On the 75th anniversary of D-Day, more than 120 military veterans have signed a letter warning that peace and friendship in Europe is threatened by Brexit.

The 122 veterans, whose service spans the period from the Second World War to modern-day conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, said that the peace which has prevailed in Europe since 1945 “should not be taken for granted”.

The letter came as D-Day veteran Eric Chardin, who was 19 when he took part in the 1944 landings, said that the prospect of Brexit worried him.

“I can’t help feeling that it would be an awful shame if what we’ve gone to so much trouble to do, to collect the European big nations together, to break it all up now would be a crying shame,” said Mr Chardin, 94, from Cambridge, in a BBC interview at the 75th anniversary commemorations in Portsmouth.

Issuing a call for a Final Say referendum on Brexit, the signatories to the letter - published in The Independent - said that the EU should take credit for helping keep the peace in Europe.

And they challenged the invocation of wartime patriotism by the Leave camp, pointing out that it was Sir Winston Churchill who called for the creation of a “European family” to prevent another descent into bloodshed.

Churchill’s words helped inspire the creation of the Common Market, which evolved into the European Union with “one main purpose - to create lasting peace by entwining our economies and societies together on a continent once ravaged by war,” they said.

“Nato does not keep the peace in Europe – it keeps peace for Europe. It is the EU that keeps peace in Europe, because when you trade, you do not fight.

D-Day 75: Normandy landings in pictures Show all 30 1 /30 D-Day 75: Normandy landings in pictures D-Day 75: Normandy landings in pictures Troops from the 48th Royal Marines land on Juno Beach, Normandy on 6 June 1944 Getty D-Day 75: Normandy landings in pictures A landing craft from the Coast Guard-manned USS Samuel Chase disembarks troops of the US Army's First Division on the morning of June 6, 1944 US Coastguard D-Day 75: Normandy landings in pictures An aerial view of the pierhead and breakwater at the artificial 'Mulberry Harbour' at Arromanches Royal Air Force/IWM D-Day 75: Normandy landings in pictures American troops wade towards the beach in the Normandy Landings Getty D-Day 75: Normandy landings in pictures A line of tank landing ships, each towing a barrage balloon, head towards the Normandy coast Getty D-Day 75: Normandy landings in pictures A flotilla of landing craft forms in the English Channel on the eve of the Normandy Landings PA D-Day 75: Normandy landings in pictures Crews of B-26 Marauders charged with laying smokescreens over beaches in advance of the Normandy Landings are briefed with their mission The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty D-Day 75: Normandy landings in pictures British soldiers joke as they read a tourist guide about France aboard a landing craft heading towards Normandy AFP/Getty D-Day 75: Normandy landings in pictures British boats arrive in Normandy PA D-Day 75: Normandy landings in pictures A view from above of Allied naval forces engaged in the Normandy Landings on 6 June 1944 AFP/Getty D-Day 75: Normandy landings in pictures American troops wade ashore on Omaha beach in Normandy on 6 June 1944 Getty D-Day 75: Normandy landings in pictures American medics administer first aid to wounded soldiers on Utah beach in Normandy, 6 June 1944 Getty D-Day 75: Normandy landings in pictures Canadian soldiers from 9th Brigade land with their bicycles at Juno Beach during the Normandy Landings on 6 June 1944 AFP/Getty D-Day 75: Normandy landings in pictures Consolidated B24L Liberators of the 832nd Bomb Squadron, 486th Bomb Group, US 8th Air Force, fly from their base at Sudbury, England to pass over the Normandy invasion fleet sailing in the channel Getty D-Day 75: Normandy landings in pictures A convoy of Allied landing craft, protected by barrage balloons, crosses the English Channel on its way to France during the Normandy Landings Getty D-Day 75: Normandy landings in pictures Ships towing barrage balloons land at Omaha Beach in the Normandy Landings Getty D-Day 75: Normandy landings in pictures Paratroopers give the thumbs-up signal, before leaving in a glider to drop on Normandy as reinforcements Getty D-Day 75: Normandy landings in pictures Royal Marine commandos move off the Normandy beaches during the advance inland from "Sword" beach PA D-Day 75: Normandy landings in pictures Royal Marine commandos move off the Normandy beaches during the advance inland from "Sword" beach PA D-Day 75: Normandy landings in pictures Allied paratroopers land on La Manche coast on 6 June 1944 after the Allied forces stormed the beaches earlier in the day AFP/Getty D-Day 75: Normandy landings in pictures US troops in landing craft, during the Normandy Landings Getty D-Day 75: Normandy landings in pictures Survivors from a landing craft which sank off Omaha Beach, Normandy reach the shore on 6 June 1944 Getty D-Day 75: Normandy landings in pictures American troops pass through devastated Valognes, on their way towards Cherbourg after the storming of Normandy, 13 June 1944 Getty D-Day 75: Normandy landings in pictures Members of the Allied Invasion Force keep watch from fox holes dug in a Normandy beach on 14 June 1944 Getty D-Day 75: Normandy landings in pictures Allied soldiers meet a herd of cows as they make their way through the Normandy country in June 1944, days after the Normandy Landings AFP/Getty D-Day 75: Normandy landings in pictures US soldiers surround a burning German tank in a Normandy village, days after the Normandy Landings AFP/Getty D-Day 75: Normandy landings in pictures US soldiers gather around trucks disembarking from landing crafts shortly after the Normandy Landings AFP/Getty D-Day 75: Normandy landings in pictures British troops during the Normandy Landings AFP/Getty D-Day 75: Normandy landings in pictures US troops at Cherbourg unload supplies for the advancing troops in the Normandy Landings Getty D-Day 75: Normandy landings in pictures A timetable of the Normandy Landings PA

“As former members of the armed forces and veterans of more recent conflicts, we have served alongside soldiers from other European nations, supporting each other while under fire or facing danger.

“We have learnt that war stinks, that peace is the natural goal for civilisation, and that Europeans are our brothers in arms.

“But that peace and friendship is now threatened by Brexit. Peace in Europe is not something that should be taken for granted .

“We should be proud to lead in Europe, proud that our friends respect us and can rely on us. That’s why we, as former members of the armed forces, all support a People’s Vote on Brexit.”

Signatories include veterans of the Royal Navy, RAF and Army, including Brigadier Stephen Goodall, who saw action in Burma during WW2, as well as the co-founders of Veterans for Europe Stuart Thomson, Duncan Hodgkins and Steve Gavin.

Gulf War RAF veteran Corporal Thomson, from Worcestershire, said: “On D-Day, 75 ago, our brave forbears went over the Channel to help our friends who had been under oppression for almost five years.

"We went there to help the French, Belgians, Dutch, Norwegians, Danes, and even Germans who were oppressed by the Nazis. Thirteen nations, including British, Irish, French and Dutch, also Belgians, Poles and Czechs - from all branches of the services - were part of that liberation coalition.

Ministry of Defences honours D-Day veterans

“As Europeans, we were stronger together then and should be stronger together now.”

He added: “What has happened since 2016 is very disturbing, and it’s clear that the military aspects of Brexit weren’t thought about properly.