D-Day - a day of remembrance
Today we remember D-Day -the landing operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy during World War II. The largest seaborne invasion in history. The landings were the first stage of the invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe: this events helped to bring the war to the end.
Veterans, relatives’ of those who have since deceased, government spokespersons, commemorated the tragic events; hundreds of veterans in their 80s and 90s gathered on the five beaches which had served as landing sites in the tragic event that unfolded 70 years ago.
In the Bayeux war cemetery, a last resting place for 3,935 young soldiers, the veterans and relatives’ walked through the white rows of headstones - it was a very emotional moment.
The Royal Family also were at the Bayeux service. The Queen was accompanied by Prince Philip, 92, himself a veteran of the war, Prince Charles, the Duchess of Cornwall, Commonwealth leaders and a plethora of British politicians.
On Sword beach, the French president, François Holland said that the day was a "message of peace and a requirement for a United Nations that intervenes where it's necessary for the collective security … and a Europe that has allowed peace on a continent that was at war throughout the 20th century".
President Obama, the German chancellor Angela Merkel and the newly elected Ukrainian president, Petro Poroshenko were among the world leaders present at the ceremony.
The American President said: "America's claim - our commitment to liberty, to equality, to freedom, to the inherent dignity of every human being - that claim is written in blood on these beaches, and it will endure for eternity".
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