HE was only a teenager when he became one of the first Allied soldiers to land in Nazi-occupied Western Europe in the early hours of June 6, 1944.

Now 94, John Hutton is preparing to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day by parachuting into Normandy once again.

Stirling-born Mr Hutton – known by his friends as Jock – was 19 when he served in the 13th Lancashire Parachute Battalion and took part in the largest seaborne military invasion in history.

It saw more than 160,000 troops storm the beaches of Normandy on a day that would ultimately lead to the liberation of Europe and turn the tide of the Second World War.

Now he and fellow veteran, Harry Read, 95, of Bournemouth, Dorset, will be among some 280 paratroopers performing tandem jumps, landing in fields used as a “drop zone” for the parachutists in 1944, who went on to destroy bridges in a bid to restrict German movements during the missions.

Reflecting on D-Day, Mr Hutton said: “We left the aircraft at about 500ft. We had a task to do. We just couldn’t wait to get out and sit down on our backsides. Our main target was to liberate Ranville, which we did before first light.”

Being an experienced parachutist – most recently jumping at a similar event five years ago – Mr Hutton, now living in Larkfield, Kent, is not at all phased by the prospect of repeating the descent.

A member of the Parachute Regiment, he added that as a young man, he had been “itching all the time to join a fighting unit” and when he saw recruitment posters “I put both arms up, celebrated, in my rush to get there”.

He added: “Military parachuting was a hurried affair, mainly by Winston Churchill.

“He was at the stage where he was tearing his hair out wondering what to do to match up to the German army.

“He insisted that the British Army produce 5,000 parachutists at the drop of a hat.”

Landing at Pegasus Bridge near Caen, Mr Hutton said: “It was in the dark, but I’d done a lot of parachuting. There was nothing strange about it.”

Mr Hutton, who initially signed up as a boy soldier in Stirling aged 15, still has shrapnel lodged in his stomach after he was injured in an explosion later in the Normandy campaign.

He said: “Three weeks after the landings I was on a night patrol. Germans saw us in the moonlight and threw grenades. Such was the noise I didn’t realise I had been wounded. It was only when I got back to my hole in the ground, I couldn’t feel my legs.”

In the UK, the anniversary of the momentous day will be celebrated by hundreds of D-Day veterans, royalty and world leaders. The Queen, the Prince of Wales and Prime Minister Theresa May will host representatives from every country that fought alongside the UK in the Battle of Normandy for what is expected to be one of the biggest British military spectacles in recent years.

The Royal Mail has issued a set of stamps to commemorate the landings and feature scenes from D-Day. US President Donald Trump, on the final day of his state visit, will be joined in Portsmouth by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

The leaders of the Czech Republic, Belgium, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Poland, as well as representatives from Slovakia, Denmark and New Zealand, will also attend the commemorations on Southsea Common in Portsmouth on Wednesday, while more than 4,000 personnel will be involved in D-Day events in the UK and France, in what is set to be one of the biggest mobilisations of the UK armed forces in recent history.

Three hundred veterans – all over 90 years old – will attend the event, which are expected to feature testimonies from former personnel, theatrical performances and live music - with which will include a flypast of 24 aircraft, including the Red Arrows and a Spitfire.

Mrs May will read a letter during the performance written by Captain Norman Skinner of the Royal Army Service Corps, which was in his pocket on the day he was killed in June 1944.

The world leaders will then join veterans at a reception, before having lunch together, where they are expected to discuss the importance of the western alliance. And on Wednesday evening, the veterans will then depart Portsmouth on MV Boudicca to Normandy, retracing the voyage they made across the Channel 75 years ago. The ship will be met by a flotilla of Royal Navy vessels with sailors lining the decks in salute as it enters the Solent, as a lone Spitfire soars overhead.

The Prime Minister will wave the veterans off from the deck of the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, alongside the Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt and the First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Philip Jones.

Mrs May will attend further commemorations in Normandy on Thursday, where she will witness the unveiling of a new memorial to British servicemen at Ver-sur-Mer and attend services of remembrance at the cathedral and cemetery in Bayeux.

Mrs May said: “This week, people throughout Britain will pay tribute to the men and women who gave their lives during D-Day and for the liberation of Europe in World War Two. This year’s commemoration will be particularly poignant and I am honoured to be able to mark the 75th anniversary of the landings alongside the veterans who were there.

“It is the sheer scale of D-Day that made it such an awe-inspiring feat. Troops from around the world fought together with a common goal and with a shared ideal. And so it is right that together we reflect on and celebrate the co-operation that helped to secure the freedom we cherish today.”

Ms Mordaunt added: “It is Government’s hope that D-Day75 leaves a lasting legacy and provides an opportunity for people young and old to reflect on the achievements and sacrifice of our Second World War generation.

“Over the next few days it will be a privilege for us all to learn more of these extraordinary men and women.”