Portsmouth leads nation in lighting D-Day beacons to mark 80th anniversary

• Portsmouth leads the nation by lighting D-Day beacons

Portsmouth has led the nation in lighting D-Day beacons, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings.

The first beacons were lit in the Hampshire city on Thursday night (6 June).

There was a sunset ceremony and a parade involving Royal Navy personnel, including a performance from the Royal Marines Band Service.

The Normandy landings were the largest seaborne invasion in history, with the 1944 battle laying the foundation for an Allied victory.

Troops from the UK, the USA, Canada, and France attacked German forces on the beaches at Normandy in northern France on June 6, 1944.

Australia, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, Greece, Holland, New Zealand, Norway and Poland were also involved.

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