D-Day vet, 93, has people in tears as he insists ‘I’m no hero’ and ‘don’t thank me’ in moving account of Normandy landings

A HUMBLE D-Day veteran has left viewers in tears as he insisted "I'm no hero" in a moving TV chat about the Normandy landings.

Harry Billinge, 93, was just 18-years-old when he arrived on Gold Beach as part of the first wave of troops to land 75 years ago.

And in a poignant interview with BBC Breakfast today, the former Sapper insisted he was simply one of the "lucky ones" to have survived.

He said: "Don't thank me and don't say I'm a hero.

"I'm no hero, I was lucky. I'm here.

"All the heroes are dead and I'll never forget them as long as I live."

Harry was 18 when he landed with the first wave at 6.30am on June 6, 1944.

A Sapper with the Royal Engineers, he previously recalled how the water turned red with the blood of soldiers as they reached the shore.

During the emotional interview, he remembered a mate who had died in his arms during the landing, since having visited his friend's final resting place in a small French cemetery.

And he said it was through the harrowing experience that Normandy veterans were bonded together.

He said: "My generation saved the world and I'll never forget any of them."

All the heroes are dead and I'll never forget them as long as I live

Harry BillingeD-Day vet

The vet recently became a local celebrity in Cornwall, having raised more than £10,000 for the Normandy Memorial Trust by collecting donations in St Austell.

This week's trip is his final pilgrimage to Normandy - with viewers left in tears at his story.

One viewer wrote online: "What a gentleman. I sat in tears watching this and felt so much warmth towards him."

Another added: "Cant take it, I'm a blubbering mess. What a wonderful man".

A third said: "This man is definitely a hero, it was moving to listen to him. Thank you from all of us."

Prime Minister Theresa May today joined French President Emmanuel Macron in solemn commemorations in Normandy.

Mrs May paid tribute to the "ultimate sacrifice" made by the soldiers who stormed the beaches 75 years ago.

Prince William and Prince Harry also both attended services for the anniversary.

VETERAN STEALS A KISS WITH MRS MAY

More than 300 veterans packed into   Bayeux War Cemetery yesterday — joined by Prince Charles and  Prime Minister  Theresa May.

Ex-Marine Robert Yaxley, 94, from Chelmsford, even pinched a kiss with the PM, on her last day in office.

Robert was an 18-year-old commando in a landing craft that reached Sword Beach.

He told the PM: “We landed ashore and then moved through the land. I went all the way through to Germany and I didn’t get a scratch. The lord was watching over me.”

Of his peck  he said: “I took her by the arms and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Why not?

“Not everyone can do that. She said, ‘Ooh thank you’.”

Navy Signalman Frank Baugh, 95,  told how he saw infantryman  cut down by gunfire or drown  as he stormed  Sword Beach at 7.25am.

His  task  was to land 200 men from the 2nd Battalion Kings Shropshire Light Infantry — from a landing craft that “bobbed around like a cork in a bucket”.

Frank choked back tears and recalled: “As we approached the beach we received a direct hit which set fire to the No2 troop space and holed us below the waterline on the starboard side.

“Under heavy fire they landed in about four feet of rough water.

“Many  were cut down by machine-gun fire, falling in the water face down.” Three of the dead  — Pte Ernest Blewett, 26, from Tooting, South London, Pte Harry Hall, 28, of Gateshead and Lt John Whitebrook, from Lincoln’s Inn, London — are among the more than 4,100 men buried at Bayeux.

'I CAN'T GO ON FOREVER'

To appreciative applause Frank, of Doncaster, South Yorks, added: “My abiding memory of D-Day is of thunderous noise and the sight of young men rolling in the surf, lads we’d been speaking with minutes before. I cannot forget.” After the service Frank revealed: “I didn’t come back for 65 years.

“I had enough of it all and I found it too upsetting but then my family encouraged me to come back. It’s important to pass on the experience. I can’t go on forever.”

Frank also met the Duchess of Cornwall, who admitted  she had cried as the men laid wreaths.

Ship MV Boudicca landed at Le Havre yesterday carrying   255 veterans for the service. On board were able seamen Ernest Green, 93, and Robert Barnett, 93 — reunited for the first time since the war.

They  spent three years on  HMS Redpole, returning home in 1946 then living  19 miles apart in Dorset.

They remembered how they waited at anchor for 12 hours on June 6 before proceeding to Juno Beach at 4pm.

They  manned guns on the Redpole —   watching as Canadian troops died in front of them. Ernest said: “We couldn’t do anything. We had picked them up the day before, in the afternoon, on the Isle of Wight.

“I’m sorry, I get emotional when I think of it.”

Also at Bayeux  was wheelchair-user Bill Parker, 94 — despite   French cops stopping him travel to the cemetery by car.

His family had to wheel him along a busy road until he was rescued by a Royal British Legion bus. Bill, a leading seaman on Juno Beach,  was the first  to shake  Charles’s hand after the service.

The Prince had spotted that Bill was  wearing the medals his father Harold won in World War One while serving with the Royal Garrison Artillery.

Bill, from Cheltenham, Glous, said: “A day that started as a disaster turned into one I’ll never forget thanks to the British Legion.”