Part 1 D-Day 70


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for coverage of the rest of the day 's events in Normandy. World

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70 years ago today on the 6th June 1944.

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On a gloriously sunny day from the French Port of Arromanches.

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This was liberated by British troops who fought their way ashore on D-Day

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The significance of today's ceremony is to honour those who took part in

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the landings and it is underlined by the presence of the Queen.

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that Operation Overlord had finally arrived.

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Or the fighting in the weeks and months that followed.

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Today is about the Normandy veterans.

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It is true there are fewer of them with us.

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We expect to see more than 650 of them at today's events.

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We will have live coverage of the main ceremonies.

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Let's put Arromanches in a D-Day context for you.

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There you have it in the centre of this long stretch of Normandy

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There you have Utah and owe Omaha. That's putting Arromanches and our

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studio in Arromanches in a geographic context for you.

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In a ceremony, the Standard of the Normandy Veterans' Association was

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raised for the last time in the square because the Association is to

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Former servicemen find it difficult to travel.

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In October they will lay up the National Standard at a service at

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Westminster. There are just 11 remaining Dutch veterans and they

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are taking centre stage at a special ceremony.

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We will be seeing a lot of this square today.

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The square is in the possession of the Dutch.

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The king and Queen of the Netherlands are here and they are

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enjoying a lovely sight on this warm morning in Normandy.

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There were over 50 ten years ago and it is a reflection of the march of

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time. Later this afternoon, right here in the same square the British

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veterans will be in Arromanches for their main event of the day and the

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Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will be here to see them march into the

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square. We would love you to be involved at home.

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We would like you to send in comments and questions.

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I will do my best to use as many of them as the day goes on.

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Send in photos relating to D-Day too because we know you have many

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thousands of photos, families have kept valuable photos.

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There is the Facebook address for you there.

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At the top we have the BBC website for you.

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Please get in touch and we'll try to use them as we go through the day.

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I'm going to start today's commemoration in Bayeux.

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It is the location of the largest War Graves Cemetery.

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Huw, I feel like I have got the most privileged job.

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I am my job today is to meet the veterans and hear their stories and

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talk to them about their role 70 years ago and they are really at the

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I've met veterans who are here for a special reason.

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There is people looking at the graves of their fallen comrades and

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remembering. So through the morning, I will be talking to veterans and

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hopefully bringing you some of their stories.

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This afternoon, the focus moves to Ouistreham.

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That's where the big international event is being held.

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Her Majesty, the Queen will be attending along with President Obama

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and President Putin and there will be 19 nations represented and

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veterans from all of the nations took part in the landings and Anita

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Rani is there to he will us -- to tell us more.

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I'm on Sword Beach, right here, just under 29,000 troops landed.

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Most of whom belonged to the British Third Infantry Division.

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The same beach is hosting the international event.

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That's a map of Europe and later on there will be a performance

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re-enacting the end of the Second World War.

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Just over 1,000 veterans and who I will be going off to spend sometime

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with. That's the broad shape of the day.

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It will be memorable and it will be moving.

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The last time we will see the Normandy Veterans' Association

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gathered here. The programme of events started yesterday.

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There were ceremonies yesterday to remember the airborne landings.

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We will be seeing some of that later on.

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Earlier this morning The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall

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joined veterans at a service at Bayeux Cathedral.

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# Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice

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# Him serve with fear His praise forth tell

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Your Royal Highness which name do you want to give?

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This morning's service at Bayeux Cathedral on the dedication of a new

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bell there at the cathedral to mark #.

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We saw members of the Royal Family taking part and the Bishop of

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Manchester there representing the Church of England.

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The Normandy Landings, we are under lining the significance of what

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Throughout the day we will be talking to a range of people.

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We will be talking to experts about the detail and significance of what

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Talking of experts, with me now are Antony Beevor whose books include

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the Second World War and D-Day and James Holland.

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Antony, can you underline to viewers straightaway, what's the

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Well, the significance is huge from the point of view that one sees more

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and more people showing a greater and interest even though it is 70

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We are living in a post military society and health and safety

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environment and people appreciate and are fascinated by a period when

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the soldiers involved had little control over fates.

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There is a sense this is a generation that's slipping away.

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I have been around here for the last couple of days and talking to a

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number of veterans and it is amazing they come back here to see their

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fallen comrades in the cemeteries around Normandy and you know, you

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look down, if you are a veteran and you are in your early 90s now and

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you look at a grave of a friend of yours who was cut down when he was

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20 and you think I've had # 70 years longer.

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It is a useful moment to remind everyone

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We will be joining lots of the events later and the veterans.

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That's Ed Miliband, the Labour leader who arrived in Normandy to

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take part in the service that we will be seeing later on.

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There will be lots of people keen to chat to the elderly gentlemen with

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lots of stories to tell about what happened 70 years ago.

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Just a good moment to talk about what happened after many months of

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planning. Sophisticated deception and the immense courage of those who

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The weather conditions not favourable on 5th June.

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After a 24 hour delay, D-Day was enacted and the first gliders and

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paratroopers landed near Pegasus Bridge.

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The bombardment started of the French Coast started.

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23,000 US troops coming ashore at 6.30am.

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1,000 men for every soldier you see on this map.

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Highest number of casualties thereafter Omaha.

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Just north of Pegasus over 28,000 troops landing there.

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On D-Day, more than 132,000 men landing on the beaches.

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23,000 coming in by glider or by parachute.

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When you put it like that, really it is the scale and the ambition and

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the vision of what happened that still strikes you 70 years on,

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Antony? The planning for Operation Overlord was significant.

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The Canadians joked that it should be called Operation Overboard.

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When you think of the 6,000 ships and the screen of mine sweepers

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That was one of the miracles that the marina had not put to sea

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because they thought it was too rough for an invasion.

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Are we really at a stage today where we can say what the cost was in

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There is interesting new research which has come out of the United

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States where they think they've worked out how many were killed on

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People go -- there is debate about it.

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People go missing and did they die on D-Day or two days later?

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The casualties weren't as high as they feared.

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Why was it not as bad as they thought?

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Partly because the ships weren't sunk by the German Navy as they

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expected, but at the same time one must remember the French civilians.

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Over 3,000 French civilians were killed on D-Day and another 15,000

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were killed beforehand and we should remember their sacrifice, not a

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deliberate one, but still their sacrifice as well as remembering the

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I want to say to viewers, if you want to find out more about what was

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happening 70 years ago, we have a live blog and there is coverage of

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all of today's events on the Red Button.

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The Red Button you're familiar with on the zapper!

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That's for those events if we are off air later and there are things

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going on, press the Red Button and the blog, there we have it, the

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address I gave you a short while ago:

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We will be hearing more from Antony and James shortly.

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The veterans from Britain and around the world have been gathering in

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I was talking to lots of them yesterday and the day before.

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For a few, it will be their first visit to the D-Day beaches since the

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Some returned year after year, but they come with the common purpose

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which is to give thanks and to remember those who didn't survive

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One group prepared for this anniversary by gathering at

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Southwark House in Portsmouth for a dinner on the eve of their crossing.

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We have been doing this for six years bringing the veterans over to

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At the same time some new people, it is great to hear the stories that

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It is different for different veterans.

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Some have been back many, many times.

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So they're feeling apprehensive, feeling nervous.

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They don't know how they will feel when they get over there.

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The 70th anniversary has come up on top of us.

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I haven't been there before apart from the original, of course.

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1944 was the last time I was in Normandy.

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There was a house piled up with clothing and the belongings and

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there was' dead horse in the tracks and the family around were dead.

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I'll never forget that. APPLAUSE

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It has been one of them, more than the average year for me.

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The comradeship among the veterans, it has been wonderful.

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Just mingling and chatting to each other.

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Some of us are lucky and some of us are not.

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It is only ten minutes or quarter of an hour we were singing and dancing

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and enjoying life and then the sad sounds.

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We shall not grow old as we that are left grow old.

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At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them.

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There will be a lot of reflecting today and the passage of time, well

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70 years very much on people's minds.

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Not just the veterans, but their families too, the nice thing about

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this event, especially on a special anniversary like this, lots of

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family and friends come out to support veterans and that's one of

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We were wandering around earlier chatting to groups f families who

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There are lots of French families here to come along and enjoy the

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experience. The time in France is now just about 10.3am.

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The service -- 10.37am, the service at Bayeux War Cemetery is about to

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begin. Some made their way up the hill from the cathedral.

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Her Majesty, the Queen, is about to join them.

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Let's say good morning to Sian Williams to find out more.

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Indeed, the veterans who left the service at the cathedral have been

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walking through the streets of Bayeux lined with local people who

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have been showing their gratitude and respect to those they call their

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They're come to go the cemetery for the service of remembrance acht

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place beautifully -- a place beautifully maintained.

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There are over 4 ,100 Commonwealth troops buried here.

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Those veterans who chose not to go to the cathedral service have been

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It is like meeting old friends and swapping stories and some are

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already at the cemetery and have been chatting through about times

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One veteran told me he has been back to the cemetery every year for the

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past 30 years, but for many, it will be the first time.

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The Royal British Legion organised the service with the help of the

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Normandy Veterans' Association and they say it is important for the

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veterans to be here for the service and to meet members of the Royal

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Her Majesty, the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and politicians will

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arrive at the memorial which honours the land forces with no known grave.

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Those who fought for the freedom will be the focus today.

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Men now in their 90s who 70 years ago stormed the beaches of Normandy.

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The Veterans' Association include those who fought in the difficult

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Ken, what time did you land on D-Day?

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Quarter to eight on the Tuesday morning.

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And can you give us a sense of what the scene that greeted you when you

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I never heard a noise like it before.

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There was flashes, gun flashes, battleships, guns firing, rockets,

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smoke. You could hardly see a thing for smoke.

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You didn't know where you were half the time.

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And did you lose many comrades when you landed on the beach or had the

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The first wave definitely did its work because I think as far as I can

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remember we never lost any men on the beach itself.

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There was more fighting to come, yes.

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On a day like this, who are you remembering here today?

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I have been over here three or four times and I always try to look for

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Have you met up with any old friends?

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I have been looking for people from my battalions for 70 years and I

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have been to different functions and I never found anyone.

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Yesterday, I went on to Sword Beach and I was stood near the statue and

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this chap came up to me and said, "My dad's in the same regiment."

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It turned out he was in the same battalion and company and I was and

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That was the first one in # 70 years.

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His son told me he worked out there was three Green House Howards left,

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his father, myself and another chap who he contacted.

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Throughout the day we will be hearing lots more.

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That was a very, very nice experience to share.

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That was Dan Snow and we will be back with Dan shortly.

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Bill Martin is a young man of 20 and he was sent to defend the vital

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bridge later to be known as Pegasus in honour of the airborne troops

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I served as a private in the 7th Battalion of the Parachute Regiment.

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Our job was to go out there and hold a bridge at whatever cost.

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If it meant shooting people, that was it.

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the Horsa, which crossed the River Orne, and Pegasus,

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As far as jumping out of an aeroplane,

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It's when you hit the floor, that's when you can get

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just tell yourself that you're dead already anyway.

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Don't worry about it, just get on and do what you're told.

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I think lots of our soldiers did the same.

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Don't want to think about your family, your brothers

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The people you rely on now are the people who are

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in front of you and behind you, who are jumping with you.

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We weren't scared of the Germans, we was up for the fight.

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It is just that we were dropped in the wrong bloody position

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We were one platoon with thousands of Germans around.

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I found out later on that we were dropped 21 miles wrong.

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So we were at a big disadvantage trying to make our way back.

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I got taken prisoner, others got killed.

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You don't feel emotional during the actions, but in later life...

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I never used to think about it a lot.

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I thought when I first went back to Normandy and I saw the grave

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and the realisation of what you are about to do is very adult.

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It's not a movie. You know that death can be odds or evens.

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It's only now, looking back from this old age,

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that I see people 20 years of age and they just seem like children.

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And I realise that we were just children, in many ways.

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That was Bill Martin's remarkable story. He attended events yesterday,

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when they returned to Pegasus Bridge.

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It is deeply humbling to do this. It is hard to explain. I'm highly

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privileged to be here on my two feet, 70 years later. Did you land

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on this area on D-Day? Yes, indeed. Close to the Pegasus Bridge. Did you

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have any nerves this afternoon? Nerves, what's that? !

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It's just an amazing sight, to think how low they are as well.

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What made you want to come back for this very special anniversary? It's

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a special anniversary but this is a bit glamorous at the moment. The

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really motion I had was visiting the cemetery, seeing my friends' grades.

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I can understand that. But seeing the planes come over just now, it

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must bring back memories as well. It does, it gives me a buzz. It gives

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me a feeling I'd like to do it again. I've got my grandchildren

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around me. How many of your family have you got with you? 24. It sounds

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like you had a full life afterwards. It's a good job I turned up

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otherwise they wouldn't be here. I'm really proud of him. I can't tell

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you how amazing the atmosphere is here. There's hordes of people and

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almost to the minute, this precise moment here on Pegasus Bridge, this

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is where Britain's D-Day began, 70 years ago. I am absolutely delighted

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to have so many veterans with me because you have with you, in front

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of you, the ones who are the heroes of the time. I want to thank you

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all. My father said to the British soldiers as they dug their trenches

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in the garden, dig it up, it's all for you and I want to invite you to

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a glass of champagne to commemorate that occasion.

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How does it feel to have everyone around here today, it must be so

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special? It is very special because, as you can see, it just shows you

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that from the military of the time, it continues to be militarily. And I

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think it is very moving and touching.

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Have you had any champagne this evening? I'm still half cut! So you

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are enjoying the festivities? Everyone has been so kind, it's very

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nice. They are so thrilled to see you over here. Yes, they are. Their

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parents so as here and they still remember very strongly.

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There you have it, in just a few minutes, the spirit of this 70th

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anniversary. Because it is all about paying tribute to those who made the

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ultimate sacrifice, really. But it is also about French gratitude. No

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matter where you go, in local cafes here, people just wanting to say

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thank you for what was achieved 70 years ago. James, I'm envious

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because you clearly had a lovely time at that event last night. What

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was it like? Terrific. There were hordes of people. What is so

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fabulous is all the veterans were treated like kings, which is exactly

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as it should be. I spoke to a number of them and a lot of them didn't

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make the cut in that little film. There was one fellow who was moving,

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he had been in the Durham Light Infantry. I saw his medals. He

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fought in North Africa, Italy and Normandy as well. He had really been

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around the park. He was terribly self-effacing, self-deprecating and

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dignified. The kind of person that the Prime Minister will be meeting

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today. David Cameron has just arrived at the Bayeux war cemetery

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for the service taking place in a short while. The Queen will be there

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too. Antony Beevor is still with us too. I'm reflecting on the Prime

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Minister there coming to pay his tribute. We are here talking

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specifically given the gentleman we have just seen about the airborne

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troops and what they achieved in the lead-up to and overnight into D-Day.

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How lead-up to and overnight into D-Day.

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important was that? It was terribly important. With the sixth airborne

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securing the eastern flank and the Americans. What was extraordinary,

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of course, was that the disastrous scattering of many of the

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paratroopers dropping all over the place, some of them 20 miles away

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from their drop zones, confused the Germans, they didn't know where the

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real focus of the attack was coming, it is the law of unintended

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consequences in war. Let's look at what is going on in Bayeux. There we

:38:02.:38:06.

have the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, who was also attending this

:38:07.:38:12.

event today and of course, lots of them, we will see in Arromanches

:38:13.:38:16.

when we have the main British event in this part of Normandy when the

:38:17.:38:20.

Normandy Veterans' Association will be parading through the square here.

:38:21.:38:21.

I suppose before we get be parading through the square here.

:38:22.:38:25.

