FOREVER GRATEFUL...
THE KING and Queen, along with senior members of the Royal Family, will lead the nation and Commonwealth in marking the 80th anniversary of the D-day landings this week.
But at home and abroad, the public are invited to join in, with a host of events planned – from children reading a special poem, to lighting beacons or “Lamp Lights of Peace”, and even tucking into fish and chips.
This year is especially poignant as Normandy veterans are a dwindling band of brothers.
It is an opportunity for a grateful nation to remember the 209,000 Allied casualties of Operation Overlord, including 37,000 ground forces and 16,714 air forces killed in the invasion of the Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword beaches – and the long, bloody campaign that followed.
The Royal British Legion’s director of remembrance, Philippa Rawlinson, said: “The legacy left by the Second World War generation lives on today in the freedom and democracy we enjoy.
‘The Allied landings were a turning point in world history’
“To mark the 80th anniversary, the Royal British Legion is proud to be delivering a series of commemorative events across Normandy and the National Memorial Arboretum, which will honour the service and sacrifice of all those who served together to make the liberation of Europe possible.
“These incredibly moving and poignant occasions will be our last opportunity to host a significant number of D-day and Normandy veterans, as we invite world leaders and the nation to pay tribute to their bravery and sacrifice.”
Air Vice-marshal Chris Elliot, of the RAF Benevolent Fund, said: “To mark the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings on June 6, I want to take the opportunity to commemorate those who served in the Armed Forces in the lead-up, during and in the aftermath of D-day.
“The Allied landings were a turning point in world history. The RAF, along with their United States Army Air Force colleagues, had been preparing for the invasion for months, attacking German airfields and disrupting supply lines. Their attacks on radar sites made large parts of the Channel ‘invisible’.
“As the invasion fleet sailed under the protective fighter aircraft umbrella, the first Allied troops to land on D-day were being carried in gliders towed by RAF tug aircraft.
“More than 8,000 RAF personnel took part, with more than 5,000 aircraft involved, including the many squadrons who protected the invasion fleet from German submarine attack.”