A D-DAY veteran and Reading FC fan put thousands of fans on their feet as he laid a wreath at the Madejski Stadium.

Woodley’s Charles Miller walked onto the pitch to thunderous applause as he laid the flowers on the pitch to remember millions of people who died in the two world wars.

It was an emotional moment for the 91-year-old, who joined the Royal Navy just weeks after his 18th birthday, and served on HMS Emperor during the Normandy landings.

Mr Miller, a dedicated Royals supporter, was welcomed onto the pitch by more than 15,000 fans, who all took part in a minute’s silence.

He described the occasion as “another huge honour”, adding: “It was a great moment to walk out there and to see all those thousands of people clapping and cheering.

“It was quite emotional when I heard the last post.

“You think of all the people that died and that is very emotional.

“When I was part of HMS Collingwood there in 1943 we all slept in wooden huts. I remember one night we heard the sound of planes flying over and all of a sudden there was this incredible bang close by.”

“The Germans had dropped a bomb on one of our huts and we heard the explosion, it all happened so quickly.

“There was nothing that could have been done to stop it. Everyone sleeping in that hut must have died. It was such a terrible thing but we all just went back to sleep and got up for work the next day. You just had to get on with it.”