I suppose before we to that service a little later, it's worth

:38:26.:38:30.

reflecting as well on the enormous exercise that went on, not just in

:38:31.:38:35.

the few weeks before D-Day, but for many months before it happened. A

:38:36.:38:39.

sense of that, James, first? Well, D-Day is not the start, it's two

:38:40.:38:47.

years into the planning. Now, the concentrated planning only began in

:38:48.:38:53.

January of 1944, the chief Chief-of-Staff, the first initial

:38:54.:39:00.

planning and the logistics, the Mulberry's was further back than

:39:01.:39:05.

that. The Canadians were training for this since 1940. It is a huge,

:39:06.:39:10.

huge effort. It is not just about getting troops and trucks and tanks

:39:11.:39:16.

over to here, it is about rations and fuel and there is so many things

:39:17.:39:20.

to think about and you though, they do pull it off. Another thought

:39:21.:39:24.

before we go to the service where we will hear lots of themes of

:39:25.:39:29.

gratitude and reconciliation later on. One thought, Antony, it is

:39:30.:39:34.

really to do with not just sacrifice, not just French

:39:35.:39:38.

gratitude, because that's a strong theme today, but also to do with

:39:39.:39:42.

what D-Day achievement. People talk about it being a turning

:39:43.:39:45.

what D-Day achievement. People talk are right to talk of it in that way?

:39:46.:39:51.

It was definitely a turning point in the war in the West. The

:39:52.:39:57.

psychological turning point of statin grad had taken place, if

:39:58.:40:02.

D-Day failed, the map of Western Europe might have looked very

:40:03.:40:04.

different. The Prince of Wales Europe might have looked very

:40:05.:40:08.

the Duchess of Cornwall arriving in lovely sunshine at Bayeux for the

:40:09.:40:14.

service at the Bayeux war cemetery. We'll join Sian Williams who is

:40:15.:40:19.

keeping an eye on things for us there. The Prince of Wales is here

:40:20.:40:27.

today as Admiral of there. The Prince of Wales is here

:40:28.:40:29.

was greeted by the Honour Guard from there. The Prince of Wales is here

:40:30.:40:37.

all three Services and took a Royal Salute as well. They are going to

:40:38.:40:42.

look forward, I know, to speaking to veterans. Yesterday, they met

:40:43.:40:48.

veterans of the Glider Regiment and laid a wreath at the Glider

:40:49.:40:59.

veterans of the Glider Regiment and with a note saying in gratitude of

:41:00.:41:19.

your service and sacrifice. He is talking to a man who looks after

:41:20.:41:25.

Bayeux and the surrounding area. This is a big part in planning it

:41:26.:41:31.

with the Royal British Legion and also consulting the Normandy

:41:32.:41:39.

Veterans' Association. There you can see the French Honour Guard and the

:41:40.:41:44.

British as well from the three Services and that is the memorial

:41:45.:41:52.

representing those who have no grave.

:41:53.:42:19.

The troops from the royal Royal Yeomanry from Nottingham. A lot of

:42:20.:42:29.

them are here for the first time. They say when they saw the scale of

:42:30.:42:31.

the cemetery, it was humbling. Staff Sergeant Graham Mudd.

:42:32.:43:08.

Alongside two guards. The veterans have been here with their families

:43:09.:43:12.

all morning really. They have been here for the past couple of hours.

:43:13.:43:17.

The Royal British Legion was expecting to fewer than 650

:43:18.:43:20.

veterans. They are allowed to bring a spouse or a career and they get

:43:21.:43:26.

funding, Lottery funding to do that, to come here today, but they said

:43:27.:43:30.

they wouldn't be surprised if others turn up. The number of veterans from

:43:31.:43:34.

the UK, also veterans from other Commonwealth countries. And the

:43:35.:43:41.

veterans saying that sometimes it's quite hard to think about coming

:43:42.:43:45.

back. There is always a great feeling of sadness. One veteran told

:43:46.:43:51.

me from the Royal Marines that however many times you come back, it

:43:52.:43:57.

is always a very sad occasion. He is often reminded when he landed on

:43:58.:44:01.

Juno Beach with the Canadians. His best friend didn't make it off that

:44:02.:44:15.

beach. The Band of the Royal Yeomanry. This is the voice of the

:44:16.:44:18.

guards. The land is led by the Director of

:44:19.:45:05.

Music. They are a verve band of 32 musicians. Almost have former

:45:06.:45:08.

service with the Household Division and other bands. The standards you

:45:09.:45:14.

see come from many branches of the Royal British Legion who are

:45:15.:45:17.

represented here today and the British Legion told me they didn't

:45:18.:45:21.

know how many were going to turn up, but there are French standards there

:45:22.:45:25.

as well and from the Normandy Veterans' Association who we heard

:45:26.:45:30.

earlier are going to be officially disbanded later this year.

:45:31.:45:46.

The band of The Standards marching past. This is where the service of

:45:47.:45:52.

remembrance is going to take place. There is a Union Flag which is

:45:53.:46:09.

carried by Norman Espy from Northern Ireland. Carried at the front by

:46:10.:46:14.

Steve Barrage. As they take their places between

:46:15.:46:58.

the choir from Cambridge and the Band of the Royal Yeomanry waiting

:46:59.:47:05.

for the Service of Remembrance. Waiting for The Prince of Wales as

:47:06.:47:14.

well and the Queen, Her Majesty, the Queen, will be arriving shortly by

:47:15.:47:22.

helicopter. The cemetery is kept by the Commonwealth War Graves

:47:23.:47:26.

Commission. I think if you haven't been here before, you are really

:47:27.:47:37.

struck by the dignity. The headstones are the same and they are

:47:38.:47:41.

mant to be uniform -- meant to be uniform. You can't distinguish

:47:42.:47:50.

between rank. It cares for the graves and memorials of over nearly

:47:51.:47:57.

500,000 servicemen and women who died in the Commonwealth Wars. The

:47:58.:48:00.

cross is meant to represent the faith of the majority in the

:48:01.:48:07.

cemetery. And the broad sword facing down to signify that it is a

:48:08.:48:13.

military cemetery. When the Commonwealth qar graves commission

:48:14.:48:18.

was -- War Graves Commission was designing the cemeteries, they were

:48:19.:48:35.

advised by Sir Frederick Kennon that there was no reason why the

:48:36.:48:39.

cemeteries should be places of gloom. That's the chairman of the

:48:40.:48:51.

War Graves Commission. Samantha Cameron, Theon Hague and William

:48:52.:48:55.

Hague and Nick Clegg talking to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister

:48:56.:49:01.

has spoken about his deep respect for the veterans many times. His

:49:02.:49:08.

grandfather was badly wounded shortly after landing on the

:49:09.:49:15.

Normandy beaches in 1944 and he said, "I cannot possibly imagine

:49:16.:49:22.

what it was like to land on those beaches."

:49:23.:49:32.

That's what thousands of young men did.

:49:33.:49:49.

Tony Abbott, seven Australian air men. They were

:49:50.:49:58.

veterans in the Normandy seven Australian air men. They were

:49:59.:50:04.

It was be their first return to Normandy. There are 17 Australians

:50:05.:50:12.

buried in Bayeux war cemetery. Most of them aircrew. Among them Flying

:50:13.:50:18.

Officer Duncan McFadden who was 28 years of age. You can just see

:50:19.:50:26.

there, on the left-hand side of your screen, the Governor General of New

:50:27.:50:28.

Zealand. Just behind the man screen, the Governor General of New

:50:29.:50:36.

the glasses. He has brought nine New Zealand veterans with him.

:50:37.:50:53.

A lot of the politicians, of course, going to the international event at

:50:54.:51:01.

Ouistreham later on with the other heads of State including President

:51:02.:51:08.

Obama and President Putin. The Queen's helicopter is arriving. She

:51:09.:51:14.

is going to be greeted by the French Prime Minister who we saw at the

:51:15.:51:18.

service at the cathedral earlier talking to politicians and talking

:51:19.:51:21.

to David Cameron. The Queen will be lay ago wreath --

:51:22.:51:38.

laying a wreath during the service of remembrance.

:51:39.:51:49.

And the veterans have a special place in their heart for the Queen.

:51:50.:51:58.

A lot of them have been to the services before. Veteran Bloomfield.

:51:59.:52:15.

He is 92 years of age. He served in the Royal Marines. During D-Day he

:52:16.:52:21.

was a gunner. Ed Miliband talking to members of the military. General Sir

:52:22.:52:38.

Peter Wall, Chief of the General Staff and that's the Chief of the

:52:39.:52:42.

Defence Staff. A lot of French people have come to

:52:43.:52:58.

pay their respects today and as the politicians and the veterans were

:52:59.:53:02.

making their way to the cemetery, they were clapping and shouting

:53:03.:53:10.

merci. It was very moving. They do feel a huge debt of gratitude to the

:53:11.:53:27.

veterans. There was an enormous cost to French civilian life. Tens of

:53:28.:53:32.

thousands of them died at Normandy. They are reflecting on that

:53:33.:53:36.

liberation today and the cost that was paid. By France and by other

:53:37.:53:42.

nations too. We see there the flags of British

:53:43.:54:04.

Legion and the Normandy Veterans' Association to the left-hand side

:54:05.:54:08.

and the Normandy Veterans' Association which will be disbanding

:54:09.:54:15.

later this year is disbanding because there aren't members. There

:54:16.:54:19.

are only 600 members now. There used to be 16,000 members. And it was

:54:20.:54:29.

founded in Grimsby in 1981 and one of its founding members talked about

:54:30.:54:35.

why it had been set-up. He said afterwards for a lot of us, the

:54:36.:54:42.

experience of battles on the Normandy front stayed behind. An

:54:43.:54:53.

ex-serviceman, " Where is that comradeship? Can we possibly regain

:54:54.:54:54.

some of that feeling?" Members of the clergy who are

:54:55.:55:30.

gathering for the service. Military chaplains. That's Mandy Reynolds. A

:55:31.:55:41.

veterans chaplain and that's the Royal British Legion chaplain to

:55:42.:55:46.

Normandy who will begin the service by welcoming veterans today and will

:55:47.:55:50.

also begin by reading a prayer today. In the centre, the Royal

:55:51.:55:59.

British Legion chaplain. I was speaking to him yesterday. He said

:56:00.:56:04.

it was an enormous honour to be here and again, he used that word very

:56:05.:56:16.

humbly. The French Prime Minister arriving at the entrance to the

:56:17.:56:20.

cemetery. The Commanding Officer of the Honour

:56:21.:57:14.

Guard. And the men include 32 Regiment Royal Artillery, the RAF

:57:15.:57:21.

and many different troops as well from naval ships. Some of them were

:57:22.:57:30.

this week attending the State Opening of Parliament.

:57:31.:57:50.

Just to let you know that that flag was actually in Bayeux on the day of

:57:51.:57:57.

liberation, the day after D-Day. As the Queen is arriving and walks

:57:58.:58:15.

to take her place in the Service of Remembrance, there will be a Battle

:58:16.:58:20.

of Britain Memorial Flight. The RAF's tribute to the aviators of

:58:21.:58:27.

World War II. You can see painted with black and white D-Day invasion

:58:28.:58:33.

stripes to avoid friendly fire. Her Majesty, the Queen arriving with

:58:34.:58:35.

the Duke of Edinburgh. They seemed to enjoy that. The Queen

:58:36.:59:29.

makes her way to the front of the cemetery. Now she is stepping on to

:59:30.:59:34.

Commonwealth soil because this land is a gift from the French

:59:35.:59:47.

Government. She is met by Sir Joe French, the vice-chairman of the

:59:48.:59:53.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the president of the Royal

:59:54.:59:59.

British Legion which, could have course, the Queen is patron d which,

:00:00.:00:06.

of course, the Queen is patron. This is her fourth visit to Bayeux

:00:07.:00:10.

Cemetery. Lots of people say no matter how many times you have been

:00:11.:00:14.

here, it is always very moving. She will be walking past a lot of

:00:15.:00:16.

headstones. The youngest in the cemetery is only 17 years old. A man

:00:17.:00:35.

called William Scott. Peter Wilkinson telling me this morning,

:00:36.:00:39.

that he was hoping to talk to the Queen

:00:40.:00:42.

that he was hoping to talk to the when she would have been a teenager.

:00:43.:00:50.

Walking past the Stone of Remembrance. It was chosen by Sir

:00:51.:01:03.

Rudiard Kipling. There are small crosses from local schools. And

:01:04.:01:10.

veterans prayer. The Duke of Edinburgh, the High Lord Admiral of

:01:11.:01:17.

the Fleet is wearing his uniform. You can just make out that broach.

:01:18.:01:28.

That was a favourite broach of her mother's. It is called the Waterfall

:01:29.:01:34.

Broach. A representative of

:01:35.:02:12.

Veterans' Association. Although the Normandy Veterans' Association will

:02:13.:02:15.

be disbanded later this year, they have been telling me that they will

:02:16.:02:21.

still come back year after year even as their numbers diminish.

:02:22.:02:36.

There is a huge amount of respect for the Queen from the veterans and

:02:37.:02:42.

the Royal British Legion was telling me yesterday that it really is the

:02:43.:02:48.

icing on the cake that she should be here today. Peter Wilkinson has met

:02:49.:03:09.

the Queen on many occasions. He has spoken of his deep pride at his

:03:10.:03:12.

involvement in today's events. He hopes as well that this year's

:03:13.:03:17.

commemorations will help future generations understand the

:03:18.:03:19.

importance of remembrance. The Royal party and the French Prime

:03:20.:03:55.

Minister preparing for when the service starts in a few minutes

:03:56.:03:57.

time. Your Majesty, your Royal Highnesses,

:03:58.:04:16.

ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the Royal British Legion, it is an

:04:17.:04:21.

honour for me to welcome you to this cemetery this morning. Here in this

:04:22.:04:29.

cemetery we are reminded of the true cost of D-Day. Whose 70 anniversary

:04:30.:04:41.

we mark today. We pay tribute to the dead and welcome enthusiastically

:04:42.:04:47.

the veterans for whose courage and devotion we are most grateful. This

:04:48.:04:54.

is a British ceremony and most of the graves in this place are

:04:55.:05:02.

British. But D-Day involved many nations and many nations are

:05:03.:05:10.

represented here. Beside the British graves lie Commonwealth servicemen

:05:11.:05:17.

from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa. As well as Czechs,

:05:18.:05:26.

Frenchmen, Poles, and Russians. There are also German and Italian

:05:27.:05:36.

servicemen buried here. Elsewhere in Normandy lies servicemen from

:05:37.:05:41.

Greece, the Netherlands, Norway and the United States. Here in this

:05:42.:05:51.

cemetery men from many nations lie together united in death. And

:05:52.:05:59.

together, united in gratitude, sorrow and respect we honour their

:06:00.:06:08.

memory. May they rest in peace. We sing the hymn Praise My Soul The

:06:09.:06:17.

King Of Heaven. # Praise my soul the king of heaven.

:06:18.:06:37.

# Praise the everlasting King. Hallelujah Lear! Hallelujah!

:06:38.:07:27.

# Hallelujah! Hallelujah! us.

:07:28.:08:35.

# What lay lieuia. Let us remember before God and

:08:36.:08:51.

commend to his keeping those who have died for their country in war.

:08:52.:08:59.

Those whom we knew and whose memory we treasure and today, especially

:09:00.:09:07.

those who gave their lives in June 1944 and subsequent months during

:09:08.:09:11.

the liberation of France. They shall not grow old as we that

:09:12.:09:37.

are left grow old. At the going down of the sun and in morning, we will

:09:38.:09:42.

remember them. We will remember them.

:09:43.:09:54.

getting ready for the laying of the wreath. HRH The Prince of Wales is

:09:55.:14:28.

showing his respect to the people here. The Queen is being led by the

:14:29.:14:31.

