Veterans gather to remember D-Day
Thousands of veterans are attending ceremonies across Normandy to mark the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings.
The Normandy Veterans Association, for whom the occasion marks the last visit to France as a group, will attend a service and parade at Colleville-Montgomery.
There will be a mass drop of British parachutists at the Pegasus Memorial in Ranville. Some members of the Normandy Veterans Association will visit Pegasus Bridge to remember the allied glider landings and parachute drops that took place in the early hours of D-Day.
The Royal British Legion, schoolchildren and veterans will lay a wreath at Bayeux International War Cemetery.
Around 80 children from schools in London and the South East will then plant flags in a beach which have been sent with messages of thanks.
They will also meet D-Day veterans to hear their stories about the bloody day, which the latest research suggests ended with the deaths of over 4,000 allies.
The day will end with a midnight vigil attended by Chief of General Staff General Sir Richard Dannatt at Pegasus Bridge, Ranville.
US president Barack Obama, Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the Prince of Wales will mark the anniversary of the day of the invasion, June 6 1944, at ceremonies on Saturday in Bayeux Cathedral and the American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer.
