A D-Day veteran died after choking on his full English breakfast in a care home, an inquest ruled.

Frederick Temple died aged 97 while eating breakfast in the ex-forces care facility where he spent his final years.

At the time of his death, the former Royal Marine was one of the last survivors of the 1944 Allied Normandy beach landings against the Nazis. Only about 100 of those who participated in the operation are believed to be alive today.

The inquest into Mr Temple's death heard that the pensioner was suffering from dementia, with a coroner ruling that the illness had contributed to the choking incident. It was heard that he had suffered a similar choking incident the day before his death.

Christopher Wilkinson, senior coroner for Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton, said Mr Temple died on August 1 last year at the Admiral Jellicoe House in Southsea, Portsmouth.

The home provides luxury later life care for Royal Navy and Royal Marine veterans and their spouses.

Portsmouth Coroners Court heard Mr Temple was part of the Royal Marines 41, 42, 43, and 45 Commando, which took part in the Normandy landings. He became a Coxwain, assigned to the SS Empire Cutlass, where he was successfully involved in four trips delivering British soldiers to Sword Beach on D-Day.

After joining in 1943, he served for six years before leaving, and later rejoining in 1950 until 1966.

The veteran was described in the inquest as the "typical military man" who was "strong", "determined", and "frustratingly stubborn".

His son, David Harvey, said he moved into the facility in the summer of 2022, describing him as a "very proud and stubborn man who did not like to depend on anyone, or ask for any help".

The inquest heard evidence from the care home manager, Jade Delaney, who said Mr Temple had a diagnosis of dementia.

She said Mr Temple "enjoyed" having a full English breakfast every morning and they "tried not to take that away from him".

On July 31 last year, Mr Temple began choking on a "small piece of sausage" which was served to him in his breakfast. However, he was able to cough up the food, thanks to the assistance from nurses at the home.

The following day, at around 9.30am, Mr Temple was fed his breakfast by a member of staff at the home. After chewing and swallowing around seven mouthfuls of food, he drank three sips of tea before he started "coughing and gasping".

Mr Temple then choked to death in an incident which occurred "swiftly", the coroner said. It was heard that as soon as he started choking, the situation was "unrecoverable".

During the hearing, his granddaughter wept as she said he was "supposed to reach 100".

Mr Wilkinson said the dementia contributed to the choking incident, and concluded a verdict of accidental death.

"It does strike me that the level of care that he was receiving at the care home was good," he said. "He had been appropriately and safely assessed by the care home team, he had been assessed by the speech and language therapy team."

Mr Wilkinson praised the care home staff and said that Mr Temple's dementia symptoms had worsened in the months preceding his death.

"I don't think it would have been abundantly obvious that anything significant had changed," he continued.

"I do believe, on balance, objectively that he was receiving the right care, and the right care for his stage in life."