the arrival of Her Majesty. 11:21AM D-Day commemorations underway The D-Day 75th anniversary events have started in Portsmouth. World leaders, including The Queen and Donald Trump, are all present on Southsea Common to watch the commemorations. 11:13AM Violence of war needed to be met with force, D-Day veteran says Two D-Day veterans have talked of their experience, recalling landing in Normandy 75 years ago. Harry, a 95-year-old former soldier, was 20 when he landed, and told ITV: “The amount of evil, the terrible things that people were doing to each other… “Only the Channel saved us from extinction in our own country. “The violence of war was rearing its head and it needed to be met by force.” Harry (centre) and Jock (right) Credit: ITV Jock, another veteran, said: “In Normandy – my main worry was landing with my kit bag and leg strapped. “I enjoyed hearing the swearing below. I accidentally hit someone in the face when I landed.” 10:45AM Trump arrives in Portsmouth for D-Day events The US president has arrived at Southsea Common in Portsmouth for the D-Day commemorations. 10:19AM Trump slings mud at ‘fake news media’ If the totally Corrupt Media was less corrupt, I would be up by 15 points in the polls based on our tremendous success with the economy, maybe Best Ever! If the Corrupt Media was actually fair, I would be up by 25 points. Nevertheless, despite the Fake News, we’re doing great!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 5, 2019 9:35AM How the papers reacted to day two of the state visit Day two of Donald Trump’s state visit saw a mass protest in London at which Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn spoke. Now the papers have had their say about the Labour leadership’s decision to join the demonstrators. The Times says Mr Corbyn’s decision to attend the protest after boycotting the state dinner “shows Labour’s puerile disregard for the national interest”. The Times Credit: The Times “Such juvenile virtue-signalling is not just childish but damaging to the national interest,” the paper says. “The consequences are already becoming clear. Mr Trump revealed that Mr Corbyn had requested a meeting but that he had, unsurprisingly, refused. “Should Labour succeed in winning power, it will have to deal with a hostile president.” Writing in The Guardian, columnist Gaby Hinsliff says Mr Corbyn’s presence at a demonstration against a “right-wing” US president “feels like a complete no-brainer”. But she adds: “We’re in the odd position where it would be madness for a potential incoming prime minister to address this rally and madness for Jeremy Corbyn not to, given that staying away would be a betrayal of everything Labour members elected him to do and be. “If a breach between Britain and America is coming then it will, of course, be Trump’s fault for pushing his allies to breaking point. Blame the guy whose behaviour inspires mass protests, not the one leading them.” The Guardian Credit: The Guardian The Daily Mail criticises the protesters and Labour, pointing out they were exercising rights of freedom fought for on D-Day – which the president is in Britain to commemorate. The paper says: “Yes, the President has myriad faults. But, terrifyingly, Labour could be in power within months. “In volatile times, the national interest in nurturing good relations with our strongest ally is plain for everyone to see.” Focusing on Mr Trump’s comments on the NHS, the Daily Mirror labels the President “the tyrannical liar from the USA”. “Demanding the National Health Service be up for grabs in any future British-US trade pact explains why Donald Trump enthusiastically backs Brexit,” the paper says. “The President is salivating over a weakened UK desperate for a deal with Washington and anticipating rich pickings for healthcare corporations on his side of the Atlantic.” But the Daily Telegraph says Mr Corbyn’s behaviour “will appal voters”. The Daily Telegraph Credit: The Daily Telegraph “Jeremy Corbyn showed once again that he is not a political leader, but an agitprop campaigner, happier on the fringes of politics, denouncing the enemies of the Left, while consorting with the enemies of his own country,” the paper says. “But Mr Trump also had some uncomfortable home truths for Tory leadership candidates anxious to strike a trade deal with the US after Brexit.” The Daily Express says Mr Corbyn was a “hypocrite” for requesting a meeting with Mr Trump. “Clearly he wanted to fool the British public that he was trying one thing but actually wanted to do the opposite,” the paper says. “Good on Mr Trump for refusing to meet Corbyn. But the Labour leader’s attitude just underlines a distasteful trend in British politics with the Left screaming down anyone who is patriotic.” The Sun says Mr Corbyn is a “career protester, only truly at home when ranting to cheering socialists as angry and dim as he is”. “(Mr Corbyn) abuses the President to excite his fanbase, with no regard for the relationship between our great nations, so vital to the free world,” the paper says. “Trump is right: Corbyn is a “negative force” for Britain. We pray voters never have to find it out the hard way.” 9:09AM ‘Could not have been treated more warmly’, Trump says Could not have been treated more warmly in the United Kingdom by the Royal Family or the people. Our relationship has never been better, and I see a very big Trade Deal down the road. “This trip has been an incredible success for the President.” @IngrahamAngle— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 5, 2019 8:40AM President gifted Churchill-style hat at end of interview At the conclusion of his interview with Piers Morgan, Donald Trump was gifted a personalised hat as worn by Sir Winston Churchill. True to form, the president put it straight on his head. ‘I never knew you had that kind of sensibility!’