Vice Admiral, Sir Wilkinson from the Royal British Legion. The wreath has

:14:32.:14:52.

the inscription, "In memory of the glorious dead." The wreaths made in

:14:53.:15:12.

the poppy factory in South London. They were made by ex-service

:15:13.:15:21.

personnel. HRH The Prince of Wales and the French Prime Minister.

:15:22.:15:52.

Prime Minister, David Cameron, Tony Abbott, the Prime Minister of

:15:53.:16:24.

Australia and the Governor General of New Zealand.

:16:25.:16:58.

MUSIC: The Day Thou Gavest Lord Is Ended

:16:59.:17:31.

Brigadier David Banes from the Normandy Veterans' Association in

:17:32.:17:39.

the middle with Sir Joe French from the Commonwealth War Graves

:17:40.:17:41.

Commission, the vice-chairman. Let us pray. Almighty and eternal

:17:42.:19:32.

God from who we can't be parted either by death or life. Hear our

:19:33.:19:37.

prayers and thanksgivingings for all whom we remember this day. Fulfil in

:19:38.:19:43.

them the purpose of your love and bring us all with them to your

:19:44.:19:56.

eternal joy through Jesus Christ Our Lord, Amen.

:19:57.:20:15.

#Ovaliant hearts who to your glory came.

:20:16.:21:03.

# Through dust of conflict and through battle flame.

:21:04.:21:12.

# Tranquil you lie, your knightly virtue proved.

:21:13.:21:22.

# Your memory hallowed in the land you loved.

:21:23.:21:30.

# Deep your contentment in that blest abode

:21:31.:21:33.

# Who wait the last clear trumpet call of God

:21:34.:21:40.

# O risen Lord O Shepherd of our dead

:21:41.:21:47.

# Whose cross has bought them and whose staff has led

:21:48.:21:53.

# In glorious hope their proud and sorrowing land

:21:54.:21:59.

# Commits her children to thy gracious hand. #

:22:00.:22:54.

How shall he not with him freely give us all things. Who shall lay

:22:55.:23:03.

anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who

:23:04.:23:14.

is he that condemn this. It is Christ that died, rather is risen

:23:15.:23:27.

again. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

:23:28.:23:31.

Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine,

:23:32.:23:32.

As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long,

:23:33.:23:43.

we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

:23:44.:23:48.

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors

:23:49.:23:52.

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life,

:23:53.:24:01.

nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,

:24:02.:24:19.

nor things present, nor things to come,

:24:20.:24:20.

nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,

:24:21.:24:22.

shall be able to separate us from the love of God,

:24:23.:24:24.

which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

:24:25.:25:08.

Lord, welcome into your calm and peaceful kingdom

:25:09.:25:18.

those who have departed out of this present life to be with you.

:25:19.:25:19.

Grant them rest and a place with the spirits of the just,

:25:20.:25:21.

and give them the life that knows no age,

:25:22.:25:25.

the reward that passes not away. ALL: Amen.

:25:26.:25:43.

Almighty God, stretch forth your mighty arm

:25:44.:25:46.

to strengthen and protect the armed forces:

:25:47.:25:50.

grant that meeting danger with courage and all occasions

:25:51.:25:52.

they may truly serve the cause of justice and peace -

:25:53.:26:01.

to the honour of your holy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

:26:02.:26:06.

Almighty God, from whom all thoughts of peace proceed:

:26:07.:26:23.

kindle, we pray, in the hearts of all,

:26:24.:26:28.

and guide with your pure and peaceable wisdom

:26:29.:26:32.

those who take counsel for the nations of the earth,

:26:33.:26:35.

that in tranquillity your kingdom may go forward,

:26:36.:26:38.

till the earth is filled with the knowledge of your love -

:26:39.:26:42.

through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord.

:26:43.:26:47.

Teach us good Lord to serve thee as thou deservest -

:26:48.:27:10.

to fight and not to heed the wounds -

:27:11.:27:17.

to labour and not to ask for any reward,

:27:18.:27:24.

save that of knowing that we do Thy will,

:27:25.:27:28.

ALL: O Eternal Lord God, who has united together

:27:29.:27:44.

all Veterans of the Normandy Campaign.

:27:45.:27:47.

Grant, we beseech you, your blessing, and give strength

:27:48.:27:51.

to carry on our work to aid and bring comradeship

:27:52.:27:55.

and joy and common purpose throughout our Association.

:27:56.:28:04.

We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ whose courage never failed.

:28:05.:28:07.

hallowed be thy name - thy kingdom come,

:28:08.:28:34.

thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.

:28:35.:28:37.

Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses,

:28:38.:28:40.

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

:28:41.:28:45.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

:28:46.:28:51.

the power and the glory, for ever and ever:

:28:52.:28:58.

we pledge ourselves to serve you and all humanity,

:28:59.:29:11.

in the cause of peace, for the relief of want and suffering,

:29:12.:29:16.

give us wisdom - give us courage - give us hope -

:29:17.:29:28.

and keep us faithful now and always. Amen.

:29:29.:29:53.

to the Church, the Queen, the Commonwealth,

:29:54.:30:00.

and to us and all his servants, life everlasting.

:30:01.:30:06.

And the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

:30:07.:30:12.

come down upon you and remain with you always.

:30:13.:30:19.

And as the Service of Remembrance ends, the Queen is being led by Sir

:30:20.:32:34.

Joe French. Sir Joe French the vice-chairman of the War Graves

:32:35.:32:45.

Commission. There she is greeting the gardening team from the

:32:46.:32:50.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission. That's William Moody she is speaking

:32:51.:32:53.

to there. He worked with the organisation for 46 years and his

:32:54.:32:59.

father and brother worked there before him. The senior head gardener

:33:00.:33:06.

since 2003. And they have been replacing a lot of the headstones in

:33:07.:33:11.

the cemetery over the last few months. The head gardener from

:33:12.:33:21.

Brittany because they wanted it to look particularly special today. And

:33:22.:33:28.

the sorts of flowers they have are very, very important, the texture,

:33:29.:33:33.

the height and the timing of the flower display. That's Myles Hunt,

:33:34.:33:39.

the gardener from Durham. They spend an awful lot of time and care

:33:40.:33:42.

the gardener from Durham. They spend they're doing the garden. It is one

:33:43.:33:50.

of the largest health st horticultural gardens in the world,

:33:51.:33:53.

Commission. The aim was to have the general appearance of a British

:33:54.:33:57.

cemetery and to make sure general appearance of a British

:33:58.:34:03.

seasons the flowers are in bloom. But some flowers will be blooming at

:34:04.:34:08.

any time of the year when people choose to come to the cemetery. The

:34:09.:34:23.

Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh are trying to find out more about how

:34:24.:34:31.

the cemetery here is run. She is going to meet some veterans who have

:34:32.:34:48.

been here many times. Peter Wilkinson from the Royal British

:34:49.:34:51.

Legion will be introducing her to the Prime Minister and the Prime

:34:52.:35:01.

Minister will be introducing the Queen to veterans from all over the

:35:02.:35:22.

UK. They have spoken of their pride at being here today. And to meet the

:35:23.:35:31.

Queen and to talk to her. Some of them have seen her before at the

:35:32.:35:47.

Cenotaph Service of Remembrance. We saw a couple of the veterans during

:35:48.:35:56.

the service. Veteran Eddie Slater, the chairman of the Normandy

:35:57.:36:02.

Veterans' Association who said that the ceremony was about honouring

:36:03.:36:09.

those that did not come home and to honour those who did and these men

:36:10.:36:13.

don't think they are heroes. One said to me, "The heroes are in the

:36:14.:36:20.

cemeteries. We just did what we had to do that day."

:36:21.:36:34.

And those who are wearing the blue blazers from the Normandy Veterans'

:36:35.:36:39.

Association say the reason the veterans come together is to have a

:36:40.:36:43.

drink, to exchange memories and to renew old friendships. To do all the

:36:44.:36:46.

things to further the friendships welded on the beaches and the

:36:47.:36:50.

battlefields of Normandy. To remember those who did not return.

:36:51.:36:55.

Who returned disabled, blinded, sick in mind. That's what Arthur Floodman

:36:56.:37:02.

said, one of the founding members of the Normandy Veterans' Association.

:37:03.:37:05.

Even though it will be disbanded later this year, in October, they

:37:06.:37:12.

say they will all still meet and a lot of them will still come here

:37:13.:37:14.

every year. The Queen has a very strong

:37:15.:38:01.

relationship with the veterans and she paid tribute to them at the 60th

:38:02.:38:14.

commemoration of the D-Day. She said, "It is one of the proudest

:38:15.:38:19.

moments in our long, national history." When she thanked them, she

:38:20.:38:25.

thanked them with these words, I take it upon myself to express the

:38:26.:38:31.

debt of grad tud we owe to you all. I thank you and I salute you on

:38:32.:38:41.

behalf of our whole nation. Antony Beevor, the historian, said Her

:38:42.:38:45.

Majesty The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh want to show their

:38:46.:38:49.

solidarity with the veterans because they are aware this maybe the last

:38:50.:38:52.

time a reasonable number of them will be able to attend. So it is

:38:53.:38:57.

very important for both of them to be here.

:38:58.:39:20.

This is a chance for people once again to mingle and share stories.

:39:21.:39:39.

The men from the Normandy Veterans' Association, it is said that one of

:39:40.:39:43.

the flags is going to be entrusted to the Mayor of Arromanches as

:39:44.:39:49.

custodian so the mayor and the people will raise it and lower it in

:39:50.:40:05.

homage to that. The French Prime Minister is introducing Her Majesty

:40:06.:40:06.

to French veterans. The Duke of Edinburgh meeting Second

:40:07.:40:37.

World War veterans and he was, of the course, in the Second World War.

:40:38.:40:42.

That's George Batts from the Normandy Veterans' Association.

:40:43.:40:48.

National secretary, he landed on Gold Beach and of course, took part

:40:49.:40:55.

in the Service of Remembrance. The Duke of Edinburgh when he meets

:40:56.:40:59.

people, always puts them at their ease and I have seen this close up.

:41:00.:41:05.

He has a very easy relationship with people he meets. And they have a

:41:06.:41:10.

deep respect for him and his service too.

:41:11.:41:38.

George Batts was saying on the Normandy Veterans' Association, a

:41:39.:41:50.

lot are in nursing homes and a lot are in their 90s, the Duke is now

:41:51.:41:55.

meeting the Australian veterans. The Australian Prime Minister, Tony

:41:56.:42:08.

Abbott. There are 17 Australian graves in Bayeux Cemetery. And a lot

:42:09.:42:17.

of aircrew have come over with the Australian

:42:18.:42:20.

of aircrew have come over with the specifically for this event. Many

:42:21.:42:27.

of aircrew have come over with the them haven't been back to Normandy

:42:28.:42:29.

since the 1940s. The Queen is taking her time with

:42:30.:43:30.

the veterans. It is a very, very important moment for her. She is

:43:31.:43:39.

meeting and chatting to the Australian veterans, Phil Elgar,

:43:40.:43:43.

meeting and chatting to the Bill Evans and Bill Houghton and

:43:44.:44:02.

Bill Purdy. Most of them in the Royal Australian Air Force. One of

:44:03.:44:16.

them deflected German Royal Australian Air Force. One of

:44:17.:44:28.

landing sites. Bill Evans is going to tell the Queen about how he was

:44:29.:44:33.

shot down in the middle of the night in his 20th operation in July 1944.

:44:34.:44:52.

Ron on completion of Bomber Command operationstions post to Fighter

:44:53.:45:00.

Command. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for

:45:01.:45:02.

operations against the enemy. That's the New Zealand governor

:45:03.:45:30.

general. He is introducing the Queen to the New Zealand veterans that he

:45:31.:45:38.

brought with him. There are seven veterans here today.

:45:39.:46:15.

LLOW He is talking now to Fred Reilly, one of the New Zealand

:46:16.:46:20.

veterans. In Bayeux Cemetery, there are the

:46:21.:46:37.

graves of eight New Zealand men. One of them was a seaman. The rest were

:46:38.:46:56.

aircrew. The New Zealand Air Force providing vital support in the 1944

:46:57.:47:19.

invasion. One of the veterans the Queen is being introduced to is a

:47:20.:47:29.

lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserves.

:47:30.:47:39.

The New Zealand aircrew, which are buried in Bayeux, were three men in

:47:40.:47:50.

two separate planes. They were shot down the day after one another. I

:47:51.:47:54.

passed their graves yesterday. They died on 11th and 12th June 1944.

:47:55.:48:16.

Brigadier David Baines, the Normandy Veterans' Association president. He

:48:17.:48:27.

laid a wreath during the Service of Remembrance.

:48:28.:48:46.

Among the veterans the Queen is being introduced to is a member of

:48:47.:48:56.

the Yorkshire Regiment and a member of the younger generation there. It

:48:57.:49:00.

is always lovely to see children at these services. There have been a

:49:01.:49:06.

lot. I met a school party from Guildford who were looking around

:49:07.:49:13.

the graves yesterday and one about ten said, "We really appreciate what

:49:14.:49:18.

these men did because without them, we wouldn't be here." They had met

:49:19.:49:23.

veterans and said they told us shocking stories and I was heart

:49:24.:49:36.

broken. At the 65th commemorations here, there was a school party and

:49:37.:49:41.

they held aloft signs that said, "The young do care and we do

:49:42.:49:49.

remember." The Standards Honour Guard as the Queen leaves the

:49:50.:50:02.

cemetery. Since the service finished HRH The Prince of Wales and the

:50:03.:50:05.

Duchess of Cornwall have been meeting veterans. A great

:50:06.:50:12.

opportunity for them to circulate among them and they've left a lot of

:50:13.:50:16.

time to do that today which the veterans will really appreciate. I'm

:50:17.:50:28.

sure seeing HRH The Prince of Wales when he is saluted showing his

:50:29.:50:35.

respect to those who thought fought and those who died in the Normandy,

:50:36.:50:39.

how much he will appreciate talking to them too. He is saluted showing

:50:40.:50:52.

his respect to those who The Duke of Edinburgh is now

:50:53.:51:08.

departing. The cemetery and they have many engagements for the rest

:51:09.:51:18.

of the day. They will be going to a lunch at a nearby chateau and then

:51:19.:51:28.

after that to the International event at Ouistreham which will have

:51:29.:51:34.

a very different feel to what they have experienced today at Bayeux

:51:35.:51:37.

Cemetery. The Prince of Wales and the Duchess

:51:38.:51:53.

of Cornwall spending time chat to go veterans. The -- chatting to

:51:54.:51:55.

veterans. The Queen veterans. The -- chatting to

:51:56.:52:00.

lunch before that event at Ouistreham. This morning, a real

:52:01.:52:05.

moment to pause and reflecting in this most beautiful

:52:06.:52:08.

moment to pause and reflecting in settings. The service acknowledging

:52:09.:52:09.

who gave their settings. The service acknowledging

:52:10.:52:18.

were prepared to do so. 70 years ago, the men who are gathered here

:52:19.:52:26.

today were young men, facing one of the brutal and bloodiest battles of

:52:27.:52:31.

World War II, today we remember and they remember the sacrifices made

:52:32.:52:33.

for peace and for us. And Dan they remember the sacrifices made

:52:34.:52:37.

is among those men now. It is easy to forget that D-Day was

:52:38.:52:47.

a vast coalition effort. There were service personnel from many, many

:52:48.:52:51.

countries. I have been keen to find a veteran to talk to. I have been

:52:52.:52:57.

looking for Australians. You guys know how to dress. That's a fine hat

:52:58.:53:00.

you've got there, sir? Thank you. know how to dress. That's a fine hat

:53:01.:53:09.

What were you doing on D-Day? We had to get up at dawn and we did the

:53:10.:53:14.

dawn patrol. You were a Spitfire pilot, Fred? That's correct, yes.

:53:15.:53:21.

Where were you based out of? Redhill. A lot of these

:53:22.:53:30.

