Spitfires will be on display at the air show at Duxford

The Imperial War Museum is charging the former Normandy troops �8 to watch the celebration.

The museum said the charge was to pay for an �8,000 marquee for veterans at Duxford in Cambridgeshire on 6 June.

Those veterans who had already bought tickets will have their money refunded, a museum spokesman said.

The donations poured in after the museum's plan to charge was revealed last week.

There was anger and outrage that these people should be asked to pay to go to the air show. Private pilot Mike Cross

Then a retired RAF sergeant Hamish Campbell, 70, who lives in Godmanchester, Cambridgeshire, said the charge - a �5 reduction on the price of tickets for pensioners - was "insulting".

"What sort of country have we become when, to celebrate a turning point in history, we ask those who sacrificed so much and saw unimaginable horrors to 'pay a reduced rate' to take part in a tribute to their very own efforts?" he said.

Almost �3,000 has been donated by private pilots who were angry that the veterans were being asked to pay for their day out.

The collection was organised through the internet after pilot Dr Frank Voeten saw a BBC News Online story about the charge and showed it to colleagues.

Mike Cross, from Portsmouth, who co-ordinated the donations, said he had had contributions from as far afield as Sweden and Norway.

"There was anger and outrage that these people should be asked to pay to go to the air show.

"Private pilots began putting their hands in the pockets and we have raised enough to sponsor 330 veterans."

VIP treatment

A statement from the museum on Wednesday said the donations meant the veterans would be able to attend the show for free.

Duxford director Ted Inman said the cash gifts would help provide VIP treatment and hospitality for the men and women.

Any money left over would be donated to the Normandy Veterans Association and the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal.

The air show will be the culmination of a week-long programme of events to commemorate the D-Day anniversary and will feature aircraft of the type that flew in 1944 including the Spitfire and the P-51 Mustang.