EXCLUSIVE: Number 10’s ‘shameful U-turn’ on veterans’ funding has sparked anger, chaos and confusion and thrown plans for what will be the last pilgrimage to Normandy for many Second World War heroes into doubt.
Lest, we forgot: Number 10 has refused to fund veterans’ return to the D-Day beaches in June (Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Royal Navy hero Peter Kent says veterans have been betrayed by the Government after it refused to fund their final D-Day salute. Labour shamelessly turned its back on a dwindling band of Second World War brothers by reneging on a promise to pay for their return to Normandy in June.
The “morally unacceptable and shameful” decision sparked outrage after Number 10 initially gave assurances cash would be available to allow warriors to take an emotional last stand. Peter Kent, who served on HMS Adventure helping troops and supplies reach the beaches of Northern France, and who celebrates his 100th birthday this weekend, said: “I watched friends fall beside me fighting for freedom. We gave everything – our youth, our peace of mind, our brothers in arms. To be told the Government would help us honour them this year, only to have that promise torn away, feels like a betrayal. This isn’t just a funding cut – it’s the ultimate snub to those who never came home.” The cash pledge promise was given to the Express in writing after we campaigned to ensure the greatest generation could be given one last chance to salute friends on the battlegrounds where they fell.
This will now be the first year veterans face the prospect of zero funding from the Government.
In June last year, Royal Navy warrior Peter Smoothy choked back tears as he stood on the same D-Day beach where he saw giants fall.
Teenage Peter, now 100, and his crew sailed as part of a giant armada, storming the northern French coast.
On June 6, 1944, he was just 19 and serving aboard Landing Ship Tank 215 which came under heavy and constant bombardment.
He was part of a crew of 99 men aboard the vessel which left Gosport carrying 30 tanks on the inner deck, 45 lorries on the upper deck, and 200 soldiers who were drivers and crew for the vehicles.
He told: “I am so proud that we did it – it could have been so different.”
For the 80th anniversary of his finest hour he accompanied the Daily Express back to Juno Beach to where he helped ferry soldiers and equipment during the invasion.
Peter said: “We were all very young men and said at the time, ‘If our names are on a bullet, it’s our bad luck’ – we were lucky that our names weren’t. We got into Juno Beach at about 7.30am. There were quite a few shells firing at us. The ones you could hear were all right. It was the ones you couldn’t that were the deadliest.”
Only last week Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told the Express Britain is “so proud of the generation who fought in the Second World War for our freedoms”.
When asked to be “explicitly clear” on whether taxpayers’ money will be made available for vets to attend ceremonies both in the UK and overseas – including the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Holland on May 5 and the 81st anniversary of D-Day on June 6 – Number 10 said: “Yes, that’s correct.”
But in a humiliating volte face it confirmed funding is only available for official VE Day events in the UK.
It means only a small number of hand-picked heroes will attend events and no cash has been set aside for overseas commemorations.
One volunteer said it was “the greatest of snubs to the greatest generation”.
Richard Palusinski, Chairman of Spirit of Normandy Trust [SONT] which is taking seven veterans back to Northern France, said: “The visit is massively important, giving them the opportunity to reflect and remember and, in so many cases, to lay ghosts. The visit to Normandy is one of the events that they keep in their diaries and, I strongly believe, gives them a target to aim for, a reason to stay alive. We are a small charity and do not have significant financial resources. This is a devastating blow.”
Peter said the vets cash snub was a ‘betrayal’ of all those who served and fell (Image: Jonathan Buckmaster)
Peter, 99, helped troops and supplies land in Normandy during the invasion (Image: Jonathan Buckmaster)
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which is coordinating May’s commemorations, Number 10, and the Royal British Legion [RBL] all refused to say how much money had been set aside.
The Taxi Charity for Military Veterans is taking 25 heroes to Holland next month and to Normandy the month after.
