D-Day, 80 years on: Veterans cross the Channel once again
June 6, 2024
Veterans and world leaders are set to meet in France's Normandy region on Thursday to mark the 80th Anniversary of the D-Day landings during World War II.
US President Joe Biden, British King Charles III and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, representing the Allied powers, paid tribute to the immense sacrifices made by tens of thousands of troops on Normandy's beaches and cliffs.
"We recall the lesson that comes to us, again and again, across the decades: free nations must stand together to oppose tyranny," King Charles III said.
He and French President Emmanuel Macron led dignitaries in laying wreaths at the British Normandy Memorial outside the town of Ver-sur-Mer, overlooking Gold Beach, one of three beaches where British troops landed on D-Day.
Charles III thanked the veterans and said that while their numbers are dwindling, "our obligation to remember what they stood for and what they achieved for us all can never diminish."
Meanwhile, Macron told D-Day veterans that "France will never forget" their battle to liberate Europe from the Nazis.
From Portsmouth to the coast of Normandy
Ceremonies began in the United Kingdom and France on Wednesday, remembering the pivotal moment in history on June 6, 1944, when more than 150,000 Allied soldiers arrived in France by sea and air to drive out the forces of Nazi Germany.
King Charles III, Queen Camilla, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and UK opposition leader Keir Starmer were among the visiting dignitaries in the southern port city and naval base of Portsmouth.
"Today we come together to honor those nearly 160,000 British, Commonwealth and Allied troops who, on June 5, 1944, assembled here and along these shores to embark on the mission which would strike that blow for freedom and be recorded as the greatest amphibious operation in history," King Charles said on Wednesday.
200 veterans attending
The first ships and landing craft bound for France set off on the morning of June 5, 1944, in order to reach the northwestern French coast by the following morning.
Eight decades on, a group of veterans repeated that journey in more peaceful circumstances, sailing across the English Channel in time for the main commemorations in France on Thursday.
"If I could go again, I would go again. I'm glad we sacrificed so that others [could] have a good life," 99-year-old John Mines told the AFP news agency. "It wasn't me, they're all heroes."
The veterans will be the most honored guests. Some 200 of the surviving troops are expected at the ceremony, a number that is dwindling every year. This may be the final major anniversary where the centenarian veterans are present.
Thursday marks the culmination of a three-day event in France. President Emmanuel Macron will host US President Joe Biden, King Charles and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, representing the World War II Allied powers, to remember the heroism of the soldiers who gave their lives in the landings.
Important step toward liberation from Nazi regime: German envoy
Miguel Berger, the German ambassador to the UK, marked the anniversary of D-Day alongside King Charles and the veterans.
"D-Day was an important step toward liberation from the Nazi regime, paving the way for a democratic Germany and reconciliation. Today we stand united as close partners in NATO," he said on social media platform X on Wednesday.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will also take part in the day of commemoration, slated to start at around 08:30 a.m. UTC with a British ceremony in Ver-sur-Mer.
Shadow of Ukraine war hangs over anniversary
As Russia's war in Ukraine rages on, this year's tribute will carry special resonance.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also scheduled to take part in the day of remembrance.
Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 leading to Europe's biggest armed conflict since World War II, was not invited to take part this year. Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the 70th anniversary events in Normandy in 2014.
Putin, with the leaders of France, Germany and Ukraine, had set up the now defunct Normandy format, a contact group focused at resolving the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, which was back then centered around Ukraine's Donbas and Crimea regions.
Ten years later, the four countries no longer hold high-level diplomatic meetings.
msh,dvv/jsi (AFP, Reuters)