King Charles and Queen Camilla have opened a new educational centre close to the British Normandy memorial in France.
The Press Association (PA) reports that shortly after attending the nearby UK commemorative event, Charles and Camilla toured the Winston Churchill Centre for Education and Learning.
They were shown an exhibition gallery, curated by the Royal British Legion, telling the stories of those who fought on D-day and in the Battle of Normandy. According to the PA, Charles was heard remarking: “It’s extraordinary isn’t it?”
Charles and Camilla spoke to a number of people involved in the building of the centre, including sculptor David Williams-Ellis. They then signed the visitor’s book, before departing.
The centre will also feature a purpose-built classroom to host school groups, teaching them how the landings were possible. It will be open to the public from 7 June and entry will be free.
The opening was also attended by UK prime minister Rishi Sunak and Gen Lord Richard Dannatt, the chairman of the Normandy Memorial Trust.
Daniel Boffey reporting from Ver-sur-Mer, has written a piece on how the words of D-day veterans stirred the crowd in Normandy:
It was not the profound silence of the moment of reflection, broken only by gentle birdsong, or even the spectacular sweeping flypast from the Red Arrows that left deep red, blue and white trails hanging in the almost cloudless sky, that most stirred the thousand people honouring the events of 80 years ago among the brilliant white French Massangis stone of the British Normandy memorial.
It was instead the words of Arthur Oborne, 100, which brought people to their feet in a spontaneous show of gratitude and sorrow over the burdens borne and lives prematurely ended by what the king had described as “the vast allied effort” launched on 6 June 1944.
Standing at the centre of the memorial site, opened in 2021 near the village of Ver-sur-Mer and overlooking Gold beach, Oborne, working hard to keep his voice strong and clear, recalled being shot in the lung by a sniper.
He had only been saved by his friend “Gummy” Gummerson, who strapped him up and got him back to a field hospital. But “Gummy” was killed the very next day along with 26 others in the 49th division of the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, 6th Battalion.
“I wish I could tell him that I have never taken his sacrifice for granted and will always remember him and our friends,” Oborne, from Portishead, Somerset, told the crowd. “So Gummy, thank you my old friend.”
You can read Daniel Boffey’s full piece here:
US president Joe Biden has arrived on Omaha beach with his wife, Gill, to raucous cheers.
One of his first conversations on greeting fellow leaders was with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been hugging and chatting with a number of the US veterans as they arrive at Omaha beach.
A large screen on the beach provides the audience with a close up look at the greeting line to the right of the stage.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy was engaged in an intensive conversation with the Czech president Petr Pavel soon after his arrival on Omaha beach.
Pavel holds the rank of general and was chair of the Nato military committee until 2018. He was decorated by the Czech and French governments for rescuing French troops besieged by the Serbs during the Bosnian war in 1993.
Spectators have cheered and given a standing ovation to Battle of Normandy veterans who are arriving at the commemoration service in Arromanches.
The town square parade by the D-day museum is being watched by crowds and people in overlooking shop windows and a cafe rooftop.
One veteran waved and smiled to the crowds as he arrived in his wheelchair.
In the hot sunshine, veterans donned sunglasses and D-day caps, while being shaded under umbrellas by family members as they watched the military parade start the Arromanches service.
The veterans have a view looking out to sea over Gold Beach where troops landed 80 years ago.
Here are some of the latest images on the newswires from Omaha beach as international leaders, officials, veterans and members of the public make their way for the international commemorative event:
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his wife, Olena, were greeted with cheers and applause as they arrived at the international commemorative event on Omaha beach.
Olena Zelenska looked behind in surprise as the crowd erupted as they walked into the open air venue.
France’s Emmanuel Macron and the British defence secretary Grant Shapps were among the politicians to greet Zelenskiy with a hug. No Russian representative has been invited to the commemorative events due to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
The international commemorative ceremony is under way as international leaders arrive at Omaha Beach in the town of Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer.
BBC coverage is showing the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and first lady, Brigitte Macron, greeting Candian prime minister Justin Trudeau, followed by Prince William.
More than 25 heads of state will be in attendance alongside veterans, officials and the general public.
