D-Day 80: Hundreds of parachutists recreate airborne invasion to mark anniversary
To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings of 1944, hundreds of armed forces troops were played on by a brass band as they parachuted onto a field in Normandy
Hundreds of armed forces personnel parachuted into an historic D-Day drop zone in Normandy this afternoon to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the airborne invasion.
A brass band could be heard playing Vera Lynn's "We'll meet again", a defining classic of the Second World War, as paratroopers recreated the historic landing.
More than 300 British, Belgian and US and Canadian parachutists are due to land on fields near Sannerville, which was designated drop zone K on June 6 1944.
Among the 250 soldiers from the British Army’s 16 Air Assault Brigade was Sergeant Danny Mawson, a keen historian who wore a smock worn by Colour Sergeant Tommy Alderson, who jumped on D-Day.
Also jumping was Lieutenant Max Phillips, whose great-great-uncle Major William Tighe-Woods landed on Sword Beach on D-Day.
It was one of several commemorative events to mark this year's anniversary.
Elsewhere on Wednesday, a D-Day veteran leading an act of remembrance saluted fallen soldiers as the Last Post was played at an emotional ceremony in Normandy.
Some 11 veterans with the Spirit of Normandy Trust joined commemorations in Colleville-Montgomery, sitting in the front row of the service with blankets on their laps.
Royal Navy veteran Alec Penstone, who served on HMS Campania, told the PA news agency: “I’m surprised I’m still here, I didn’t expect to be. I’m very lucky.”
About the ceremony, the 99-year-old said: “I realised how many of my wonderful shipmates… died. I don’t know how I’m still spared.”
Today's ceremonies also include a commemoration service at Bayeux War Cemetery hosted by the Royal British Legion, before a joint UK-France thanksgiving service at Bayeux Cathedral held by the Ministry of Defence and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
On Thursday – the 80th anniversary of D-Day – commemorations will begin in Normandy at 7.25am, the same time the beach invasion began in 1944. A military piper will land on the beaches of Arromanches-les-Bains in a Royal Marines landing craft and begin playing a lament in tribute to those who led the beach landings.
The official British commemoration for the 80th anniversary of D-Day will take place at the British Normandy Memorial at Ver-sur-Mer, where the King will join French President Emmanuel Macron and Mr Sunak. The Prince of Wales will attend events in Normandy including a service hosted by Canada at Juno Beach and an international ceremony hosted by France at Omaha Beach which will be attended by more than 25 heads of state. The prime minister will deliver a short speech at Ver-sur-Mer and lead a “heroes’ welcome” for the veterans.
On the other side of the English Channel, the King paid tribute to D-Day veterans at a commemorative event in Portsmouth.
In his speech, Charles said: "The stories of courage, resilience and solidarity we have heard today and throughout our lives cannot fail to move us, to inspire us and to remind us of what we owe to that great wartime generation."
The Queen and Prince of Wales were also in attendance at the event on Southsea Common in Portsmouth, hosted by the Ministry of Defence.
Attendees at the D-Day commemorative event joined together in a rendition of the national anthem before observing a gun salute.
Frigate HMS St Albans fired off multiple shots as it passed, before the crowd were treated to a flypast from The Red Arrows, trailing the team’s trademark red, white, and blue colours, and an RAF Typhoon Display Team aircraft.
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