Where were you based out of? veterans remember coming up

:53:31.:53:31.

Where were you based out of? beaches, you saw the whole thing,

:53:32.:53:34.

Where were you based out of? you saw the beaches, what

:53:35.:53:35.

Where were you based out of? look like? I never saw so many boats

:53:36.:53:44.

thing and when the firing started and all the sparks and fireworks

:53:45.:54:00.

started, and boats sunk straightaway. We were checking the

:54:01.:54:01.

air in case any Germans were around. straightaway. We were checking the

:54:02.:54:06.

Was your job to help infantry on the ground or was your job

:54:07.:54:11.

Was your job to help infantry on the German planes? Many shoot if there

:54:12.:54:17.

was any Germans involved. Did you see many German aircraft? We got

:54:18.:54:27.

about three. You flew at dawn. You saw the beaches. Did you get up for

:54:28.:54:34.

the rest of the day? We had a rest because I was doing another dusk

:54:35.:54:40.

patrol. Was that a different one? You went over at dawn and saw the

:54:41.:54:46.

landings as they were happening. At dusk was it a different scene? It

:54:47.:54:47.

was a different scene because dusk was it a different scene? It

:54:48.:54:56.

a lot of the landing craft and - mainly we had to be careful what was

:54:57.:55:03.

going on. A, you had it take possession when you were flying in

:55:04.:55:07.

formation and making sure that nothing was attacking you. What's it

:55:08.:55:16.

like when you hear the noise of those griffin engines and you see

:55:17.:55:24.

the outline of your old fighter. What emotions does that stir up in

:55:25.:55:30.

you? Eel' not an emotional -- I'm not an emotional type, but I was

:55:31.:55:34.

emotional at the whole thing today. It has been a beautiful day? A

:55:35.:55:39.

beautiful day. In fact, I never ever thought I was going to use my hanky

:55:40.:55:48.

chief, but I needed to today. We have all been using them. We are

:55:49.:55:53.

surrounded by the 4,000 headstones in Bayeux Cemetery which is

:55:54.:55:56.

beautiful. Of course, when you travel around Normandy, you see so

:55:57.:56:00.

many of these cemeteries, you almost can't get away from them and

:56:01.:56:04.

everyone who visits them talks about their experience in them and they

:56:05.:56:07.

are places of contemplation, a place of commemoration and just beautiful

:56:08.:56:11.

places to spend some quiet time. There is one organisation that looks

:56:12.:56:17.

after the cemeteries, not just the 18 here in Normandy, but the

:56:18.:56:20.

thousands around the world. They make sure the headstones are kept in

:56:21.:56:25.

pristine condition with no difference in age, rank, religion or

:56:26.:56:29.

nationality. This is their story. The task of the

:56:30.:56:44.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission is to maintain the records and to

:56:45.:56:46.

care for the graves and memorials to 1.7 million Commonwealth war

:56:47.:56:48.

dead from both World Wars And really it was down to the vision

:56:49.:56:48.

of one man called Fabian Ware. What he discovered was that there

:56:49.:56:59.

was no organised system for recording the burial places

:57:00.:57:02.

of soldiers who had died in battle, so he went about and started to

:57:03.:57:05.

record and mark the burial places, and his work was then recognised

:57:06.:57:10.

by the Army in 1915, until in 1917, the imperial War Graves Commission

:57:11.:57:14.

was formally established by Royal Charter, and the work of the

:57:15.:57:19.

War Graves Commission really began. Nothing like this had ever

:57:20.:57:23.

been attempted before. Many of the burial places were

:57:24.:57:28.

chosen as the fighting was going on. So, here in Bayeux,

:57:29.:57:31.

there was plenty of space, and this was close to

:57:32.:57:33.

many of the field hospitals that were established

:57:34.:57:37.

very early on during the fighting. So many of the men buried here

:57:38.:57:40.

died in hospital, but many of them were brought from

:57:41.:57:42.

battlefields all across Normandy. All the cemeteries

:57:43.:57:53.

in the War Graves Commission, The same policy is implemented

:57:54.:57:55.

in many cemeteries. We are in Jerusalem Cemetery here,

:57:56.:58:01.

and it is a small cemetery, If it is a small or

:58:02.:58:05.

a very big cemetery, it is still maintained to the same

:58:06.:58:10.

standard as all other cemeteries. the first thing he will see

:58:11.:58:14.

is headstones, because the headstone

:58:15.:58:18.

is the identity of that they need to be always

:58:19.:58:21.

in good shape, the headstones. People must read the name,

:58:22.:58:27.

the regimental badge, everything in

:58:28.:58:30.

the inscription needs to be clear. And if the headstone is bad,

:58:31.:58:33.

if they get wear and tear due to the climate or

:58:34.:58:36.

a bad storm, they get replaced. They are like a battalion

:58:37.:58:39.

in an army, they all keep square and try to

:58:40.:58:42.

be straight, like they would My father worked, my brother

:58:43.:58:46.

worked, and now my son works. So we all work for the

:58:47.:58:55.

War Graves Commission. We deal with about 26,000

:58:56.:59:04.

enquiries a year. They can be by telephone, e-mail,

:59:05.:59:08.

letter. We are the first point of contact

:59:09.:59:10.

that a lot of people will have when they are trying to trace

:59:11.:59:15.

a relative's burial. You can really look back

:59:16.:59:16.

into the archives that we have, Some people do find it upsetting

:59:17.:59:20.

when they find It just astounds those that ring us

:59:21.:59:24.

that all those thousands of people have no grave, but we do

:59:25.:59:30.

commemorate them all equally. We came over on Sunday just to

:59:31.:59:39.

look at the history of the place. I think the most poignant thing

:59:40.:59:43.

is the average age of the people. The majority of them died in

:59:44.:59:47.

a two-week period in June 1944. Even though we are in the centre of

:59:48.:59:51.

the town, when you walk around, it is very,

:59:52.:59:59.

very quiet and very peaceful. You can easily just, you know,

:00:00.:00:02.

lose yourself. I think it is a fitting memorial

:00:03.:00:06.

to the people buried here. I think they are really well kept

:00:07.:00:09.

out of respect We have had a number of phone

:00:10.:00:11.

calls, even recently, from people that have been trying to

:00:12.:00:15.

trace relatives and they've actually been in Normandy at the time,

:00:16.:00:17.

saying, "I don't know which "of the cemeteries my great-grandad

:00:18.:00:20.

is buried in, can you help me?" And we can give them

:00:21.:00:27.

directions to find the grave. Physically,

:00:28.:00:30.

you can hear someone when they They're stood at

:00:31.:00:32.

the relative's grave and the emotion

:00:33.:00:37.

of that will come across as well. The men and women

:00:38.:00:41.

that we commemorate still have They make us reflect

:00:42.:00:43.

on our own lives and think about what we

:00:44.:00:47.

hold dear and our own values. And I think that's their

:00:48.:00:49.

greatest legacy today. I have got Glyn with me now. There's

:00:50.:01:13.

one particularly interesting headstone here. There are two joined

:01:14.:01:17.

together. What does this mean? This is an aircrew who were killed when

:01:18.:01:21.

their plane came down. These men served together. They died together

:01:22.:01:27.

and here they are buried together. Their remains couldn't be

:01:28.:01:29.

individually identified, but here they are laid to rest. These are

:01:30.:01:37.

Australians, aren't they? One Australian here. That is a reminder

:01:38.:01:42.

of the Commonwealth aspect. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

:01:43.:01:46.

commemorates men from across the former British Empire. We have

:01:47.:01:50.

Canadians, South Africans, Australians, New Zealanders. This is

:01:51.:01:54.

very exciting. I have never seen this before. You have also got

:01:55.:01:59.

Allies - in fact, you have Italians who, of course, at that stage, and

:02:00.:02:12.

Soviet and Czech forces? That's right. The Commonwealth War Graves

:02:13.:02:17.

Commission commemorates many men and women from other nationalities. The

:02:18.:02:21.

headstones are roughly the same dimensions. Each are shaped

:02:22.:02:24.

differently. That reflects each individual nation. We have Soviet

:02:25.:02:28.

forces, Czech forces, many Poles here, too. When I come to these

:02:29.:02:37.

places, I would think what were two Czechs doing here? Rome had been

:02:38.:02:42.

taken the day before D-Day? It is a reminder of how international the

:02:43.:02:46.

effort was, not only on D-Day, but throughout the Normandy Campaign

:02:47.:02:49.

which followed. I must say when I come to these cemeteries, I do get

:02:50.:02:54.

choked up when I look on the British graves, there are these dedications,

:02:55.:02:59.

or inscriptions. Are the families able to choose? That's right. The

:03:00.:03:03.

families submitted the inscriptions to the Commission to be included.

:03:04.:03:07.

There is a limited number of characters and lines that can be

:03:08.:03:12.

used. You get an incredible variety of different sentiments. Sometimes

:03:13.:03:18.

there are biblical quotations or lines of poetry and messages on

:03:19.:03:22.

behalf of the families to the men. That is poignant. This is a very sad

:03:23.:03:28.

one here. "In proud and loving memory, beloved husband of Ivy."

:03:29.:03:34.

Some of the guys on D-Day weren't 19 or 20-year-olds, they had families.

:03:35.:03:40.

This one was 34? The youngest was 17, the oldest 58. There's one here

:03:41.:03:47.

that is interesting. A reminder of the different nations even within

:03:48.:03:51.

the British Isles who took part in D-Day - this one is in Gallic?

:03:52.:03:57.

That's right. Again, it is a reminder of the variety of the

:03:58.:04:01.

forces that took part, not only in terms of international forces, but

:04:02.:04:05.

within the British forces, too. When this was set up, we have seen the

:04:06.:04:10.

veterans today, the impact coming here has on them. When it was set

:04:11.:04:16.

up, did people think it would become a place of pilgrimage where veterans

:04:17.:04:20.

could go back and remember? Absolutely. That was the founding

:04:21.:04:24.

principle of the Commission. Back then, the way that the Commission

:04:25.:04:27.

commemorated these men and women was very original. The idea that you

:04:28.:04:32.

would have the same headstone regardless of class, or race, or

:04:33.:04:36.

creed or religion. For the day, it was very unusual. Today, we have

:04:37.:04:40.

generals commemorated in the same way as privates. I suppose there is

:04:41.:04:45.

a big question - we have seen the veterans come back in an official

:04:46.:04:51.

way for the last time today. What happens in the future? Are we going

:04:52.:04:55.

to keep looking after these? That happens in the future? Are we going

:04:56.:05:03.

the Charter, and as you will see on the Stone of Remembrance, the words

:05:04.:05:09.

that Rudyard Kipling chose, "Their name liveth forever more." That is

:05:10.:05:13.

what the Commission will be doing for years to come. Thank you.

:05:14.:05:17.

STUDIO: Scenes in Bayeux that will live long in the memory from the

:05:18.:05:26.

solemnity of the service to the nice informal scenes, the Queen and the

:05:27.:05:30.

Duke of Edinburgh mixing with the veterans. We are back in

:05:31.:05:41.

Arromanches. I asked you for messages and for anecdotes a short

:05:42.:05:44.

while ago, before the service started. I have to say, you have

:05:45.:05:49.

done us proud. I'm going to select a few. There are lots of really nice

:05:50.:05:53.

things that people are sharing with us. I will start with Angus Cameron.

:05:54.:05:57.

Thank you for sending this in. You were talking to your aunt last week.

:05:58.:06:05.

She was a WREN working deep underground in Dover Castle, she

:06:06.:06:10.

knew history was being made. She finished her shift just after dawn,

:06:11.:06:16.

climbed the stairs, and she was greeted by the massed invasion fleet

:06:17.:06:21.

in the Channel. Thousands of ships all heading to France and the sky

:06:22.:06:26.

dark with planes. She said, "It was breathtaking and sobering too to

:06:27.:06:29.

know that many of the young men aboard the ships would not return

:06:30.:06:32.

home to their family." Thank you for that. John Healey talking about his

:06:33.:06:45.

father-in-law, Edward Robinson, 20-years-of-age. His father-in-law -

:06:46.:06:51.

"He is now 90, although his memory is not what it was, his memories are

:06:52.:06:55.

still vivid." I am going to do one more for you. This is moving.

:06:56.:07:00.

Josephine Williams telling us about Ivor Gibson, her uncle. He was

:07:01.:07:06.

landing on Sword Beach on D-Day helping to liberate that part of

:07:07.:07:10.

Normandy. Very hurt that he can't be here today. Missing out on the

:07:11.:07:14.

presentations. But watching near his bed. Mr Gibson, we are thinking of

:07:15.:07:20.

you today and we hope that you are part of the events through our

:07:21.:07:25.

coverage today. Thank you, Josephine, for that. Let's look

:07:26.:07:29.

outside. This is Arromanches. That is the main square, which you can

:07:30.:07:33.

see in front of us. They are getting ready for that British event, that

:07:34.:07:34.

parade, at the end of the day. And ready for that British event, that

:07:35.:07:37.

parade, at the end of the day. there we are, lots of chairs laid out

:07:38.:07:42.

already. It looks quite empty now. There were lots more earlier for the

:07:43.:07:45.

Dutch event. If we look a few yards away on to the beach, there you see

:07:46.:07:51.

in wonderful sunshine - we couldn't have hoped for better weather. The

:07:52.:07:55.

flags fluttering in the breeze. We have some interesting craft on the

:07:56.:07:57.

beach. James Holland is still with me. The author and historian. These

:07:58.:08:00.

beach. James Holland is still with me. The author and historian. craft

:08:01.:08:04.

are interesting. Tell us about the landing craft themselves. We are

:08:05.:08:07.

going to look at one of them. What is going on? This one is a landing

:08:08.:08:15.

craft utility. This would be for the Royal Marines Commandos. You would

:08:16.:08:17.

get 120 men on that. Royal Marines Commandos. You would

:08:18.:08:24.

get 120 men on And four Viking armoured personnel carriers as well.

:08:25.:08:27.

That is a standard assault vessel of the age. They date back to 2002. It

:08:28.:08:35.

is interesting, looking at Arromanches - it is worth reflecting

:08:36.:08:40.

on that. Before we came into the studio today, a kind friend handed

:08:41.:08:43.

this to me. Let's have a look at this. This is a posh guide to

:08:44.:08:49.

Northern France and this dates from 1909. The reason I have got this is

:08:50.:08:54.

because I want to tell you that Arromanches today attracts many,

:08:55.:08:57.

many people for obvious reasons, for the D-Day heritage. In 1909, in this

:08:58.:09:06.

book, it merits half a line. It says this, "To Arromanches, a pretty

:09:07.:09:10.

situated bathing resort." That is it. That is all we have. Of course,

:09:11.:09:15.

Arromanches today is right at the heart of the D-Day heritage trail,

:09:16.:09:20.

some 300,000 visitors to the museum. But if you look at the Normandy

:09:21.:09:27.

coastline and the D-Day centres along the coastline, some five

:09:28.:09:32.

million visitors coming along. Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha, Utah and

:09:33.:09:40.

the town of Bayeux and Caen. Five million people visiting this area in

:09:41.:09:46.

an average year. In years like this, special anniversaries, the 70th this

:09:47.:09:49.

year of course, we are talking about a big surge in those who come along

:09:50.:09:55.

here. So that is where we are. That is the setting for you, if you like,

:09:56.:09:58.

and the way that Arromanches has been transformed from a tiny little,

:09:59.:10:06.

really unheard of place in 1909, to being one of the most famous places

:10:07.:10:10.

in France today. We are going to think now about the memories of the

:10:11.:10:14.

veterans have been sharing. We saw some of them chatting to the Duke of

:10:15.:10:18.

Edinburgh earlier and the Queen. I have no doubt they were sharing some

:10:19.:10:22.

of those memories with them. Those memories still very vivid.

