UK, France laud heroes of D-Day
75th anniversary of the largest seaborne invasion in history marked
The leaders of France and Britain paid tribute to the sacrifice of D-Day veterans on Thursday, the 75th anniversary of the largest seaborne invasion in history that opened the way for western Europe’s liberation from Nazi Germany.
Inaugurating a memorial to the 22,000 soldiers under British command who were killed on June 6 1944, and in the ensuing battle for Normandy, British Prime Minister Theresa May saluted the bravery of the soldiers, many of whom were still boys when they waded ashore under German fire.
“It’s almost impossible to grasp the raw courage it must have taken that day to leap from landing craft and into the surf despite the fury of battle,” May told a small gathering that included Macron and veterans, their uniforms laden with medals.
“These young men belonged to a very special generation whose incomparable spirit shaped our post-war world,” she said.
“They laid down their lives so that we might have a better life and build a better world.”
The Normandy landings were months in the planning and kept secret from Germany despite a huge mobilisation of Allied industry and manpower in Britain.
Under the cover of darkness, thousands of Allied paratroopers jumped behind Germany’s coastal defences.
Then, as day broke, warships pounded German positions before hundreds of landing craft disgorged the infantry under a barrage of machine-gun fire and artillery.
Some veterans say the sea turned red with blood during the operation that would help turn the tide of World War 2 against German dictator Adolf Hitler’s regime.
“Nothing will ever take away the links of spilled blood and shared values. The debates of the present in no way take away from the past,” said French President Emmanuel Macron.
An hour after sunrise, under clear blue skies, a lone piper atop the remnants of an artificial harbour played
to mark the hour the first British soldier set foot on French sand.
The Mulberry harbour was constructed to enable the resupply of allied troops as they pushed the Germans back.
Restored wartime jeeps and amphibious vehicles lined the beach at Arromanches and in villages along the Normandy shore the flags of Britain, Canada and the US, the main contributors to the Allied force, fluttered in the breeze.
US President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will also attend ceremonies along the stretch of coastline in northern France where more than 150,000 troops landed on five beaches – codenamed Gold, Juno, Sword, Utah and Omaha by the Allies.
Nothing will ever take away the links of spilled blood and shared values