D-Day veterans hosted by grateful German couple

Grateful French? No! A German couple whose parents had suffered under Hitler and who wanted to thank Germany's liberators.

All concerns about strict security ruining last weekend's 60th anniversary commemorations were swept aside for members of Bexhill branch of the Royal Naval Association.

Branch secretary Phil Humphries said: "My wife didn't want to go to start with. Now she can't stop talking about it!

"We got to everything. We got to Bayeux. We saw the Queen and President Chirac. Tony Blair and his wife were about a yard away from us.

"We went to Arromanches for the ceremony there.

"It was a memorable and very moving weekend."

With the crowds, it was also very tiring. The weary Naval veterans were waiting for the coach for the return home.

"Suddenly, this women appeared from one of the mobile homes and offered us all a glass of wine. It turned out she was German, not French. She thanked us all profusely for liberating her country. She said they'd had a terrible time in Germany under Hitler."