:10:23.:10:54.

When you select a target, you curl your finger around the trigger,

:10:55.:10:57.

take the first pressure, then the second pressure, and the man falls,

:10:58.:11:00.

at that precise moment, you may well have made a wife a widow, children

:11:01.:11:03.

It's not just the men that die, it's what's left.

:11:04.:11:09.

I must have felt that it was worth it, because the alternative

:11:10.:11:12.

And we were all aware that we might get killed at one time or another.

:11:13.:11:28.

After 70 years, one tends to forget, or wants to

:11:29.:11:31.

forget, and I want to forget the things that happened 70 years ago.

:11:32.:11:36.

But I'm glad that it's all gone and it's all in the past,

:11:37.:11:44.

I think there was a philosopher said at one time,

:11:45.:11:52.

or somebody, better to die on your feet than live on your knees.

:11:53.:12:01.

That's what it was about - people able to live their lives

:12:02.:12:21.

Those who don't come back, they are the heroes.

:12:22.:12:43.

That is what today is all about. It is all to do with the story of the

:12:44.:12:49.

veterans. Those clearly still with us, able to relate their experiences

:12:50.:12:55.

- and they do so so movingly. Of course, some of them not with us

:12:56.:13:01.

today. Earlier on, we saw the Prince of Wales in Bayeux, enjoying his

:13:02.:13:06.

chat with the Normandy veterans and people from across the Commonwealth.

:13:07.:13:09.

We have seen representatives from Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

:13:10.:13:15.

Other countries, too, represented. People from Germany, people from

:13:16.:13:21.

Italy. 19 nations represented at the event at Bayeux this morning. It was

:13:22.:13:26.

lovely to see the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh spending a lot of times

:13:27.:13:29.

with the veterans asking them questions. Now, we see Charles and

:13:30.:13:33.

Camilla doing the same thing. The Prince, who has been very busy for

:13:34.:13:41.

the last 24 hours or so, in events yesterday at Ranville, and toasting

:13:42.:13:44.

the success of the people who came in overnight, those who prepared the

:13:45.:13:49.

way, if you like. And spoke very movingly there and took part in the

:13:50.:13:56.

service at Bayeux and gave a reading at Bayeux this morning. That is the

:13:57.:14:01.

end of that event in Bayeux at the War Cemetery. More than 4,000 people

:14:02.:14:07.

buried there. I'm going to talk a bit about the beach where most of

:14:08.:14:11.

the casualties happened, that is Omaha. That is where the most

:14:12.:14:14.

intense fighting took place on D-Day. So, if we see it, it is

:14:15.:14:20.

second from the left there. And when we talk about Omaha, we are talking

:14:21.:14:25.

about a beach that is six miles wide, the biggest of all the

:14:26.:14:30.

beaches. Overlooked by cliffs which made attack very difficult. The

:14:31.:14:34.

Americans faced the formidable German defences built by Rommel, the

:14:35.:14:41.

famous dragon's teeth on the beach as they were called, designed to

:14:42.:14:47.

destroy any landing craft. There were big gun emplacements and lots

:14:48.:14:51.

of challenges. James is still with me. And we are joined, too, by the

:14:52.:15:02.

military historian, Roderick Bailey. Omaha is, in many ways, when you

:15:03.:15:06.

read the accounts, it is the most terrifying. What is your account of

:15:07.:15:11.

Omaha and why it proved to be such a difficult one, James? The

:15:12.:15:16.

interesting thing - Omaha does define D-Day for an awful lot of

:15:17.:15:21.

people. That's been exaggerated by films such as Saving Private Ryan

:15:22.:15:30.

and those 11 photographs by Robert Kapper. The point is - that is when

:15:31.:15:38.

it was really terrible, in the initial wave. You have these cliffs

:15:39.:15:42.

overlooking. They are not very high. They curve down and, of course,

:15:43.:15:46.

anyone on those has They curve down and, of course,

:15:47.:15:51.

field of fire for the attackers. It causes a whole lot of problems if

:15:52.:15:54.

you are defending it as well because there is no escape. Anyone offshore

:15:55.:16:00.

can see you because they curve down towards the sea. Even the most

:16:01.:16:08.

heavily-defended strong points - one of the biggest ones is WN62 - it is

:16:09.:16:18.

still only manned by 41 people. You are talking about comparatively few

:16:19.:16:19.

numbers. The initial slaughter are talking about comparatively few

:16:20.:16:23.

terrible. But it quickly becomes a lot easier. So you get

:16:24.:16:27.

terrible. But it quickly becomes a casualties in the first wave. That

:16:28.:16:30.

goes down to 30%. Then subsequent waves a lot lower than that.

:16:31.:16:34.

goes down to 30%. Then subsequent first strong points are falling

:16:35.:16:38.

about 9.00 and by midday, it is all over. Interesting to see the images.

:16:39.:16:45.

We will keep on watching them. Roderick, your perspective on Omaha

:16:46.:16:50.

and what went right and want went wrong? James referred to the terrain

:16:51.:16:57.

being a formidable obstacle. There was a combination of factors that

:16:58.:17:01.

did go wrong. The aerial bombardment beforehand which should have taken

:17:02.:17:04.

out some of the fortifications, it was too far inland. A lot of the

:17:05.:17:09.

fortifications were left untouched. They were extremely strong. The sea

:17:10.:17:12.

bombardment as well went too far inland and there was a concern

:17:13.:17:17.

because the weather was so poor that the shells could drop short and hit

:17:18.:17:20.

the Americans as they were landing. Was there any option or any thought

:17:21.:17:25.

at any stage not to do Omaha? Was there any strategic - I read

:17:26.:17:30.

somewhere that Bradley thought they could drop this as an option because

:17:31.:17:33.

it was so challenging. Was that realistic? What would have happened

:17:34.:17:42.

had he done so? There was a Royal Navy detachment, Special Forces, and

:17:43.:17:46.

a two-man team went out on New Year's Eve. As long as that... Yes,

:17:47.:17:56.

and they went over in a midget submarine and crept out on to the

:17:57.:18:01.

beach. The reason for going on New Year's Eve was that would be when

:18:02.:18:08.

the Germans would be partying. When he came back, they had to do a

:18:09.:18:18.

report. They saw General Bradley and Bradley said, "I know, my boy." Any

:18:19.:18:26.

amphibious assault is an operation fraught with risk and people are

:18:27.:18:29.

going to get killed and wounded. When you look at the sequence of

:18:30.:18:33.

beaches and the way we have described the layout. If you take -

:18:34.:18:38.

if you had taken Omaha out of that equation, could D-Day have worked? I

:18:39.:18:43.

think so. Omaha itself is so different to the other beaches. It

:18:44.:18:48.

was a key beach between Gold and Utah and the American parachutists.

:18:49.:18:52.

The purpose of Omaha was to link up the beaches. That had to be done to

:18:53.:18:57.

keep in touch with Utah and reinforce the Americans and keep in

:18:58.:19:00.

contact with them in the east. It was a tough call. One of the things

:19:01.:19:06.

they learned from 1943 is that if you have your invasion forces too

:19:07.:19:12.

far apart, it gets very difficult to link that bridgehead. The most

:19:13.:19:16.

important thing of all is to build-up enough troops quickly

:19:17.:19:19.

enough so that you have that force there that when the Germans - as and

:19:20.:19:25.

when the Germans do a concerted counterattack, you have enough to

:19:26.:19:28.

see that off. You need your bridgehead to link together so there

:19:29.:19:32.

is no real way - you could have taken out Omaha, but it would have

:19:33.:19:35.

been fraught with all sorts of problems. Given what happened on

:19:36.:19:41.

Omaha, are we in a position now, 70 years on, to say we know how many

:19:42.:19:45.

people lost their lives on D-Day, we know how many casualties there were?

:19:46.:19:49.

Are we far more certain about those statistics than we used to be? That

:19:50.:19:57.

is a very good question. A lot of the statistics cover a period. A lot

:19:58.:20:03.

of wounded were taken back to the UK. No real casualty lists were

:20:04.:20:09.

taken on 6th June. Recent research in the States suggests the

:20:10.:20:13.

casualties on Omaha were higher than the 2,000 or 3,000 people have

:20:14.:20:18.

estimated. James? The latest figures are suggesting that there were 4,414

:20:19.:20:24.

dead on D-Day and I would imagine that is about as accurate as we can

:20:25.:20:29.

ever hope to get. Because of all the problems... That is more what we

:20:30.:20:34.

used to report? It is. Having said that, worst case scenario was 30,000

:20:35.:20:39.

casualties for D-Day, which they were prepared to absorb. The famous

:20:40.:20:44.

line from Churchill... Exactly. It was about a third of that. D-Day was

:20:45.:20:51.

always going to be tough. And things - it doesn't matter how much

:20:52.:20:55.

preparation you have. It is such a complicated operation and things are

:20:56.:20:59.

going to go wrong. Your amphibious tanks will come in at 45 degrees,

:21:00.:21:04.

bombers will go over. You can't think of everything. The weather

:21:05.:21:09.

plays a part. There was a big wind. That makes life difficult when you

:21:10.:21:16.

are flying at low level. There's all sorts of things to factor in. The

:21:17.:21:21.

miracle of D-Day is that, broadly speaking, all the major objectives

:21:22.:21:25.

are taken - the flanks are secured, all the beaches are taken, no-one is

:21:26.:21:30.

thrown back into the sea, the build-up of troops is every bit as

:21:31.:21:35.

fast as they hope. OK, we don't get to Caen on day one. The actual area

:21:36.:21:41.

that they are hoping to capture isn't as big. The Canadians do best

:21:42.:21:48.

on Juno. They are the ones that make the biggest bridgehead around that

:21:49.:21:51.

beach. In a moment, we will hear from one of the Americans who was on

:21:52.:21:56.

Omaha on the day. Before we hear from him, one final point, Roderick.

:21:57.:22:03.

When D-Day happened, the expectation was that, as you say, Omaha would

:22:04.:22:08.

present the biggest challenges, or at least one of them. So, in that

:22:09.:22:12.

sense, did the result at the end of the day in terms of casualties and

:22:13.:22:16.

the balance of casualties, did it work out as people had foreseen? You

:22:17.:22:22.

had all but one of the beach heads had been linked very soon, so that

:22:23.:22:26.

was part of it, part of the success of the day. You had lodgements,

:22:27.:22:32.

troops ashore on every beach head. Bradley stopped pushing people in

:22:33.:22:36.

into Omaha and did wonder about taking survivors off and putting

:22:37.:22:39.

them somewhere else. That didn't happen. Omaha was taken. So, the

:22:40.:22:46.

aims were taken. Caen wasn't taken and Bayeux had to wait until the

:22:47.:22:50.

next day. This was a lot of progress. Now that we have discussed

:22:51.:22:55.

Omaha, it is worth listening to what one of the Omaha survivors told us

:22:56.:22:59.

about his experiences on that day. My rank was private. We landed on

:23:00.:23:29.

Omaha Beach. The smallest, but most heavily-defended sector. Everybody

:23:30.:23:33.

around me was getting killed. As we were running across the beach, the

:23:34.:23:37.

man on my right got shot in the chest. The man on my left got shot

:23:38.:23:41.

in the chest. So, there was death all around me. I got shot in the

:23:42.:23:49.

rifle. It fired once. It broke in two pieces. And just then, a shell

:23:50.:24:00.

went off in front of me. For 32 hour, I suffered five serious

:24:01.:24:07.

wounds. I figured there is no sense of - I might as well keep fighting.

:24:08.:24:13.

I went out to get a Sergeant off the battlefield and I got three pieces

:24:14.:24:18.

of shrapnel in the left side of my helmet into my skull. When I left

:24:19.:24:24.

the beach, I received a bullet through my left foot.

:24:25.:24:32.

At 12.30am, I received a bullet wound through my left upper lip to

:24:33.:24:43.

take out my right upper jaw. The reason I kept on, I didn't think

:24:44.:24:47.

they would be able to put me back together and I just saw all my

:24:48.:24:53.

friends get killed on the beach. I wanted revenge. I wanted to keep

:24:54.:25:02.

fighting. At 11.00am, a sniper, or snipers, opened up on the wounded.

:25:03.:25:08.

When they came to me and shot me in the right knee. The next one was

:25:09.:25:17.

going through HERE, but the destroyer got rid of the German

:25:18.:25:23.

snipers. The knee injury was number five and I was evacuated after that.

:25:24.:25:33.

I think the Lord was watching over me. I prayed on the beach. I figured

:25:34.:25:41.

there was a mission for me. I found out later, one of the reasons for me

:25:42.:25:45.

being saved was I became a physician and I saved a lot of lives.

:25:46.:25:51.

STUDIO: Such a compelling account there. We will stay with Omaha and

:25:52.:26:02.

the American account of events because there are special events and

:26:03.:26:06.

commemorations taking place all over Normandy. We are covering them. The

:26:07.:26:10.

Americans have been holding their own ceremonies and just a short

:26:11.:26:14.

while ago, President Obama was there and he's been addressing the

:26:15.:26:15.

veterans. Republic, Francois Hollande and the

:26:16.:26:35.

president of the United States of America, Barack Obama. It is our

:26:36.:26:44.

privilege to welcome all the visitors here today. We extend

:26:45.:26:47.

special mention for the visitors here today. We extend

:26:48.:26:51.

D-Day veterans and all those who honour us with their presence.

:26:52.:26:56.

Today, we commemorate the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings

:26:57.:27:00.

which began on the morning of June the morning of June six, 1944.

:27:01.:27:16.

TRANSLATION: We will never forget. We will never forget the sacrifice

:27:17.:27:22.

of the American servicemen. Mr President, we are the children and

:27:23.:27:25.

grandchildren of this great generation. Long live America. Long

:27:26.:27:35.

live France. Long live the memory of those who lost their lives here

:27:36.:27:37.

today for our freedom. President Hollande, the people of

:27:38.:28:01.

France, friends, family, our veterans,

:28:02.:28:09.

If prayer were made of sound, the skies over England that night would

:28:10.:28:14.

have deafened the world. Captains paced their decks. Pilots

:28:15.:28:26.

tapped their gauges. Commanders pored over maps, fully aware that

:28:27.:28:32.

for all the months of meticulous planning, everything could go wrong:

:28:33.:28:41.

the winds, the tides, the element of surprise - and above all, the

:28:42.:28:48.

audacious bet that what waited on the other side of the Channel would

:28:49.:28:53.

compel men not to shrink away, but to charge ahead.

:28:54.:29:04.

Fresh-faced GIs rubbed trinkets, kissed pictures of sweethearts,

:29:05.:29:11.

checked and re-checked their equipment.

:29:12.:29:17.

"God," asked one, "Give "God," asked one, "Give

:29:18.:29:21.

me guts." And in the pre-dawn hours, planes rumbled down runways, gliders

:29:22.:29:39.

whenever the world makes you cynical, stop and think of these

:29:40.:29:42.

men. Wilson, Harry, and Rock are here

:29:43.:30:03.

today, and I would ask them - along with our veterans of D-Day - if you

:30:04.:30:07.

can, please stand. If not, please raise your hand and let us recognise

:30:08.:30:09.

your service. These men waged war so that we might

:30:10.:30:15.

know peace. They sacrificed so that we might be free. They fought in

:30:16.:30:19.

hopes of a day when we'd no longer need to.

:30:20.:30:19.

Gentlemen, I want each of you to A very powerful message from

:30:20.:31:31.

President Obama who has been spending time with the American

:31:32.:31:35.

veterans at Omaha and not just commending their courage and

:31:36.:31:38.

remembering those who did not survive, especially in those first

:31:39.:31:43.

waves, but really recognising all the support of family and friends

:31:44.:31:47.

over the years who kept alive the heritage of D-Day, if you like, and

:31:48.:31:52.

not allowed people to forget what happened 70 years ago. We are

:31:53.:31:57.