Among those planning to return are Peter’s D-Day hero friends Marie Scott, 98, and Henry Rice, 99.
Marie worked as a switchboard operator with the Women’s Royal Naval Service in the tunnels of Fort Southwick, Hampshire, the operations centre monitoring the invasion fleet, while Henry served on landing ship HMS Eastway ferrying men and equipment to the beaches.
Facilitating the visits will cost the two charities, entirely reliant on public donations, around £150,000.
The sensational snub to what remains of the greatest generation comes just days after taxpayers stepped in to save British Steel after its plant in Scunthorpe, owned by Chinese company Jingye Group since 2020 and employing 3,500 people, was losing £700,000 a day and on course to close.
Dick Goodwin, Vice President of the Taxi Charity, said: “We are shocked and deeply disappointed by this shameful U-turn.
“After receiving clear assurances from Number 10 that funding would be available, it is nothing short of disgraceful that our veterans — the very people who sacrificed so much for this country — are now being denied the support they were promised.
“This deeply disrespectful decision dishonours the legacy of those who fought for our freedom. These overseas commemorations are not holidays — they are acts of remembrance, moments of healing, and, for many of our veterans, potentially the last chance they have to pay tribute to their fallen comrades on the very battlefields where they served.”
Best of Britain: Heroes wave to crowds during a parade to mark the 70th anniversary of VE Day (Image: PA)
Last year, on the 80th anniversary of D-Day, King Charles wiped tears from his eyes as he addressed 41 veterans at the British Normandy Memorial overlooking Gold Beach in Ver-sur-Mer, which records the names of 22,442 people from more than 30 countries who perished under British command between June 6 and August 31, 1944.
He said: “On the beaches of Normandy, in the seas beyond and in the skies overhead, our Armed Forces carried out their duty with a humbling sense of resolve and determination: qualities so characteristic of that remarkable wartime generation.
“How fortunate we were, and the entire free world, that a generation of men and women in the United Kingdom and other Allied nations did not flinch when the moment came to face that test.”
It is thought that fewer than 200 British Second World War veterans are still alive, and of them only a handful who saw action on D-Day on June 6, 1944, and the bloody three-month Battle of Normandy that followed.
Charities representing them have for months raised concerns at the highest level that this could be the last year that many are able to pay their respects to the chums who fell beside them.
A previous scheme providing financial help was set up using cash from fines paid by banks after the Libor interest rate scandal.
The D-Day Revisited charity ran a system on behalf of the Treasury which helped veterans attend events in France, Italy and the Netherlands. Successful bids, typically for a veteran accompanied by a relative or carer, received £1,000 each, but it has now closed.
The Ministry of Defence worked with the RBL and other charities to ensure they were able to attend commemorations in Normandy for the 80th anniversary of D-Day last year, but since then charities have been left to fend for themselves.
One volunteer said it was “the greatest of snubs to the greatest generation”.
WWII heroes Marie Scott, 98, and Henry Rice, 99, back the Express Respect our War Heroes Crusade (Image: Jonathan Buckmaster)
The Taxi Charity, run by volunteer London cabbies, has been supporting thousands of veterans since 1948 and received the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in 2021 and celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2023.
It has not received funding from the RBL for any of its trips, or events in the UK, for more than five years.
The official VE Day 80 commemorations will run across four days from May 5, culminating on VE Day on May 8 when King Charles will lead a service at Westminster Abbey before a celebratory gala concert at Horseguards Parade.
SONT Vice Chairman Mark Waring said: “In June a handful of heroes from the greatest generation will return to visit battlefields and commemorate their fallen comrades, many for the final time.”
A government spokesman said: “We are absolutely committed to supporting Second World War veterans’ attendance at the VE Day 80 commemorations in the UK and are providing funding to The Royal British Legion to help make that happen.”
