HUNDREDS have lined the streets of St Austell and Charlestown for the funeral procession of Normandy veteran Harry Billinge today.

Originally from Petts Wood near Orpington in Kent, Harry was aged just 18 when he was one of the first British soldiers to storm Gold Beach during the D-day landings of June 1944. He was one of only four of his Royal Engineers unit to survive.

Harry spent the last 70 years living in Cornwall and during more than 60 of those years collected for the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal. Through his frequent collections at venues such as Par Market he helped raise more than £50,000 for the British Normandy Memorial. He made annual pilgrimages to the cemeteries of northern France and was visibly moved when he visited the new memorial last year.

Appointed an MBE in 2020 for his fundraising work, and receiving his honour from the Queen, he dedicated it to the 22,442 service personnel killed on D-Day and during the Battle for Normandy.

The D-Day veteran was 96 when he died on 5 April following a short illness.

Today Mr Billinge’s coffin was taken though his Cornish hometown of St Austell before a church service was held at Holy Trinity Church in Charlestown, with crowds lining the roadsides and breaking out in spontaneous applause as the coffin left the church.