Joe Biden and King Charles are among those attending D-day celebrations in France and the UK
I am on a media bus racing through the French countryside via a police escort on my way to the British Normandy memorial which is located close to the village of Ver sur Mer, and overlooks Gold beach, one of the two where the bulk of British forces landed on the morning of 6 June 1944.
The British commemorative event will start at 9.30am UK time. The prime minister Rishi Sunak, the King and Queen and French president Emmanuel Macron will be attending.
Those who gathered here in Portsmouth would never forget the sight. It was by far the largest military fleet the world has ever known. Yet all knew that both victory and failure were possible, and none could know their fate.
Aircrew flying overhead, sailors manning warships; or troops in assault craft battering their way through the stormy swell to the shore; whether dropping by parachute, landing in a wooden glider, or taking that terrible leap of faith on to the beaches … all must have questioned whether they would survive and how they would respond when faced with such mortal danger.
Continue reading…Joe Biden and King Charles are among those attending D-day celebrations in France and the UKI am on a media bus racing through the French countryside via a police escort on my way to the British Normandy memorial which is located close to the village of Ver sur Mer, and overlooks Gold beach, one of the two where the bulk of British forces landed on the morning of 6 June 1944.The British commemorative event will start at 9.30am UK time. The prime minister Rishi Sunak, the King and Queen and French president Emmanuel Macron will be attending.Those who gathered here in Portsmouth would never forget the sight. It was by far the largest military fleet the world has ever known. Yet all knew that both victory and failure were possible, and none could know their fate.Aircrew flying overhead, sailors manning warships; or troops in assault craft battering their way through the stormy swell to the shore; whether dropping by parachute, landing in a wooden glider, or taking that terrible leap of faith on to the beaches … all must have questioned whether they would survive and how they would respond when faced with such mortal danger. Continue reading…