@piersmorgan gives @POTUS a gift Winston Churchill himself would have loved ��@realDonaldTrump | GMBTrumppic.twitter.com/K3nj0eGiB3— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) June 5, 2019 8:38AM Trump and Queen’s ‘great rapport’ and their 90-minute chat ‘It was really something.’ We can imagine it’ll be tough impressing @POTUS, but the Queen and Buckingham Palace seem to have done the job! He says he and Her Majesty ‘had a great rapport’ and spoke ‘non-stop’ for an hour and a half.@realDonaldTrump | @piersmorgan | GMBTrumppic.twitter.com/kjNk6WxVHG— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) June 5, 2019 8:33AM ‘I have a very good relationship with the UK – I’m half British’ In spite of the protests in central London yesterday, the president insisted he had a good relationship with the UK. ‘I think I have a very good relationship with the people in the United Kingdom.’ President Trump says despite the protests, he still loves the UK and its people. (After all, he is half-British!)@piersmorgan | GMBTrumppic.twitter.com/nGp19lBCG7— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) June 5, 2019 8:01AM Trump criticises London’s knife crime in discussion on guns As a Republican, Donald Trump has to tread carefully when it comes to discussing guns. A recent mass shooting on Virginia Beach saw the killer use a silencer. The president was asked about whether they should be banned. He said: “I don’t like them. I’d like to think about them. Nobody’s talked about silencers very much. I don’t like the idea of what’s happening with schools. And it’s not just in this country. “But in London, everyone’s being stabbed. They say in your hospitals – there’s a sea of blood.” It was quickly put to the president that the knife crime epidemic paled in comparison to the US’ gun violence. The POTUS discusses gun violence with @piersmorgan. He says unarmed civilians are ‘sitting ducks’ and don’t stand a chance when faced with ‘bad guys’ with guns. He adds if people were armed during the Paris attacks ‘it would have never happened’.GMBTrumppic.twitter.com/UI9L56Ifgh— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) June 5, 2019 When asked how to solve the issue, Mr Trump said: “Just talk about it. When someone has a gun illegally and the other people don’t have a gun – they’re gone. They have no chance…they have sitting ducks. “When I think about it is Paris when the whacky people went in to a nightclub and killed so many people. Boom. Boom. Boom. “If there was a gun the other side…” Again, interviewer Piers Morgan pointed out to his subject there were more people killed in the USA in the week of the Bataclan attacks by guns than in Paris since the Second World War. 7:56AM Trump doesn’t see anybody who can beat him in 2020 The president will run for office again in 2020. In 2016, he beat Hilary Clinton, and he sees no Democrat standing in his way when he runs for his second term. Mr Trump said: “I’m running on maybe the best economy we’ve ever had. I have all the cards. We’re the piggy bank that everyone wants. “I don’t see anybody. There’s no Winston Churchill in the group, let me say that. There’s nobody that I see that should be able to win. I’ve rebuilt our economy. I’ve wiped out Isil.” 7:55AM ‘I don’t attack John McCain,’ Trump says Donald Trump was asked why he repeatedly attacked Senator John McCain, even though he had now died. Mr Trump said: “I’m not attacking him at all. I wasn’t a fan. I don’t like what he did with the healthcare or the veterans. “I don’t talk about John McCain unless someone asks me about him.” President Trump gets defensive when asked about his feud with John McCain, insisting: ‘I don’t think of him’. He adds: ‘I was not a fan, I didn’t like what he did to healthcare. I didn’t like how he handled the veterans…’@piersmorgan | GMBTrumppic.twitter.com/ONsWgPFgZt— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) June 5, 2019 7:40AM Trump defends banning transgender soldiers from military Donald Trump said that the way LGBT people were persecuted across the world was “horrible”. And yet he made the decision to ban transgender people from serving in the military. Defending his decision, he said: “Because they take massive amounts of drugs, they have to. In the military, you’re not even allowed to take an aspirin. You’d have to break rules to be in the army [if you are transgender]. “Well, it is what it is. People were going in and then asking for the operation, which is £200,000, and the recovery period is long. “That’s not the way it is, you can’t do that.” ‘You have to have a standard and you have to stick by that standard.’ The POTUS defends his decision to ban transgender people from serving in the military.@piersmorgan | GMBTrumppic.twitter.com/heBUjhwiUH— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) June 5, 2019 Mr Trump was then told that transgender soldiers had won gallantry awards. The president responded: “I’m proud of them, but you have to have a standard and you have to stick to that standards. “You have very strict rules and regulations, and they [transgender people] blow it out of the water.” 