Arromanches and we're looking forward to the events of this

:31:58.:32:01.

afternoon. We will have a very moving parade, the Normandy

:32:02.:32:04.

Veterans' Association gathering here for the last time formally, before

:32:05.:32:08.

they disband. They are elderly gentleman, there are fewer of them,

:32:09.:32:12.

they are increasingly fragile, so they have taken the decision to do

:32:13.:32:17.

something in a dignified and formal way. They will disband the

:32:18.:32:21.

organisation later this year. We are in a position to say this is the

:32:22.:32:25.

last time the association will take part in a formal parade here in

:32:26.:32:47.

Arromanches. That is why the day is so special. And that is why, if you

:32:48.:32:49.

look outside, there are thousands of people who are still gathering here

:32:50.:32:51.

in Arromanches. They are getting ready for the

:32:52.:33:03.

march-past on Gold Beach. A bit of a party atmosphere, really, to be

:33:04.:33:06.

honest. Of course, people are here to pay respects and to show a great

:33:07.:33:10.

deal of admiration for what was achieved 70 years ago. But they are

:33:11.:33:15.

here to enjoy, too. James and Roderick are still with me. When we

:33:16.:33:19.

look at these scenes now, James, it is - there is a bit of a happy

:33:20.:33:23.

atmosphere, too? It is a celebration more than anything else? It really

:33:24.:33:27.

is. I love the fact that there are still a few children down there

:33:28.:33:33.

making sandcastles. That's right. They are not going to be distracted

:33:34.:33:43.

from their sandcastle-making! I'm interesting - I mentioned Gold

:33:44.:33:46.

Beach. There will be lots of people at home who will know all of this -

:33:47.:33:51.

but some won't. It is useful for us to dwell on some of the interesting

:33:52.:33:58.

aspects of how this D-Day scheme was devised, how they got to these names

:33:59.:34:08.

- Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, Sword. How difficult a process was choosing

:34:09.:34:14.

the beaches? They had to find somewhere the Germans wouldn't

:34:15.:34:18.

suspect. They had to find a large enough area where you could land

:34:19.:34:22.

multiple divisions within several hours and you can form a huge

:34:23.:34:27.

lodgement area from which you can push further into Europe. I suppose

:34:28.:34:36.

I would say, cheekily, if it was that obvious the Germans would have

:34:37.:34:41.

clocked it! The Germans are guilty throughout the war of viewing

:34:42.:34:44.

conflict through their own narrow prism of experience. The Germans

:34:45.:34:49.

don't really do amphibious invasions very often. They don't have landing

:34:50.:34:54.

craft so they don't assume landing craft can land enough men and

:34:55.:34:57.

supplies and materials to sustain it. The British get round that, of

:34:58.:35:04.

course, by having the sheer nerve to dream up the enormous Mulberry

:35:05.:35:09.

harbours, the survivor of which we can still see behind us. We will

:35:10.:35:13.

talk more about these harbours later on. You can see them dotted in the

:35:14.:35:18.

background there. These big blocks of concrete which are still there.

:35:19.:35:21.

That is what we mean by - a floating harbour, if you like?

:35:22.:35:24.

That is what we mean by - a floating two that were built. The size of

:35:25.:35:31.

That is what we mean by - a floating Dover - it's a pretty big place.

:35:32.:35:34.

They are floated across the Channel. On top of that, the beaches are so

:35:35.:35:40.

wide, they are so deep that that enables landing craft to come on.

:35:41.:35:45.

Across all the invasion beaches, they dropped temporary breakwaters,

:35:46.:35:50.

Across all the invasion beaches, old unused vessels that they don't

:35:51.:35:53.

longer need, they sink them to create a breakwater. Behind that,

:35:54.:35:56.

you can bring in your landing craft. That is going on at all the invasion

:35:57.:36:02.

beaches. There we have it, when you walk along Gold Beach, that is what

:36:03.:36:06.

you come across. It's a very bulky reminder of what is going on. Let's

:36:07.:36:11.

look at what is going on in Bayeux. We have a special fly-past. What are

:36:12.:36:13.

these, James? These are Spitfires. It's the stuff that brings the hairs

:36:14.:36:30.

on the back of your neck up. I never tire of seeing them. They are just

:36:31.:36:34.

absolutely magnificent. The great thing about the Spitfire is it was

:36:35.:36:40.

there in 1939 and it was still there in 1935. We see it as an important

:36:41.:36:51.

contributor to the ultimate victory and the importance that Britain

:36:52.:36:54.

played in air power throughout the war. I believe we have one which is

:36:55.:37:00.

a fighter, the other took part in photo reconnaissance missions. We

:37:01.:37:05.

should really log the fact that photo reconnaissance played an

:37:06.:37:09.

important part in the run-up to D-Day? Very much so. There were

:37:10.:37:14.

famous photographs taken of the beaches with German soldiers

:37:15.:37:16.

famous photographs taken of the for cover as the aircraft came in

:37:17.:37:20.

very low. These are key for the planning. They are covering every

:37:21.:37:32.

inch of 6,000 miles of coastline from Norway down to the south of

:37:33.:37:35.

France. They did that because they didn't want to concentrate on one

:37:36.:37:42.

area? Germans are going to spot a reconnaissance plane and they want

:37:43.:37:45.

to keep the Germans guessing. Just because you see a reconnaissance

:37:46.:37:51.

plane, it doesn't mean that is where the Allies are going to land, so you

:37:52.:37:55.

have to cover all bases. When you look at the photographs, the detail

:37:56.:38:00.

is incredible. You have brilliant people who are trained to examine

:38:01.:38:04.

these in detail. The detail on the maps that are produced from the back

:38:05.:38:08.

of these photographs, I have seen - the other day I was looking at one

:38:09.:38:15.

of Gold Beach, where 50th Division were landing. Every single

:38:16.:38:21.

machine-gun post, wire mine is all labelled on it. Incredible. It is

:38:22.:38:29.

important as well, Roderick, the whole issue about supremacy in the

:38:30.:38:36.

air, which clearly had been properly established in the Battle of

:38:37.:38:39.

Britain. By D-Day that is crucial. If there had been any threat from

:38:40.:38:43.

the Germans, in that sense, it would have looked very different? Yes,

:38:44.:38:49.

absolutely. On D-Day, there was no Luftwaffe presence over the beaches

:38:50.:38:53.

whatsoever. This was partly as a result of a huge amount

:38:54.:38:55.

whatsoever. This was partly as a result of a huge of work that had

:38:56.:39:00.

been done running up to these events. A great deal of work. It is

:39:01.:39:06.

worth putting it in perspective. If you think about the

:39:07.:39:08.

worth putting it in perspective. If Battle of Britain, the bomber force

:39:09.:39:11.

of the Luftwaffe, you are talking about 1,500 aircraft. By the time of

:39:12.:39:17.

D-Day, we have got just shy of 12,000 aircraft in operation on

:39:18.:39:23.

D-Day itself. I once interviewed a German Luftwaffe pilot who flew

:39:24.:39:27.

here. He took off twice on D-Day, about 30 miles inland. He had a

:39:28.:39:33.

quick look around and landed back down in very quick order! There will

:39:34.:39:39.

be a few more fly-pasts later today involving more aircraft from the

:39:40.:39:43.

Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, which, obviously, is a very

:39:44.:39:47.

prominent part of lots of these traditional days and when we have

:39:48.:39:55.

the Queen's Birthday Parade next week. The history of the flight, I

:39:56.:40:01.

also find that interesting. It was down to Peter Thompson in the late

:40:02.:40:06.

'50s who single-handedly made it happen. He realised that these great

:40:07.:40:12.

old aircraft were in danger of disappearing, nobody was looking

:40:13.:40:16.

after them. He decided he wanted to create an historical flight. No

:40:17.:40:24.

public money. Amazing. In those days, voluntary effort, no public

:40:25.:40:29.

money. Had it not been for him, in the '50s, we probably wouldn't be

:40:30.:40:38.

seeing them now. There's probably about 50 airworthy Spitfires in the

:40:39.:40:41.

world. There are probably 75 or so that could be flown. It is a hell of

:40:42.:40:48.

a number. The tragedy for me - where is the P47? Where is the

:40:49.:40:53.

rocket-firing Typhoons? It would be wonderful to see one of those. I do

:40:54.:41:05.

remember talking to a great British fighter ace, an incredible man, he

:41:06.:41:09.

said, "Why didn't we box up six of everything?" You can't help sharing

:41:10.:41:17.

that sentiment. Look, they are flying off into the distance. It is

:41:18.:41:23.

not our last glimpse. Later on today, the Spitfires will be back

:41:24.:41:28.

and they will be closer to us at that point. I think, also,

:41:29.:41:33.

gentlemen, we will have a Lancaster, a Dakota, too. So, that is all to

:41:34.:41:40.

come later on today. What I would like to tell you now is

:41:41.:41:45.

the Prince of Wales is still chatting to veterans. That is a

:41:46.:41:50.

lovely scene for us. Really animated, listening intently, the

:41:51.:41:55.

veterans, and he sharing some stories with them. That is a nice

:41:56.:41:59.

feature of today, the relatively informal tone that's been set after

:42:00.:42:03.

the service, obviously, and the service at the Cathedral was

:42:04.:42:06.

properly solemn and calm and tranquil and then we had the

:42:07.:42:09.

dedication of the new bell at the Cathedral. Then, we had those lovely

:42:10.:42:15.

scenes at Bayeux War Cemetery, where the Prince of Wales and the Duchess

:42:16.:42:20.

of Cornwall were there, and the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh,

:42:21.:42:25.

too. The Prince of Wales has been underlining his real sense of

:42:26.:42:31.

importance about D-Day. He's wanted to underline the great gratitude

:42:32.:42:36.

that he feels everyone owes to the Normandy veterans and he's been

:42:37.:42:37.

talking to Dan Snow. What do these D-Day anniversaries

:42:38.:42:44.

mean to you? A great deal, I think. They give you a chance to reflect

:42:45.:42:51.

more than anything else on the extraordinary sacrifice and courage

:42:52.:42:57.

and resilience and determination of these remarkable people, and the

:42:58.:43:01.

huge number of course who came in the first days of the D-Day

:43:02.:43:08.

Landings. And the ones who landed, dropped here from The Parachute

:43:09.:43:11.

Regiment, of which I have been Colonel-in-Chief for 37 years or

:43:12.:43:16.

something. So, it is a very special moment, just to salute them and

:43:17.:43:21.

thank them, the ones who survived, how they did, when you think of the

:43:22.:43:26.

amount of lead flying around. Terrifying. But the fact they did is

:43:27.:43:30.

remarkable. The wonderful thing is that others want also to pay their

:43:31.:43:38.

respects, the French, and those who benefitted as a part of their

:43:39.:43:41.

sacrifice. The same thing for the rest of my family, who also have a

:43:42.:43:44.

chance to reflect and pay their respects. Commemorations in Bayeux

:43:45.:43:49.

have veterans at their heart. Are you looking forward to spending time

:43:50.:43:53.

with them? Absolutely. I realised the other day I have been coming for

:43:54.:43:58.

30 years, each ten years starting in '84 and then we came for the 65th

:43:59.:44:04.

and, of course, what is so sad is, having - I was born in 1948. I was

:44:05.:44:11.

lucky to meet a whole lot of people just after the war. Some of the very

:44:12.:44:22.

senior generals and air marshals and admirals, so I met a lot of the old

:44:23.:44:27.

boys who died long ago. But it was always fascinating to hear them talk

:44:28.:44:32.

about, if you could get them to talk about their experiences! But well

:44:33.:44:36.

worth it. Because of the historical context and what we can learn from

:44:37.:44:40.

their experience and so on and so forth. I love seeing them. They are

:44:41.:44:46.

a great generation. Your family have all served and now your sons have

:44:47.:44:52.

served, Harry saw active service in Afghanistan. Have you changed the

:44:53.:44:56.

way you view these ceremonies? Yes. In my case, I served in the Royal

:44:57.:45:03.

Navy 40-something years ago for five years. So I have some idea of what

:45:04.:45:10.

it is like. Then, when you get older - because I was in my 20s then - all

:45:11.:45:18.

these characters are 20, 18 or 19. You view the world a different way,

:45:19.:45:23.

you think you are indestructible. Later on, you get to the stage of

:45:24.:45:27.

being a parent and then, you know, getting older and reflecting and

:45:28.:45:34.

then they go away, my two, Harry was in Afghanistan twice. As a parent,

:45:35.:45:38.

of course, you do, you worry like hell. When you are young, you get on

:45:39.:45:46.

with it. That at least helps me to understand a bit what so many of our

:45:47.:45:55.

families have put up with over the time our forces have been involved

:45:56.:46:00.

in Iraq and Afghanistan. So, yes, it does help a lot to have that sort of

:46:01.:46:07.

closeness of understanding and an involvement, which I have had all my

:46:08.:46:10.

life with the armed forces. The New Zealand veterans at Bayeux are a

:46:11.:46:14.

reminder of the huge coalition of nations that took part on D-Day,

:46:15.:46:19.

many of them in the Commonwealth? And an enormous Canadian effort. I

:46:20.:46:23.

know because I am also Colonel-in-Chief of a large number

:46:24.:46:29.

of Canadian regiments - and I have been for 37 years. I was in Canada a

:46:30.:46:36.

of Canadian regiments - and I have few weeks ago. All that Commonwealth

:46:37.:46:41.

contribution was really remarkable when you think about it. They played

:46:42.:46:43.

such an important part. commemorations, and this is probably

:46:44.:46:58.

the last one for the D-Day landings, does give an opportunity

:46:59.:47:04.

as well to pay tribute to so many of the French people who suffered so

:47:05.:47:09.

much during that invasion. A lot of destruction but they also supported

:47:10.:47:15.

and helped the Allies in so many different ways. And again, in

:47:16.:47:19.

particular, the Resistance who played such a crucial part and

:47:20.:47:23.

sacrificed so much in the course of the war and the horrors they went

:47:24.:47:30.

through. It is really a special opportunity just to remember and say

:47:31.:47:34.

a prayer of thankfulness for all these people and what they

:47:35.:47:39.

contributed to us and our future. Thank you very much, your Royal

:47:40.:47:42.

Highness. The Prince of Wales talking earlier

:47:43.:47:48.

to Dan Snow and reflecting on the significance of this 70th

:47:49.:47:51.

anniversary and talking a little bit about his family perspective and of

:47:52.:47:55.

course, his strong links with the armed forces which go back after

:47:56.:47:59.

century really. And of course, when you think of the Duke of

:48:00.:48:03.

Edinburgh's record as well in the Armed Forces, the link is very

:48:04.:48:06.

strong, the bond is free strong indeed. Here in Arromanches I have

:48:07.:48:13.

to say it is a very warm day. I am not complaining, it is very sunny,

:48:14.:48:17.

but I am thinking of the veterans who will be standing outside for the

:48:18.:48:22.

parade which will take place outside here on the square. In the distance

:48:23.:48:28.

you can see the D-Day Museum here in Arromanches and that is where the

:48:29.:48:31.

Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will be visiting a little later on today.

:48:32.:48:38.

They will be taking a salute when the Normandy veterans are on their

:48:39.:48:41.

parade at the end of the day. That will be in the early evening here in

:48:42.:48:45.

Arromanches. That is the thing we are building up to, if you like, at

:48:46.:48:49.

the end of the day. That is after the big international event in the

:48:50.:48:53.

afternoon. We will join Anita Rani now. She is at Ouistreham just above

:48:54.:49:02.

Sword Beach, one of the two British beaches. That is the coastal end to

:49:03.:49:11.

the approach of the city of Caen. David, what does it mean to be here

:49:12.:49:17.

for the 70th anniversary? It is a real experience. I think about what

:49:18.:49:21.

went on in this particular town. We were further up the coast but to

:49:22.:49:27.

think about what happened here. I am most amazed by the friendship and

:49:28.:49:30.

the feeling we are getting from the people. Only in two days, it has

:49:31.:49:39.

made a terrific impact. The people of Normandy are very warm-hearted.

