A UNITED States coastguard veteran who served during the Second World War’s bloody D-Day landings has paid an emotional return visit to Poole.

Jack Read, from Brooklyn, New York, was stationed in the town ahead of the Allied invasion of Europe in 1944.

The coastguard cutter he served on was assigned to escort and protect the Canadian troop ship Queen Emma as it landed infantrymen on Juno Beach.

Jack, 91, said: “I feel this is not about me but about the fellas no longer with us. I’m a survivor.

“In a way it was a just a job, hours of waiting doing nothing then two minutes of fear and agony. We didn’t know what was going to happen.”

Jack is due this year to receive the Legion d’Honneur, France’s highest decoration for foreign servicemen.