7:34AM ‘Gove is very good, but you have to get leadership right’, Trump says Donald Trump appeared to endorse Michael Gove as he revealed he talked about the Tory leadership race with The Queen and Prince Charles. He talked to the Environment Secretary at the state banquet on Monday night, and said Mr Gove was a “very good” candidate. Talking to ITV, he said: “You have a lot of good people. I was saying to The Queen, the next choice is the very important and you have to get it right.” Piers Morgan, who conducted the interview on ITV, asked the president if Prince Charles was a Brexiteer. But Mr Trump held his cards close to his chest, saying: “He feels and really wants to be non-political. And I think he has to be. “He feels we have a lot of good choices, and I do too. But you have to get it right.” 7:24AM Trump mocks protest ‘flops’ Donald Trump has dismissed protests against his visit to the UK as “organised flops”. In an early morning tweet on the third day of his visit, the US president said: “I kept hearing that there would be ‘massive’ rallies against me in the UK, but it was quite the opposite. “The big crowds, which the Corrupt Media hates to show, were those that gathered in support of the USA and me. “They were big and enthusiastic as opposed to the organized flops.” I kept hearing that there would be “massive” rallies against me in the UK, but it was quite the opposite. The big crowds, which the Corrupt Media hates to show, were those that gathered in support of the USA and me. They were big & enthusiastic as opposed to the organized flops!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 5, 2019 7:16AM Trump opens up on ‘spectacular’ Buckingham Palace The media had questioned whether Donald Trump would be able to deal with the enormity of Buckingham Palace. Mr Trump said: “The place is breathtaking. Lots of media said: ‘Will he be able to handle the moment.’ “But I was like, hey, I’ve had a few big moments. But sitting there, I understood what they meant.” The president said he and The Queen had a “great rapport”. “We had an hour and a half talk non-stop,” Mr Trump told ITV’s Good Morning Britain. ‘It was really something.’ We can imagine it’ll be tough impressing @POTUS, but the Queen and Buckingham Palace seem to have done the job! He says he and Her Majesty ‘had a great rapport’ and spoke ‘non-stop’ for an hour and a half.@realDonaldTrump | @piersmorgan | GMBTrumppic.twitter.com/kjNk6WxVHG— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) June 5, 2019 When pressed on what they talked about, he said: “I hear that we’re not supposed to do that. So I told her: ‘Tell me about this and I promise I’ll never tell anyone.’ “I have great respect for her. “I really got what the media was saying, the moment you walk in there is spectatluar. You’re walking in there with The Queen and she can walk as quickly as me, but they don’t do that, they walk slow and you have the music and then the bagpipes from Scotland.” 6:53AM Trump reveals snippets of his chats with Queen Donald Trump revealed he discussed his mother’s adoration for the monarch when he and Her Majesty met at Buckingham Palace. The president watched The Queen’s coronation 66 years ago with his mother, and asked what she would have made of him being the leader of the free world, he said: “She would’ve been very proud. She would have never thought I would’ve run as president. “I told a few people I was going to do it, and I told my wife that I was going to run. She told me, ‘you know you’re going to win it’, and I did.” President Trump opens up about his mother, and how much of a fan she was of the Royal family. He says ‘my mother would have been very proud’ to see him welcomed to Buckingham Palace by the Queen. pic.twitter.com/kvoBz99Azo— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) June 5, 2019 His mother was Scottish and only left for New York when she was 19 when she met Mr Trump’s father. The president said of his mother: “She was a tremendous fan of this country, she loved the Scotland. She was a big fan of The Queen. A big fan of this Queen. “My mother knew people. Anything to do with The Queen – she’d watch it. And I told her [The Queen] that when I met her. She was honoured. “This is a great lady [The Queen], and my mother knew that.” 6:46AM Trump ‘moved’ by Prince Charles’ passion on climate change Donald Trump had a long conversation with Prince Charles about climate change yesterday, with the president saying he was ‘moved’ by the Prince of Wales’ passion. He told ITV: “We had a 15 minute chat and it lasted an hour and a half and he did most of the talking. “What he really wants and what he feels strongly about is the future. He wants the best climate for the future. “He wants a good climate and not a disaster.” Does the US President believe in climate change? Trump says he discussed climate change with Prince Charles, who he believes is ‘a very good person’ who ‘wants to have a world that’s good for future generations’. pic.twitter.com/QNlXhiS1mO— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) June 5, 2019 The president went on to say the US had “one of the cleanest climates in the world”, but said the rest of the world was not pulling its weight. “India, China, Russia – if you go to certain cities you can’t even breathe,” he said. “So in terms of the planet, we’re talking a bout a very small distance between China and the US.” The US president has always been a climate change sceptic, but Mr Trump said: “I believe