:49:40.:49:45.

Beautiful people. I met a lady today who came up to me and put her arms

:49:46.:49:49.

around me. I think I was more thrilled than she was. She was 92!

:49:50.:49:54.

How does that make you feel when that happens? It warms your heart.

:49:55.:50:01.

Really heart-warming. That will be the highlight in a way. To see and

:50:02.:50:07.

feel the warmth of the people. Tremendous. Here you are now about

:50:08.:50:11.

to watch the ceremony with the Queen and the Prime Minister and a few

:50:12.:50:17.

other heads of state. As long as I do not have to speak to her, it will

:50:18.:50:21.

be all right, because with a northern accent it does not go down

:50:22.:50:27.

well. Northern accents are now! What will go through your mind when you

:50:28.:50:35.

are sitting on Sword Beach? Just to see, there was a lot of carnage

:50:36.:50:42.

around, to think what happened and to see the lives that had been

:50:43.:50:47.

lost. I came in with two more mates. One was badly wounded and one

:50:48.:50:52.

got killed. I think that I was fortunate, I have lived a good life.

:50:53.:51:00.

I have had a good life and that is everything. It has been a pleasure

:51:01.:51:04.

talking to you, thank you. It has been wonderful. In 1943, we started

:51:05.:51:17.

ill doing the Pier head up in Scotland. You were building a

:51:18.:51:27.

Mulberry Harbour? You will see the remains at Arromanches. It has been

:51:28.:51:31.

an experience. It has been good. Thank you.

:51:32.:51:38.

David Hogg there. There's one very significant group

:51:39.:51:47.

whose contribution to the success of D-Day is often overlooked, really,

:51:48.:51:51.

as Winston Churchill underlined in 1945 when he declared the devotion

:51:52.:51:57.

of The Merchant Navy should be recorded. They suffered terrible

:51:58.:52:02.

losses. Over 32,000 died in the Second World War and their sacrifice

:52:03.:52:08.

has only been properly acknowledged in recent years, but the part played

:52:09.:52:13.

by Churchill's "fourth service" on D-Day is not widely known.

:52:14.:52:31.

I joined the Merchant Navy at 16 as a radio officer and began

:52:32.:52:34.

I went in the Navy when I was 18 and three days.

:52:35.:52:44.

The reason I went was that I was called up, it was as simple as that.

:52:45.:52:48.

It was conscription, they called it.

:52:49.:52:49.

Everybody had to go when it was their time.

:52:50.:52:53.

The Merchant Navy's role on D-Day was, of course, transport of troops

:52:54.:52:56.

and supplies, ammunition, or oil, everything necessary to land a large

:52:57.:53:03.

I had been courting this girl since we had left school.

:53:04.:53:10.

We'd been together since we were 14.

:53:11.:53:15.

They gave us permission to get married at three o'clock

:53:16.:53:24.

in the afternoon, and I had to be back aboard

:53:25.:53:26.

Our main job was transporting the 51st Highland division,

:53:27.:53:35.

And many of them had come back from North Africa to Britain to

:53:36.:53:41.

I got to know I was going to Normandy when they

:53:42.:53:47.

It would be one o'clock in the morning.

:53:48.:53:51.

And he came out and said, Rumbold, don't forget the enemy are just

:53:52.:53:59.

And I thought to myself, although I never said that, if they

:54:00.:54:04.

were half as frightened of me as I am of them, they'd be going that way

:54:05.:54:09.

When we were passing the White Cliffs of Dover,

:54:10.:54:18.

the sergeant said, as we passed, "Take a good look, boys.

:54:19.:54:21.

Many of you will never see that again."

:54:22.:54:26.

You're going into the unknown, really.

:54:27.:54:31.

I'd never been in a war before. It's all right people saying,

:54:32.:54:34.

"You've trained for this and you've trained for that."

:54:35.:54:36.

When we were nearing the beaches, we had a church service on the ship.

:54:37.:54:46.

They read the sermon, and there wasn't many dry eyes,

:54:47.:54:50.

There were bodies floating about in the sea.

:54:51.:54:58.

There were two Americans that we got aboard.

:54:59.:55:02.

They took them to the afterdeck and covered them over.

:55:03.:55:05.

We took them back with us when we went back.

:55:06.:55:09.

But there were bodies we couldn't reach that were floating by

:55:10.:55:13.

We were unable to do much about it, really.

:55:14.:55:23.

You could see the gun flash, and you hear the whine of the shell,

:55:24.:55:27.

As you're the target, you're like a sitting duck.

:55:28.:55:36.

And the blast of the shell going off is absolutely devastating.

:55:37.:55:41.

There were explosions here, there and everywhere on the beaches.

:55:42.:55:49.

There isn't much you can do other than pray.

:55:50.:55:54.

The number of Merchant Navy sailors who died

:55:55.:56:10.

during the landings was 2450 out of a total complement of 25,000.

:56:11.:56:17.

Them who say they were brave and all that, well, let them say it.

:56:18.:56:27.

I did what I had to do, and I was happy with that.

:56:28.:56:48.

That is what today is about. It is about underlining the achievements

:56:49.:56:54.

of all those who took part 70 years ago. With me, someone rather

:56:55.:56:58.

special, Peter Thompson. I can say that Mr Thompson is celebrating his

:56:59.:57:03.

89th birthday today, a very happy birthday. Thank you very much. Now,

:57:04.:57:08.

you were 19 on D-Day. I was. Serving with the Royal Navy, delivering

:57:09.:57:12.

troops to Sword Beach. I should tell viewers that you and your wife

:57:13.:57:14.

established the annual service here viewers that you and your wife

:57:15.:57:18.

in Arromanches in 1984. You are responsible for this great tradition

:57:19.:57:23.

here. Thank you for coming to talk to us. What does today mean to you?

:57:24.:57:26.

here. Thank you for coming to talk It means a lot to me.

:57:27.:57:30.

here. Thank you for coming to talk birthday for one thing! It is the

:57:31.:57:31.

30th year that birthday for one thing! It is the

:57:32.:57:41.

we have built camaraderie between us and the local people. Today is extra

:57:42.:57:45.

special. I have never seen it like this before. It is remarkable. Take

:57:46.:57:49.

us back to '84 and what led up to you making the decision to get

:57:50.:57:54.

us back to '84 and what led up to together? What prompted that? We

:57:55.:57:58.

came here and there was nothing to indicate that even troops landing

:57:59.:58:03.

here. I came here once and there was a lady with two children playing on

:58:04.:58:07.

the beach. I went up to them and said, "Do you know that soldiers

:58:08.:58:18.

were on this beach and getting killed?" And they didn't know

:58:19.:58:20.

anything about it. This is what anything about it. This is what

:58:21.:58:27.

brings it back to you. Soldiers were shot dead on the beaches. I saw them

:58:28.:58:31.

running up the beach and falling over, being shot. This is the very

:58:32.:58:37.

thing in my mind. I go to sleep over, being shot. This is the very

:58:38.:58:41.

wake up in the middle of the night and even then, I sometimes think

:58:42.:58:45.

wake up in the middle of the night myself something about it, you know.

:58:46.:58:49.

How vivid are those memories? Very vivid. They come back quite

:58:50.:58:56.

frequently. If I can't - I'm a poor sleeper at the moment being 89. I

:58:57.:59:02.

don't sleep very well. I wake up and think, I start off thinking about

:59:03.:59:07.

something else and it leads to thinking about what I did, or what

:59:08.:59:12.

happened, or what didn't happen. Tell us about what we can expect to

:59:13.:59:19.

see later today in the Parade in the Square here? We form up at 5.30pm

:59:20.:59:32.

and they march us on to the Square. Then we have Mandy Reynolds, she

:59:33.:59:44.

gives a hymn and a prayer. That is the sort of thing of it. You may get

:59:45.:59:48.

a few words from the Duke of Cambridge today? We'd like that.

:59:49.:59:53.

They will be here later on. When you look around you today - and you see

:59:54.:00:00.

these incredible crowds and the people are really making a big

:00:01.:00:04.

effort to commemorate what happened. Oh yes. In some cases, to celebrate

:00:05.:00:08.

what happened because it was a liberation. What are your thoughts

:00:09.:00:11.

when you see the extent of this event today? It is terrific. It is

:00:12.:00:15.

terrific. Especially trying to get into here! That is a challenge! The

:00:16.:00:22.

police were very good to us. They led us through quite easily. I saw

:00:23.:00:27.

the other people waiting there to get in. We can see on the beach -

:00:28.:00:30.

there will be a big display later on today. They have cleared a big area

:00:31.:00:35.

of Gold Beach and there will be lots of wartime vehicles on the beach

:00:36.:00:40.

later on. I was mentioning earlier that lots of your fellow veterans,

:00:41.:00:46.

who have been chatting to us, everyone remarks on this, Peter, are

:00:47.:00:52.

very modest. They don't want to be called "heroes" they want to be seen

:00:53.:00:58.

as "doing their best". That modesty is a moving thing to see? It is very

:00:59.:01:07.

moving. It is true. "Hero" to me is somebody who puts their life on the

:01:08.:01:15.

line for King and Country. Athletes are not heroes. You saying that, it

:01:16.:01:26.

is one of those things that is unexplainable. You get there in the

:01:27.:01:31.

end. I mentioned to viewers earlier that for reasons we all understand,

:01:32.:01:34.

the Normandy Veterans' Association will disband later this year. So I

:01:35.:01:38.

have been saying that this is the last formal commemoration for the

:01:39.:01:42.

Association, but that doesn't mean that veterans won't be coming back?

:01:43.:01:46.

Oh no. We have already made arrangements. In the Mess, they

:01:47.:01:57.

said, "If you get down to four veterans, give us a buzz on the

:01:58.:02:01.

phone." It's a great honour to talk to you. Thank you for coming in and

:02:02.:02:06.

happy birthday. Thank you very much. Great honour to be here. It is nice

:02:07.:02:10.

to see you. For D-Day to be successful, there were a number of

:02:11.:02:14.

vital targets which had to be captured or destroyed. Allied

:02:15.:02:18.

intelligence had identified a German gun battery at Merville which had

:02:19.:02:21.

the potential to devastate the landings at Sword Beach. Fred Glover

:02:22.:02:26.

remembers the night he was dropped into occupied territory to complete

:02:27.:02:29.

one of the most daring missions of D-Day and it also involved an act of

:02:30.:02:34.

humankindness which changed Fred's life.

:02:35.:02:37.

I was a member of the 9th Parachute Battalion.

:02:38.:02:40.

My involvement was to be part of a special force who would crash-land

:02:41.:02:45.

As we circled the battery, the flak guns started firing.

:02:46.:02:55.

I could feel as my legs kicked out. When we crashed down,

:02:56.:03:04.

we crashed almost on top of a German patrol

:03:05.:03:10.

that was coming up to reinforce the battery.

:03:11.:03:16.

I went into a bomb crater, crawled to the top and was firing

:03:17.:03:20.

And it wasn't until after it stopped and the Germans had

:03:21.:03:28.

withdrawn that I remembered that I had got wounds, as it were.

:03:29.:03:33.

My boots were beginning to fill up a bit with blood.

:03:34.:03:41.

We decided that I couldn't go on with them,

:03:42.:03:44.

I couldn't hold them up, which is fair enough.

:03:45.:03:46.

So I was left, at that point, with two wounded Germans.

:03:47.:03:51.

Technically, these two Germans were my prisoners.

:03:52.:03:54.

They weren't armed, though I was, of course.

:03:55.:04:00.

The older of the two Germans had a stomach wound

:04:01.:04:03.

I was in possession of morphine to treat my own wounds,

:04:04.:04:15.

so I decided to give him the morphine.

:04:16.:04:22.

I was really a soldier and not a murderer, I suppose.

:04:23.:04:34.

Just at that moment, coming across the field towards us

:04:35.:04:37.

is a German patrol, and I realise I've still got the

:04:38.:04:39.

They took the fighting knife out, didn't look too pleased.

:04:40.:04:47.

Then they found the gammon bomb and that seemed to worsen the situation.

:04:48.:04:54.

And then the youngest of the two Germans called out,

:04:55.:04:58.

pointing to his comrade, and I can only presume that

:04:59.:05:04.

he told them that I'd given them morphine and shared what I had.

:05:05.:05:12.

And the whole atmosphere at that point changed.

:05:13.:05:18.

My life could have been hanging by a thread.

:05:19.:05:26.

I think about how an act of human kindness at that time

:05:27.:05:35.

changed lots of men's lives. If you are interested in hearing more from

:05:36.:05:55.

the veterans, the BBC is publishing a free interactive book on D-Day.

:05:56.:06:06.

Together, these accounts build-up a remarkable account of D-Day bringing

:06:07.:06:11.

the details of the day to life 70 years after the day itself. How do

:06:12.:06:20.

you get it? To download the e-book, go to www.bbc.co.uk/dday70 and the

:06:21.:06:23.

link should be clearly marked on the page and you can click the link and

:06:24.:06:31.

download the e-book. With me in our warm studio is one of the Honorary

:06:32.:06:34.

Members of the Normandy Veterans' Association, someone whose link with

:06:35.:06:37.

the veterans started ten years ago. Association, someone whose link with

:06:38.:06:42.

It is Eddie Izzard. Thank you for coming in. Thank you for inviting

:06:43.:06:47.

me. It is good to be here. I was touring America and I said I have to

:06:48.:06:51.

come here for two days. I am always here. When I mentioned the ten years

:06:52.:06:56.

ago, what happened? How did that link get established? Trevor Beattie

:06:57.:07:02.

started a foundation, he started working out we have to raise money

:07:03.:07:07.

to get people back. Then, there was a Governmental thing that came in

:07:08.:07:10.

for one year and there was this argument of people being let down.

:07:11.:07:14.

He stepped in and said let's start a charity thing to get ALL the

:07:15.:07:18.

veterans back that want to come. I saidly do whatever I can to help. So

:07:19.:07:24.

I helped in that way. Ten years ago, what was your experience of coming

:07:25.:07:28.

over? What happened on that trip? Well, it's just great to be able to

:07:29.:07:32.

help veterans, to be able to see veterans, to be right up close is

:07:33.:07:40.

amazing. I saw the Battle of Britain fly-past, that blew my mind. It is

:07:41.:07:46.

amazing. My Dad brought me here many years ago, Arromanches, and the fact

:07:47.:07:48.

the Mulberry harbour is out there. years ago, Arromanches, and the fact

:07:49.:07:52.

come back, I come and run marathons around here.

:07:53.:07:55.

come back, I come and run marathons here. It was also where William the

:07:56.:07:58.

Conqueror was based so history came here. It was also where William the

:07:59.:08:02.

and went away and he went and did this conquering thing. We come back.

:08:03.:08:05.

and went away and he went and did You need to not forget the Russians,

:08:06.:08:12.

though. We do forget this. 25 million Russians died in that war,

:08:13.:08:16.

500,000 British people, 500,000 Americans and 25 million Russians.

:08:17.:08:19.

Without them, we would not have won the Second World War. Because of all

:08:20.:08:25.

the events in Ukraine, certainly in France there were some calls for

:08:26.:08:29.

President Putin not to be invited here, but the French President

:08:30.:08:34.

saying you need to remember what Russia did in the Second World War

:08:35.:08:36.

and the people they lost and, for that reason, the President of Russia

:08:37.:08:40.

should be here. His presence tells us that. It is a Head of State time.

:08:41.:08:46.