The 80th anniversary of VE Day is on May 8 and marks the end of war in Europe (Image: Popperfoto via Getty Images)
Commemorative events are indelibly marked in veterans’ diaries. For most, this year will be their last chance to attend
The Express launched its Respect Our War Heroes crusade on March 22 to ensure men and women from the greatest generation could make one final salute as the world stops to commemorate VE Day.
VE Day on May 8 marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe.
This year is a particularly poignant landmark sandwiched between two equally significant dates.
The Dutch celebrate the 80th anniversary of its liberation from Nazi occupation on May 5, a celebration where returning British veterans are treated like heroes, while the 81st anniversary of D-Day is on June 6.
For many veterans, these events are indelibly marked in their diaries. For most, this year will be their last chance to attend.
After money was made available in previous years to facilitate travel, accommodation and associated costs, the Express pushed Number 10 on how the Government will help to ensure our heroes are able make a last stand at venues that mean so much to them.
After initially being told funding was in place, to the relief of charities charged with the mammoth logistical task of ensuring their safe passage, we asked Downing Street on April 4 to be “explicitly clear” that cash would be made available to allow veterans to attend ceremonies both in the UK and overseas.
When asked “is that correct?”, a spokesman told us: “Yes, that’s correct – we will provide funding for veteran welfare and travel for VE Day.”
And asked specifically whether the events covered included Dutch liberation and D-Day, we were told: “Yes, this will encompass travel for the VE Day ceremonies.”
In a statement Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “Over the years I have been privileged to meet veterans from the Second World War. Their bravery, loyalty to their friends and duty to their country represents the very best of us.
“This VE Day I will have the honour of hearing the stories of those who are still with us, and I look forward to meeting as many veterans as possible at this year’s commemorations.
“This country is so proud of the generation who fought in the Second World War for our freedoms and the British troops who have followed in their steps since to defend these hard-fought values and keep us safe.
“I know that on the 80th anniversary of VE Day, the British public will be there to remember their sacrifice and thank them for their service once more.”
‘Withdrawal of support to this amazing generation is morally unacceptable’
I have been taking veterans of D-Day and the Battle for Normandy on annual pilgrimage visits to France for over 20 years, the last ten of which have been with the Spirit of Normandy Trust.
Pilgrimage visits are vitally important to the veterans. This is their opportunity to remember their friends and comrades who paid the ultimate price.
Perhaps, to us, the names on the gravestones and on the British Normandy Memorial are just names but, to the veterans, these are real people.
They trained alongside them, ate alongside them and, in so many cases, watched them die.
These visits are an essential part of the process of grieving for their fallen comrades and paying their respects to those who gave their lives for the freedoms we so easily take for granted, in many cases giving them the opportunity to lay their ghosts.
Whilst there are some opportunities provided in the UK for Remembrance, these are mainly helpful for those who are no longer well enough to travel to Normandy.
The essence of Remembrance for the veterans is to return to the place where they were engaged in battle, to visit the graves of their friends and remember them with dignity.
Our philosophy, as a charity, is that the veterans paid the price in 1944.
Accordingly, we work hard to ensure that the veterans do not pay for their visits with us.
We cover all hotel, ferry and food costs and even pay their travel insurance.
Many years ago the veterans could travel easily and would often bring a companion. These days, with the advancement of years and, in most cases, lack of mobility, veterans often need to travel with two carers for their safety and comfort.
Additionally, we take a full medical team to deal with any issues that arise during the trip.
We also travel with a Chaplain to provide support for emotional issues.
The cost to us this year is over £40,000. We are a small charity and raising this sort of money is always difficult.
We have, in the past, been supported with a small grant for each veteran through the Libor Fund.
Withdrawal of support to this amazing generation is morally unacceptable. D Day 80 was not the end for the veterans. They still carry the scars to this day, mentally and or physically.
We are committed to supporting them until they are no longer with us. We would encourage the Government to do so as well.
Richard Palusinski is Chairman of the Spirit of Normandy Trust
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