"Hundreds Of D-Day Vets To Receive Legion D'Honneur After Delays"

Hundreds of British D-Day veterans are to receive the French government's highest honour before the end of the year, a defence minister has said.

Mark Lancaster told MPs he understood "hurt and upset" had been caused by months of delays, which occurred after Ministry of Defence (MoD) officials were caught out by the level of demand for the Legion d'Honneur.

It comes after Forces TV exclusively revealed two British D-Day veterans' anguish in May, after they were told they’ll most likely have to wait until next year to receive their medals. Both are now in their 90s.

But Mr Lancaster said the French authorities have prioritised cases involving ex-service personnel who are seriously ill and are nearing their 100th birthday.

He added UK defence and diplomatic staff in London and Paris, alongside their French counterparts, have also improved checks on applications, which has speeded up the process.

Speaking in a Westminster Hall debate, Veterans Minister Mr Lancaster said:

"To further assist the Legion authorities, we are resubmitting all cases where awards have not already been made at an agreed rate of 100 per week to avoid overtaxing the system.

"Our hope is that these cases will be approved in about three weeks. We fully expect this to result in a regular flow of awards.

"While it will take some time to clear the backlog, we hope to reassure all applicants that the majority of veterans should receive honours this year."

Mr Lancaster said now 100 applications are being processed every week there is "flexibility in the system to fast-track applications where we feel there's a particular need".

He went on: "Of course, the whole cohort of veterans who are receiving this award are by definition elderly and potentially infirm but we do accept some are more urgent than others."

Mr Lancaster encouraged veterans and MPs to contact the MoD directly to suggest applications which needed to be fast-tracked, adding: "I do recognise time is pretty much of the essence."

                                       A Legion D'Honneur medal

The French government informed the UK MoD last summer it wanted to recognise the selfless acts of heroism displayed by surviving veterans of the Normandy landings via the Legion d'Honneur.

Those involved in the wider campaigns to liberate France in 1944 were also eligible to receive the honour.

Mr Lancaster earlier explained just one MoD official was assigned to deal with applications as it was estimated - based on the level of interest in anniversary events in Normandy - only a few hundred would apply.

But MPs heard 3,000 applications were received, with the number increasing all the time, which resulted in a response far higher than expected by the French and British authorities.

Mr Lancaster said action was taken to increase staff working in the scheme last autumn, with more than 2,500 applications processed by the end of 2014 and sent to the French for a final decision.

He explained the delays were also caused by other Allied nations completing applications and the "sheer complexity" of the scheme. Mr Lancaster told MPs: 

"Delays might be understandable for the reasons I've outlined but let me be clear - that does not make them acceptable, especially not to the families or veterans concerned.

"One can entirely understand the hurt and upset caused to those still awaiting an outcome but we are determined to remedy the situation."

The minister was replying to calls for action from MPs led by Conservative Julian Lewis, chairman of the Defence Select Committee.

Mr Lewis said the French and British authorities needed to ensure they did not turn a good news story into a "catalogue of disappointment".

He told the debate about veterans in their 90s who had experienced delays stretching back to last summer.

More: British D-Day Veteran Awarded France's Highest Honour