D-Day 70th anniversary ceremony held in Portsmouth

BBC,, 5 June 2014 Last updated at 11:45 GMT

Soldiers walking in a wide line up a beach

The landing was staged as part of the D-Day 70th anniversary commemorations

Hundreds of veterans and serving soldiers have gathered in Portsmouth to mark the 70th anniversary of D-Day.The Princess Royal attended the event in the city, where exactly 70 years earlier troops were preparing to invade Nazi-occupied France.Events are being held in the UK and France, and later HMS Bulwark will take veterans from Portsmouth to Normandy.

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In Southsea, the Royal Marines and Royal Navy have staged an amphibious assault demonstration on the beach.
World leaders will attend an event at Sword Beach in France on Friday, where 650 UK veterans are also expected.
The Prince of Wales is attending a memorial service in France on Thursday to mark the taking of the strategic Pegasus Bridge.
The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh will mark the D-Day anniversary during a state visit to France which begins later in Paris.

At the scene By Jane Peel, BBC News, in Arromanches, Normandy

A member of the Normandy Veterans Association views headstones at Jerusalem Cemetery in Chouain, France, on 4 June 2014 at a commemorative ceremony to mark 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings

Hundreds of British veterans are already in Normandy for the commemorations

The towns may have French names, but the five Allied landing beaches are still known as Utah, Omaha, Juno, Gold and Sword.

“Start Quote

I was 20 the next day and I didn't think I'd see 20”

Charlie Stretch

It is 70 years since D-Day, the biggest amphibious assault in military history.

Prince Charles has laid a wreath at Pegasus Bridge, a strategic crossing which British troops captured within minutes of landing in gliders just after midnight on 6 June 1944. A mass parachute drop will take place in Ranville, the first village to be liberated.
On the anniversary itself, the Queen will head an international service of commemoration attended by royals, presidents and prime ministers.
Hundreds of veterans are here, but their numbers are dwindling. The youngest are well into their 80s. This will be the last significant anniversary most will witness.
Their stories of heroism and sacrifice, success and disaster will soon fade from living memory.
An emotional 88-year-old Sapper Harry Billinge said: "It was a killing field. I hope they will not forget the poor devils that died here."

Soldiers running off an amphibious vehicle

The Royal Marines and Royal Navy staged an amphibious invasion in Southsea

Troops lined up for the D-Day parade in Portsmouth.

Navy veteran Charlie Stretch said D-Day was his last day as a teenager.

"I was 20 the next day and I didn't think I'd see 20," he said.
"In the navy you didn't get your tot [of rum] until you were 20 so I thought I'd go without having tasted rum."
Fellow veteran Les Reeves said the commemorations were in honour of "the lads that never saw the White Cliffs [of Dover]" after crossing the Channel for the invasion.
Dougle Morton, who was 23 on D-Day and landed on Sword Beach, said he was among a group of soldiers locked in a "prison camp" in Hastings before the invasion as Allied commanders tried to keep their plans secret.
He said he remembered playing cards during the crossing and, asked what he felt about being part of such a massive operation, he said: "We had a job to do and we did it."

A paratrooper lands on Sword Beach in Ouistreham, northern France

A US military plane flies over a US-German D-Day commemoration ceremony in France

Pipers pass Cafe Gondree, the Pegasus Bridge Cafe, the first house in France to be liberated on D-Day

A remembrance ceremony at Pegasus Bridge memorial

A remembrance ceremony is being held at Pegasus Bridge memorial in Benouville, France.

About 160,000 Allied troops crossed the English Channel in the initial D-Day assault on 6 June 1944, paving the way for the defeat of Nazi Germany.

Allied leaders planned the attack from Southwick House, just north of Portsmouth, which was the main departure point for troops heading to Sword Beach.
The city marked that history with a ceremony earlier.
In a message in the order of service, Princess Anne wrote that this year was "particularly poignant because it will be one of the last milestones on which there will be sizeable numbers of veterans who were there on the day".
On the other side of the Channel, parachutists have landed on Sword Beach as part of the commemorations.
Later, the Red Arrows will give a display over Portsmouth.
On Thursday evening, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra will pay tribute to the veterans.
HMS Bulwark is due to set sail at 18:00 BST with four vessels from other countries.
Heads of state from 17 nations are to attend the international ceremony at Sword Beach on Friday, the easternmost of the five landing sites.

HMS Bulwark will be part of a flotilla heading to France from Portsmouth

The taking of Pegasus Bridge near to the French city of Caen by British paratroopers and glider-borne troops was a major triumph for the Allies in the early stages of D-Day.

The Prince of Wales laid his wreath at the glider pilot memorial and meet veterans. They will both also attend the main international event on Friday.
But the Normandy Veterans' Association says its numbers have fallen to around 600 from about 15,000 and has announced it will disband in November.

What was D-Day?

A landing barge, tightly packed with helmeted soldiers, approaches the shore at Normandy, France, on D-Day.

On 6 June 1944, British, US and Canadian forces invaded the coast of northern France in Normandy.

The landings were the first stage of Operation Overlord - the invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe - and were intended to bring World War Two to an end.
Portsmouth's D-Day Museum says an estimated 2,500 Allied troops died on the day of the invasion.
By the end of D-Day, the Allies had established a foothold in France. Within 11 months Nazi Germany was defeated.