D-Day veterans honoured in Portsmouth on 77th anniversary of allied landings
WATCH: Cary Johnston reports from Portsmouth. He spoke to Nick Hewitt from the National Museum of the Royal Navy, and veterans George Chandler, Joe Cattini and John Dennett.
Five D-Day veterans were piped ashore at Portsmouth's historic dockyard as part of the the 77th anniversary commemorations.
It was part of a day of remembrance, both in the city and in Normandy, dedicated to those who took part in the allied offensive in 1944.
With many veterans unable to travel to France this year, services of remembrance took place across the region instead.
However, around 100 veterans gathered in France to watch the opening of a memorial dedicated to those who took part in the D-Day landings.
The British Normandy Memorial records the names of the 22,442 servicemen and women under British command who died during the D-Day landings and the Battle of Normandy in the summer of 1944.
Designed by British architect Liam O’Connor, the structure has been built at Ver-sur-Mer in France and its opening was livestreamed to those who could not attend due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Meanwhile, veterans and their families gathered at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire to watch the event remotely and to mark the 77th anniversary.
The Royal British Legion’s assistant director for commemorative events, Bob Gamble, said: “D-Day remains one of the most remarkable Allied wartime operations in history, and it is our great privilege to have brought so many of our Normandy veterans and their family members together to mark the 77th anniversary of the landings.
“It remains as important as ever for us to remember and pay tribute to the immense bravery and sacrifice shown by all who served and fell during the Battle of Normandy.”
The memorial, which cost almost £30 million and was funded by the British Government and private benefactors, stands on a hillside overlooking Gold Beach, one of three where British forces landed on the morning of June 6 1944 to begin the liberation of Western Europe.
The Prince of Wales, patron of the Normandy Memorial Trust, said he had wished to travel to France and spoke of his pride at opening the “remarkable” memorial.
He said in a video message: “I know just how much our incomparable veterans had hoped to be in Normandy today to see their memorial for themselves.
“Despite having to watch via satellite link, this in no way obscures the enormous regard, and admiration, in which we hold our veterans or diminishes our debt of gratitude to the more than 22,000 men and women whose names are now permanently inscribed in stone in this place of honour above Gold Beach.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson also paid tribute to those who fought in D-Day:
The memorial features the D-Day Sculpture by British sculptor David Williams-Ellis, the D-Day Wall featuring the names of those who fell on D-Day itself and, on 160 stone columns, the names of those others who lost their lives between D-Day and the Liberation of Paris at the end of August 1944.
The site also includes a French memorial dedicated to the memory of French civilians who died during the period.