The UK defence secretary Grant Shapps has arrived at the international ceremony on Omaha beach. He is deputising for the prime minister who returned to London after the British commemorate event this morning.
The Prince of Wales is also attending this afternoon’s service.
The US secretary of state Antony Blinken has shared a statement today in commemoration of the 80th anniversary of D-day.
It reads:
Today, we commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-day, a pivotal moment in our shared history that resonates deeply with Americans, our allies, and the world. On June 6, 1944, brave allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy in a heroic effort to liberate Europe from the grip of Nazi tyranny.
We honor the extraordinary courage and sacrifice of those who fought on the frontlines for freedom and those who supported them from afar. The bonds forged on the beaches of Normandy have endured for eight decades, evolving into the alliances that underpin our collective security and defence of democracy today.
We extend our profound gratitude to the people of France, who have preserved the memory of D-day with unwavering dedication.
As we prepare to host the Nato Summit in Washington DC., we are reminded of the enduring importance of our alliance. Together, we face renewed challenges to freedom and democracy.
These challenges have reignited the spirit of cooperation and shared purpose that led to victory for those who came before us. The Nato summit will be an opportunity for us to highlight our collective commitment to liberty, democracy, prosperity, and security.
As we mark the 80th anniversary of D-day, we face the future together with courage and determination.”
British prime minister Rishi Sunak has been criticised for missing the major international ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of D-day, PA Media reports.
PA says:
A Tory source played down the diplomatic impact of the prime minster’s absence, pointing out he will see Macron, Biden, German chancellor Olaf Scholz and other key leaders at the G7 summit in Italy next week.
But Nigel Farage, whose announcement this week that he is standing in the election came as a blow to Sunak, criticised the move.
The Reform UK leader tweeted: “The prime minister has ducked out of the international D-day event to fly back to the UK to campaign. I am here in Normandy in a personal capacity because I think it matters. Does he?”
Sunak attended events in Normandy today, including speaking at the major British ceremony, but will not be present alongside leaders including France’s president Emmanuel Macron and US president Joe Biden at the international gathering.
With the UK general election campaign in full swing, Sunak will head back to the UK – but the leader of the Labour party, Keir Starmer, will be at the high-profile international event in Normandy.
According to PA, a Tory source played down the diplomatic impact of the prime minster’s absence, pointing out he will see Macron, Biden, German chancellor Olaf Scholz and other key leaders at the G7 summit in Italy next week.
British veterans including Ken Cooke, 98, who stepped on to Gold beach at 7.45am on 6 June are being applauded as they arrive at the international commemoration at Omaha beach.
Cooke, who had never seen a ship before sailing to Normandy from Southampton eight decades ago, spoke to the Guardian before the commemorative events in Normandy.
You can read Daniel Boffey’s interview with Ken Cooke here:
The Press Association (PA) reports that King Charles told a D-day veteran he is “doing well” as he and Queen Camilla attended a D-day memorial event in Normandy.
After attending the UK’s commemoration event in Ver-sur-Mer in Normandy on Thursday, Charles and Camilla visited a marquee where veterans were having tea and cakes. On one table, the king sat beside Ronald Hendrey, 98, of Clacton-on-Sea, who asked about his health.
Hendrey said: “He was very nice, he listened to what I was saying and took it in. “I asked him how he was doing, he told me he is doing well.”
Readers have been sharing their stories of family members who took part in D-day. Here are some of them:
‘His hair started falling out in clumps. A barometer of his state of mind’
My dad, John Clarke, born August 1917 in Aston, Birmingham was a lorry driver in the Royal Army Service Corps. He volunteered alongside two mates the day before war broke out as he reasoned that the earliest recruits would be demobilised first. They didn’t imagine for a moment that their next day on Civvy Street would be seven or so years later.
On 4 June 1944, they were told to prepare to ship out. No mention was made of invasion, although this had been quite obvious for some weeks or months. On the 5th, they set off for Normandy, and it was only then that their true destination was revealed. My dad has told me little about the journey over to France, other than the terrible sea state that made many sick, and that he noticed his hair started falling out in clumps. A barometer of his state of mind.
