SOME 75 British D-Day veterans are STILL waiting to be honoured by the French government, the UK ministers have revealed.

Five years ago the then-French president Francois Hollande promised to award his country’s prestigious Legion D’Honneur to every remaining British veteran of the liberation of France by the time of the 75th anniversary in June.

But with just 75 days until the anniversary, 68 are waiting on the French to process their applications.

And a further seven applications have been approved by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) but are sitting in a pile waiting to be sent to the French.

An extra 14 cases are being held by the MoD because they are seeking more information from the applicants.

It means dozens of Britain’s D-Day heroes face missing out on the Legion D’Honneur promised by the French.

Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry last night called on the French and UK Governments to step up their efforts to process the applications in time for the June 6 celebrations.

She said: “The people of Britain and France owe a huge debt to the courage of those brave soldiers, sailors and airmen who led the D-Day landings 75 years ago, and liberated France over the following months.

“And it is right that France has recognised our surviving veterans with its highest national honour.

“So I hope the French authorities in particular, as well as our own government, will pull out all the stops to ensure that these 75 confirmed veterans, and the 14 others whose applications are pending, receive the medals they are due before the 75th anniversary in June, and know that our two nations will remain ever grateful to them for the freedom they won for us."

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