We need to understand that Ukraine, there are problems there, but this

:08:47.:08:51.

is history. What the Russian people went through, 25 million. We thought

:08:52.:08:56.

we had a very tough time. They had an unbelievably tough time. People

:08:57.:09:00.

knew it at the time. What's impressed you most when you meet

:09:01.:09:04.

veterans, those you have had dealings with? You have been very

:09:05.:09:07.

generous in your support. What impresses you about them now? Youth.

:09:08.:09:15.

Their youth, youth of mind. That is the thing you need to keep. They

:09:16.:09:22.

still really want to be acting like they were just landing. I landed at

:09:23.:09:29.

one point - I will say this because I want to get in touch. There was a

:09:30.:09:36.

veteran and his wife and they were at Ouistreham. Was it the 60th? He

:09:37.:09:41.

was speaking French. A lot of people don't speak French. I do. He was

:09:42.:09:47.

trying to hire a car. I said don't worry, I will give you a lift. They

:09:48.:09:51.

took a photograph. And then they lost the photograph. It was really

:09:52.:09:55.

nice to be able to help a veteran. They were going to get a car the

:09:56.:09:59.

next day. That is the tiny - he went past the place - I came up here, he

:10:00.:10:04.

said. "I came up here." I was driving the car. My Dad is going,

:10:05.:10:10.

"What is going on?" I said I'm giving a lift to this guy and his

:10:11.:10:15.

wife. Those moments are great. What are you doing the rest of the day? I

:10:16.:10:21.

will turn up at whatever commemorations I can, Trevor Beattie

:10:22.:10:24.

is here again. He is a wonderful cheerleader for the veterans. And

:10:25.:10:28.

the Normandy Veterans' Association. Then I will do three shows in three

:10:29.:10:36.

languages in three hours. That all(?) I will do my show in German,

:10:37.:10:42.

English and in French. Does it change? It is the same show. I am

:10:43.:10:50.

giving all the money to charity, including a charity in Germany. This

:10:51.:10:59.

German artist is making bronze stones. He puts their name on the

:11:00.:11:05.

stone, and all across Europe he is doing this. That will be there

:11:06.:11:08.

forever. Their name will be remembered forever. One stone and

:11:09.:11:12.

one name. That is a beautiful idea. That is what I am doing for the

:11:13.:11:16.

German charity. Lovely to talk to you. Enjoy the rest of the day. Good

:11:17.:11:20.

luck with the shows. Thank you. Thank you very much. Eddie Izzard

:11:21.:11:24.

there. Great to have him here with us.

:11:25.:11:29.

Now, as soon as D-Day came, and as soon as the invasion started, there

:11:30.:11:33.

were casualties, of course. Thousands of them had to be cared

:11:34.:11:39.

for. And the Queen Alexandra's Nursing Corps, along with many

:11:40.:11:42.

colleagues from the Red Cross, they were given the task of caring for

:11:43.:11:46.

Allied casualties and for injured prisoners of war. We spoke to two

:11:47.:11:54.

remarkable ladies. Edwina Evans and Mary about their experiences of

:11:55.:11:56.

D-Day. As soon as I joined the Army nurses,

:11:57.:12:10.

we didn't have any nursing to do. They were just strengthening us

:12:11.:12:14.

so that once we landed in France, The locals called as the lady

:12:15.:12:17.

guerillas because of all our tin hats on and all our equipment

:12:18.:12:23.

on our backs and suchlike. As a Red Cross VAD, you had to do 64

:12:24.:12:26.

hours' voluntary service in a hospital so that when the war

:12:27.:12:29.

came, we were really sharpened up. And when we got ready

:12:30.:12:35.

for the invasion, we knew then that We were in this big vessel with

:12:36.:12:40.

a lot of troops. When we got to France, we had to

:12:41.:12:52.

climb over the side of this ship, got into the landing craft and were

:12:53.:12:56.

brought up onto the beaches. This is the English side

:12:57.:13:07.

of the Channel. Tank landing craft are brought

:13:08.:13:11.

the wounded to our southern ports. Anything that floated,

:13:12.:13:17.

they put patients on. We had them coming off tugs

:13:18.:13:20.

and everything. Then they were brought up to

:13:21.:13:22.

our hospital, We took in 3725 men in one day, and

:13:23.:13:24.

that was just the beginning of it. When we got finally to

:13:25.:13:33.

the old chateau that they took over, we hadn't been there long

:13:34.:13:36.

before casualties were coming in. And fortunately,

:13:37.:13:39.

we had some of the first big wards You got on until the work was

:13:40.:13:44.

done and all men were seen to. And you can go to sleep standing up,

:13:45.:13:53.

because I fell on top of a patient! We took it in turns to get a bit

:13:54.:14:00.

of sleep. Then when the bugle went -

:14:01.:14:04.

I can almost hear that now - If we'd gone to sleep, everybody

:14:05.:14:09.

had to get up and cope with the As soon as we got them operated on,

:14:10.:14:14.

we got them back to England straight away to leave space

:14:15.:14:21.

for the next lot coming in. We had a German brought in,

:14:22.:14:25.

and he was only about 19, I put my hand on his knee and then I

:14:26.:14:28.

realised he was going. So I put my hand under

:14:29.:14:36.

the pillow and brought And I think he tried to say auf

:14:37.:14:40.

wiedersehen, but of course, I thought, here is this young lad,

:14:41.:14:49.

in a strange country, You just get on with it

:14:50.:15:03.

and do the best you can for them to If you're busy doing that, you can't

:15:04.:15:11.

be weeping over things like that. You've got to get

:15:12.:15:16.

on with getting them better. You'd see an English chap

:15:17.:15:21.

holding the hand of a German. They might have been trying to kill

:15:22.:15:24.

one another a few hours beforehand, but now they are comforting one

:15:25.:15:28.

another, which shows you the futility of war,

:15:29.:15:32.

really, when you think about it. I wanted to nurse,

:15:33.:15:36.

and I was glad was able to do so, They were wet, sandy, dirty,

:15:37.:15:42.

wounded, tired, And you had to get right through all

:15:43.:15:50.

of that lot with a quiet smile and say, you're all right,

:15:51.:15:57.

Jack or Tommy. And you just squeezed

:15:58.:16:01.

their hand or gave them It was the small things then

:16:02.:16:07.

that were very important. In the weeks and months that

:16:08.:16:34.

followed, we had contributions. The act of caring for people who are

:16:35.:16:39.

injured and in fact staying with people who are in the process of

:16:40.:16:46.

losing their lives and, really, very moving testimony there. We have been

:16:47.:16:50.

joined by Dr Helen Fry, who has written several books on the Second

:16:51.:17:04.

World War and Eddie and James are with us, too. That's something I

:17:05.:17:13.

wanted to talk to you about. We do tend to think of women having

:17:14.:17:17.

traditional roles. What's rather pleasing is that historians are now

:17:18.:17:21.

uncovering the stories of women who are doing extraordinary stuff,

:17:22.:17:25.

including intelligence duties, if they had a knowledge of language,

:17:26.:17:32.

particular skills, they were involved. When you delve into their

:17:33.:17:38.

stories, they were doing highly top secret stuff. And also, of course,

:17:39.:17:44.

we know the women who were involved being dropped behind enemy lines or

:17:45.:17:48.

helping Allied pilots out of Europe. In England, too, there were women

:17:49.:17:53.

playing a vital contribution - it may be in Bomber Command. When you

:17:54.:18:00.

think in terms of factories and munitions - I know I had lots of

:18:01.:18:05.

letters last year from people in the Bridgend area in South Wales, where

:18:06.:18:10.

my grandmother is from. There was a big arsenal in Bridgend and many,

:18:11.:18:13.

many women, thousands, were employed there. They felt maybe the

:18:14.:18:19.

contribution played by women in places like that has not been

:18:20.:18:23.

properly recognised because that's just as much a part of the war

:18:24.:18:35.

effort as anything else? This year, the women are incredibly modest.

:18:36.:18:40.

There has been a shift in women beginning to claim what they did and

:18:41.:18:45.

to feel proud. They think that they have to be extraordinarily brave to

:18:46.:18:49.

be dropped behind enemy lines and to be recognised. I am really pleased

:18:50.:18:53.

to see this shift and it's long overdue. It's a nice thing for us to

:18:54.:18:59.

reflect on a day like this. We are seeing lots of parades, but it is a

:19:00.:19:03.

dimension that, in the past, we have not paid enough attention to?

:19:04.:19:07.

Throughout history, women have been written out of history. Women were

:19:08.:19:16.

ferrying the Spitfires and Hurricanes backwards and forward.

:19:17.:19:21.

Women can fight and if they were fighting for their country, they

:19:22.:19:25.

would go for it. If the Nazis had landed, British women would have

:19:26.:19:30.

gone for it. I was given a handbook that was given to GIs when they

:19:31.:19:35.

joined the war. It was written by someone who was English and

:19:36.:19:38.

American. He said, "Women have been in this war for some time." And he

:19:39.:19:45.

said, "No woman has ever left her post." That is an amazing record.

:19:46.:19:50.

That was written in this book. A brief thought, James. On the role of

:19:51.:19:58.

women and intelligence. That is something that's been slightly

:19:59.:20:02.

understated? Absolutely. The role is so wide. If you think that today's

:20:03.:20:08.

army is around 80,000 men. There were 467,000 women in the Armed

:20:09.:20:15.

Services alone on D-Day 1944. 1.6 million in various metal industries,

:20:16.:20:19.

most of whom were doing aircraft. Aircraft was a priority for

:20:20.:20:24.

manpower, which included womenpower, up to the spring of 1944. My step

:20:25.:20:31.

mother was SAS Brigade, she was brilliant at signals. She was doing

:20:32.:20:43.

that '44 and '45. Every year, the annual pilgrimage is a fixed

:20:44.:20:46.

commitment in the diaries of many people. Yes, veterans and their

:20:47.:20:50.

families and friends, but increasingly it is nice to see a new

:20:51.:20:55.

younger generation walking around, standing silently among the rows of

:20:56.:20:59.

headstones, realising that many of the fallen lost their lives before

:21:00.:21:03.

they had even reached the age of 20. We met three veterans who explained

:21:04.:21:08.

with great feeling why they returned to Normandy every year.

:21:09.:21:17.

I go back not because it is good to go back,

:21:18.:21:21.

but it's my duty as a veteran to go back and pay my respects.

:21:22.:21:30.

When I meet their graves, all the memories flood back to me.

:21:31.:21:38.

We all were willing to lay down our lives for each other, and

:21:39.:21:43.

for those who did die, in fact, we do owe them a duty of remembrance.

:21:44.:21:50.

While I was standing there, three young girls

:21:51.:21:59.

about eight years of age came up to me and they said, here, monsieur.

:22:00.:22:05.

And they gave me this card with all the hearts.

:22:06.:22:10.

And on it, it said, thank you for our freedom.

:22:11.:22:14.

When I see children do a thing like that, it was better than going up to

:22:15.:22:20.

the Queen and getting one of those golds.

:22:21.:22:23.

I look at that card, it came from children's hearts.

:22:24.:22:35.

I lost my best friend, Archie Ellis,

:22:36.:22:38.

The vehicle but he was in made it to the far bank when a shell

:22:39.:22:44.

Archie Ellis was killed along with two others who

:22:45.:22:51.

My vehicle was showered in shrapnel at the time.

:22:52.:22:56.

A bit came through my windscreen and grazed the side of my head

:22:57.:22:59.

and stuck in the rifle rack at the back of my head.

:23:00.:23:02.

That's the piece of shrapnel I've got today.

:23:03.:23:06.

Every year, I go with my group of veterans to the Ranville cemetery

:23:07.:23:09.

I place flowers at his grave as well as those of the two other

:23:10.:23:17.

I do wish that his family could know that we still look

:23:18.:23:25.

after his grave, knowing that someone still looks after him.

:23:26.:23:30.

I don't suppose there is a night I go to bed that I don't think

:23:31.:23:34.

As far as I'm concerned, time will never heal.

:23:35.:23:42.

When I walk through and look at these graves

:23:43.:23:45.

and see these unknown soldiers, the first thing that I do is place

:23:46.:23:51.

I'm a bit of a softhearted chap, I suppose.

:23:52.:24:11.

I lie in bed at night and start thinking and wondering whether this

:24:12.:24:18.

one is alive or that one is alive, people that were in the regiment.

:24:19.:24:23.

But I knew that once we got home I would probably never see them again.

:24:24.:24:36.

We were only kids. 19. Most of us 19.

:24:37.:24:40.

And your life is taken away from you at 19.

:24:41.:24:43.

Their lives live on in our memory, and our memories must never die.

:24:44.:24:47.

It must always be there, preserved forever.

:24:48.:24:51.

God willing, I will go as long as I can, whilst I'm able to.

:24:52.:24:56.

Myself and my two friends, in particular, we've made a pact

:24:57.:25:01.

The eternal commitment to remember and we couldn't put it more

:25:02.:25:18.

powerfully, could we? After lunch, we will have the big international

:25:19.:25:22.

event, lots of Heads of State and Government will be there. That is

:25:23.:25:25.

taking place in Ouistreham. Keeping an eye on the preparations there for

:25:26.:25:31.

us is Anita Rani. Preparations are well under way here. They have been

:25:32.:25:35.

for over a month. That's how long it's taken to erect this entire

:25:36.:25:40.

venue, which is the equivalent of 15 football pitches. 2,000 people have

:25:41.:25:45.

been involved. 500 military musicians alone. You can hear one of

:25:46.:25:51.

the bands playing behind me. 150 local schoolchildren and veterans

:25:52.:25:54.

have been arriving all morning. I have spoken to quite a few of them.

:25:55.:25:58.

A number have mentioned just how warmly they have been welcomed by

:25:59.:26:02.

the people of Normandy and are every single year. That is reflected here.

:26:03.:26:06.

2,000 seats have been set aside for them. What will happen next? We will

:26:07.:26:12.

be expecting the VIPs to begin arriving, hundreds are already

:26:13.:26:15.

arriving the streets. The Queen will take her seat. President Hollande

:26:16.:26:18.

will make a speech and the ceremony will begin. There is a real sense of

:26:19.:26:26.

occasion here. Occasion and expectation. That is

:26:27.:26:30.

all coming up. Eddie is still with me. Helen is still with me. And

:26:31.:26:35.

James, too. A quick few thoughts before we pause over the lunch

:26:36.:26:39.

break. Eddie, some thoughts on what the afternoon could bring,

:26:40.:26:43.

especially this final parade of the Normandy Veterans' Association?

:26:44.:26:46.

Well, I think it will be very moving. Everyone here understands

:26:47.:26:50.

it. There's people around the world who don't remember. We need to cope

:26:51.:26:52.

fighting for everyone to remember this so we do end up all getting on

:26:53.:26:56.

in the entire world. We have to make this entire world work. That will be

:26:57.:27:02.

moving. Five years later, there will still be, even if veterans have

:27:03.:27:14.

passed away and unfortunately - I think this will go on. Helen? I have

:27:15.:27:20.

been walking around chatting to some of the veterans. There's a sense of

:27:21.:27:25.

humility. They don't see themselves as having done something

:27:26.:27:28.

particularly brave. They are here with their families. James?

:27:29.:27:35.

Absolutely. I echo that. They are the survivors of that incredible

:27:36.:27:41.

moment in world history, not just in European history. The way they are

:27:42.:27:44.

being handled and treated is fabulous. They are being treated

:27:45.:27:49.

like film stars and football stars. Amen to that. We can all say amen to

:27:50.:28:06.

that. Lots more to come on this 70th Anniversary. Before all of that, we

:28:07.:28:10.

are going to take a little break. There is coverage on the Red Button.

:28:11.:28:16.

We will be back at 1.30pm here in Arromanches for what promises to be

:28:17.:28:19.

a memorable and, I think, a moving afternoon. Thank you for watching.

:28:20.:28:22.

See you later on. Goodbye for now.

:28:23.:28:26.

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