They landed late evening on 6 June at Arromanches when the beach head had been established and things were relatively quiet, but the evidence of what had occurred earlier in that day was no doubt sobering. Adrian Clarke, 57, telecom engineer, Auckland, New Zealand
‘He was only a lad at the time’
Aged 18, Peter Brown from Hull, my dad, took part in the D-day landings landing on Sword Beach in the first wave as part of the Second Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment. He talks of the feelings of himself and all his young comrades leading up to the event. I think they were apprehensive, but stoic. Another soldier told him, ‘‘You never look scared”, which he said was obviously not true. He was only a lad at the time. You just resign yourself, I suppose, to carry you through.
When they did get off, the water was much deeper than he expected it to be. He got absolutely soaked carrying these big packs and his gun. And obviously he saw comrades, already killed, in the water.
Having survived the beaches his battalion’s job was to plough on towards Caen, where he was wounded and returned briefly to Haslar, Portsmouth to have shrapnel removed from his arm. When he rejoined his unit, there was only one soldier left that he knew.
He went on to prepare for Operation Market Garden subsequently making his way through the Netherlands, battle after battle, ending up in Bremen when peace was declared. My dad wrote a fairly detailed account of his experiences sometime after the war. He joined the Normandy Veterans Association some time in the 80s and made many trips back to Normandy and Holland. Chris Townend, retired teacher, Knutsford, Cheshire
‘Dad, not knowing in the dark if this was friend or foe, played dead’
Raymond Wynne Batten, my dad, was in the 13th Battalion of the British 6th Airborne Division that parachuted into Normandy on D-day. He landed in a tree at the edge of his drop zone, but before he could cut himself down he heard machine gun fire and then someone came through the undergrowth and looked up at him. Dad, not knowing in the dark if this was friend or foe, played dead, and this seemed to be effective, as the figure moved off, after which he got out of the tree and moved towards the rallying-horns.
I had a close relationship with him, especially as an only child, but there was an atmosphere in the family that we didn’t want to talk about unpleasant things, and as a typical hippy pacifist type of youngster I think I blocked out the necessity of war and dad’s experience. Only much later as an adult, and hopefully a bit wiser, did I really sit down with him and listen.
I’m now married to a German, live in Bavaria and since Brexit have taken on German nationality. Our fathers met once and were really friendly and open to each other, even though they couldn’t speak each other’s language. Susan Batten-Seidl, 68, retired English teacher from the UK, now living in Amberg, Bavaria
US president Joe Biden commissioned a challenge coin in honour of the 80th anniversary of D-day, the White House said.
The coin features an image of troops approaching the beaches of Normandy and B-17 aircraft flying overhead and the number 9388 etched in the sand, which represents the number of Americans who remain in Normandy to this day and lie at rest in the cemetery.
It also features the presidential seal adorned with a blue star and a gold star and a quotation on the coin reads: “They also serve who only stand and wait.” The White House said the line from Milton often used by Biden is to “encapsulate the service and sacrifices of military families”.
Biden presented the coins to the second world war veterans he met prior to the start of the ceremony, all of whom are D-day survivors.
A 21-gun salute follows as Biden, Macron and those present salute before a moment of silence then a fly past from F-35 jets in the missing man formation.
Biden says: “To bow down to dictators is simply unthinkable. To do that would be forgetting what happened on these hallowed beaches. We will not forget.
“History tells us freedom is not free. If you want to know the price of freedom, come to Normandy and look. Go to the other cemeteries in Europe where our fallen heroes rest. Go back home to Arlington. Remember the price of unchecked tyranny is the blood of the young and the brave. In their generation, in their hour of trial, the Allied forces at D-Day did their duty. Now the question for us is: in our hour of trial, will we do ours?
“We have to ask ourselves, will we stand against evil, against crushing brutality. Will we stand for freedom, will we defend democracy? Will we stand together? My answer is yes and only can be yes.”
He says: “In memory of those who fought here, died here, literally saved the world here – let us be worthy of their sacrifice. Let us be the generation that history writes about in 10, 20, 50, 80 years from now. Let it say: when the moment came, we met the moment and stood strong.”
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2024-06-06 15:10:01Z
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