D-Day veterans gather for 82nd anniversary of Normandy landings amid poignant commemorations by French schoolchildren and the grandson of Field Marshal Montgomery
As veterans gathered for the 82nd anniversary of the Normandy landings, French children and Marshal Montgomery’s grandson also attended touching commemorations.
Today, on a cool, cloudy June morning in 1944, nearly 160,000 Allied soldiers landed on the beaches of Normandy to launch the largest naval invasion in history.
Their courageous actions initiated the liberation of Nazi-occupied France and changed the course of World War II, which would eventually lead to the defeat of Hitler’s forces in 1945.
To mark the occasion, military personnel, pipers from the Jedburgh Pipe Band and schoolchildren – the grandson of British Commandant Field Marshal Montgomery – took part in a march along Juno Beach.
The march coincided with H time, when British soldiers were deployed.
Veterans who lost their friends on the same beaches will also travel to France to attend the annual Remembrance Service at the British Normandy Memorial.
A number of veterans sat front and center at the ceremony, ahead of the UK’s military and political representatives, including Defense Secretary John Healey.
The sun pierced intermittent rain clouds as 100-year-old veteran Ken Hay stood to recite a memorial poem before observing a moment of silence.
D-Day veterans Richard Brock (front row left to right) with Ken Hay, Henry Rice and Ken Benbow at the British Normandy Memorial today to mark the 82nd anniversary of the Normandy Landings
Jedburgh Pipe Band lead marchers, including French schoolchildren, on a march along Juno beach to mark the poignant anniversary
Senior Ken Hay (center) stands to read a tribute poem before observing a moment of silence
This year’s anniversary is extra special as it is the first year since nearly 100 names have been added to the commemoration.
One such person was Cecil Green, who was mortally wounded in Normandy, but his death in a British hospital meant he was not officially commemorated.
His son John Green is in Normandy to mark the occasion.
he said BBC: ‘I was so happy, I cried… It’s a weird mix of being happy, elated and sad all at the same time.’
Mr Hay said: ‘For most people who come here it’s just a set of names.
‘To people like me, they are people, I can see their faces.’
This year, the smallest number of Normandy veterans will attend the ceremony since the memorial opened in 2021, with only six confirmed.
Approximately 160,000 Allied soldiers landed on June 6, 1944, to fight against Nazi-occupied France.
Although the exact number of German casualties is unknown, historians estimate between 4,000 and 9,000 people killed, wounded or missing.
Defense Secretary John Healey lays a wreath during a ceremony at the British Normandy Memorial
Cecil Green’s son, John Green, stands in front of his father’s name inscribed on the monument. His father was mortally wounded in Normandy, but his death in a British hospital meant he was not officially commemorated.
D-Day veteran Richard Brock lays a wreath with members of the Portsmouth Choir at the Royal British Legion Memorial Service in partnership with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission at Bayeux Cemetery in northern France
A total of 4,414 people died on the Allied front.
The Battle of Normandy that followed the landing left 73,000 Allied casualties and 153,000 wounded.
Later, Marshal Montgomery Grandson Henry Montgomery will complete the final day of his ‘On the Trail of Monty’ journey by walking more than 22km on Sword, Juno and Gold beaches; just as the first troops landed.
At every step of its two-month journey across Britain and northwest France, the lives of more than 22,000 men and women whose names are engraved on the British Normandy Memorial were honored.
Mr Montgomery, who raises money for Operation Remembrance, said: ‘I think we have very formal commemorations, but sometimes we do that and then we don’t carry on remembering, it certainly doesn’t affect how we act or what we think on a daily basis.
‘I think remembrance is something that needs to be active in our lives on a regular basis, we need to remember the freedoms that people died for and so we need to be responsible about how we take advantage of those freedoms and I think that’s really what I’ve learned, sort of, from meeting veterans.
‘And I think that’s a pretty important thing for younger generations to learn and understand and think about; So that’s actually the purpose of Operation Remembrance.’
Henry Montgomery (pictured), grandson of Field Marshal Montgomery, will complete the final day of his ‘On the Trail of Monty’ journey by walking more than 22 kilometers along Sword, Juno and Gold beaches; just as the first troops landed.
He added: ‘Stories are the foundation of Operation Remembrance. So we collected about 1,000 stories for 22,500 people, but that means there are 21,500 stories that we don’t have and people need to know about those 21,500 stories that we don’t have.’
Mr Montgomery’s target is £225,400, or £10 for each of the 22,540 people named on the British Normandy Memorial.
He is accompanied on D-Day by Will Ramsay, grandson of the Commander in Chief of the Navy, Admiral Ramsay.
Meanwhile, Winston Churchill’s great-great-grandson, 11-year-old Alexander Churchill, recited a prayer at the ceremony sung by Admiral Horatio Nelson on the eve of the Battle of Trafalgar.
