80th Anniversary of D-Day Commemorated with Parachute Re-enactment and Flypasts
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will lead tributes for the 80th anniversary of D-Day with events in Portsmouth and Normandy on June 5 and 6. Key events will include a large-scale parachute re-enactment in Normandy, where hundreds of Armed Forces personnel will recreate the historic D-Day drop. Additionally, a Battle of Britain Memorial Flight flypast will take place on June 3 with schoolchildren and veterans participating.
In Portsmouth, a national commemorative event will feature testimonies from veterans, performances by a 79-piece military orchestra, a 25-strong choir, Royal Marine drummers, and a guard of honour. A light show will be the highlight of the June 5 events.
In France, a joint UK-French thanksgiving service will be held at Bayeux Cathedral, and a vigil at Bayeux War Cemetery will include the reading of the names of the 25,000 fallen. Defence Secretary Grant Shapps will join the veterans to mark the occasion. The UK’s national commemorative event at the British Normandy Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer will conclude with a two-minute silence and a flypast by the Red Arrows.
The Ministry of Defence announced these events to honour the soldiers, including a torch relay led by the Prime Minister, which will be part of a light show at Bayeux War Cemetery. D-Day, codenamed Operation Neptune, was the largest amphibious invasion in history and marked a turning point in World War II.