there is a change in weather. I think it was called global warning, then it was called climate change, now it’s called extreme weather. Prince Charles, Donald Trump and Theresa May Credit: AFP “I think we had a great conversation about – as you would call it – climate change. “I tell you what moved me was his passion for future generations. He wants to have a world for future generations, and I do too.” 6:35AM ‘I think he’s great,’ says Trump on Harry Addressing the “nasty” comment, Mr Trump said: “I don’t mind clearing it up. I think she’s doing very well.” There were rumours that Prince Harry had shunned the president, but Mr Trump said the Duke of Sussex had spent a lot of time talking to his daughter Ivanka. When asked what he said to him, Mr Trump said: “I congratulated him and I think he’s doing very well.” Did Donald Trump really call the Duchess of Sussex ‘nasty’? He clarifies his comment and says ‘I think she’s doing very well’. He adds Prince Harry was ‘a terrific guy’ and ‘couldn’t have been nicer’. pic.twitter.com/ARwcyheeiv— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) June 5, 2019 The pair did not discuss the “nasty” comment. “I was going to,” Mr Trump said, “because it was so falsely put out there.” “He [Prince Harry] couldn’t have been nicer. I think he’s great. “I think he’s a terrific guy. The Royal Family is really nice.” 6:13AM How Farage cemented his friendship with Trump Nigel Farage’s friendship with Donald Trump was forged in a single moment of the 2016 presidential campaign, when almost all others abandoned the Republican nominee, writes the Telegraph’s Ben Riley-Smith. It was October 2016. The Access Hollywood tape had just been released, revealing in shocking detail how Mr Trump had once privately bragged about sexually assaulting women. “When you’re a star, they let you do it,” Mr Trump was heard saying on the recording from around 2005. “You can do anything. Grab ’em by the p****. You can do anything.” It was, most considered, the end of Mr Trump’s already slim hopes of reaching the White House. Yet a core of allies stayed loyal. Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor, was one. Kellyanne Conway, the pollster and campaign strategist, was another. A third was Mr Farage. Click here for the full story. 5:11AM Donald Trump on Meghan, the NHS and Corbyn Donald Trump has given a major TV interview during his UK State visit, in which he seeks to clarify his comments about the Duchess of Sussex, back tracks on his remarks on the NHS, and discusses Jeremy Corbyn’s criticism of him. Mr Trump had stirred controversy ahead of his visit by saying he was unaware that Meghan had previously suggested she would leave the US if he won the 2016 presidential election, adding: “I didn’t know that she was nasty.” The US leader told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that he was saying in the interview that he had not known that Meghan had been nasty about him. Donald Trump, with Piers Morgan during his interview in the Churchill War Rooms Credit: PA He told presenter Piers Morgan during an interview in the Churchill War Rooms: “They said some of the things that she said and it’s actually on tape. “And I said: ‘Well, I didn’t know she was nasty’. I wasn’t referring to she’s nasty. I said she was nasty about me. And essentially I didn’t know she was nasty about me.” He added: “You know what? She’s doing a good job, I hope she enjoys her life… I think she’s very nice.” He also said her husband, the Duke of Sussex, “couldn’t have been nicer” when they met on Monday. In an interview that was shown from 6am today, the President rowed back on his suggestion that access for US firms to the NHS must be part of talks for a post-Brexit trade deal. The US President had used a joint appearance with Theresa May to say that the NHS would be “on the table” as part of a “phenomenal” potential transatalantic deal. But in a U-turn he used a major TV interview to say “I don’t see it being on the table” as the NHS was “something that I would not consider part of trade”. He also held out the prospect of a meeting in the future with Jeremy Corbyn after snubbing him during this visit. Is the NHS on the table in a post-Brexit trade deal? The president backflipped and told @piersmorgan he no longer considers it a part of trade. pic.twitter.com/AeNQ30UVBx— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) June 5, 2019 Asked if he could imagine negotiating a trade deal with a government led by Mr Corbyn, the president told Good Morning Britain: “It’s always possible. Anything is possible.” He said he “didn’t think it was appropriate” to meet Mr Corbyn “but I would”. “I certainly would have no problem with it,” he added. 4:49AM Today’s itinerary It’s a busy schedule for the First Couple today, as they head down to Portsmouth for the D-Day anniversary commemorations. This is what they’ll be up to: The Queen, Prince Charles, and Donald and Melania Trump will attend commemorations of the D-Day landings in Portsmouth with veterans. The event will tell the story of D-Day through musical performance, testimonial readings and military displays, including a fly-past of 25 modern and period aircraft. Heads of state and government representatives from the countries involved in the historic military operation will also attend. The Queen will then bid a formal farewell to Mr and Mrs Trump before they travel to Ireland. There they will meet Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.
