D-Day veterans have marched back to Normandy's beaches and villages in an emotional return to mark 70 years since the launch of the biggest amphibious invasion in military history.
Royals, top brass and some 20 world leaders, including US President Barack Obama and Russia's Vladimir Putin, will attend the main D-Day ceremony on Friday, with the diplomatic wrangling over the Ukraine crisis acting as an awkward undercurrent to proceedings.
Security is high ahead of the service and the area is "crawling" with police officers.
"It's already on lockdown here at Westerham, which is where the main service is going to be held," 3 News Europe Correspondent Melissa Davies said on Firstline this morning.
Around 650 D-Day veterans will be in Normandy for the service. They will be joined by more than 400,000 members of the public, 3000 journalists and 17 world leaders.
"It's not going to be a traditional commemorative service, there are also some modern twists in there," Ms Davis said. "We've seen them practising some interpretive dance; it looks like it's going to be a very special and very moving service indeed."
Nine New Zealand veterans will be in attendance. No New Zealand units were among the 75,000 Allied troops that landed on the Normandy beaches, but some Kiwis were attached to British troops that landed and many were involved in the air and sea assaults.
Today the New Zealand veterans have been in Ranville watching a parachute drop and tomorrow they will visit the Bayeux cathedral and cemetery before the main ceremony.
On the eve of the anniversary, the spotlight was firmly on those who risked their lives to liberate Europe from Nazism, most of whom are now in their 90s and are marking the occasion for probably the last time.
One of them, Ernest "Ernie" Stringer, spoke of his terror as he piled out of a low-flying military aircraft in pitch darkness.
"It was dark and the planes were coming in very low. We were out and on the ground very quickly," Stringer, who was only 19 on the day, told AFP.
"I was dead scared. You don't know what's going to happen to you. You are jumping blind. You don't know where the Germans are," he said.
Many of those who jumped before him were not so lucky. Several died on impact, not having time to open their chutes as the planes were flying so low.
More than 156,000 troops waded or parachuted onto French soil on June 6, 1944 and nearly 4500 would be dead by the end of the day.
As colonel-in-chief of the parachute regiment, Britain's Prince Charles led the tributes to men like Stringer who took part in the first wave, when thousands of Allied troops flew or parachuted in during the early hours of that day, catching the German army by surprise.
Wearing a field marshal's uniform, the heir to the British throne chatted at length to veterans, many of whom were confined to wheelchairs, along with his wife Camilla, who was wearing a grey-blue overcoat.
In the naval base of Portsmouth, in southern England, the departure point for troops heading to Swords Beach, some 80 veterans watched an amphibious vehicle roar off a landing craft onto a beach.
Later on Thursday, a flotilla of ships was due to depart Portsmouth in commemoration of the nearly 7000 vessels that took part in the invasion.
US, French and Dutch soldiers will also take part at an evening ceremony at Utah beach, on the western edge of the invasion site and there will be fireworks along the coast to mark the first bombing raids.
On Friday, Queen Elizabeth and Obama are among the world leaders attending the international ceremony of remembrance on the beach at Ouistreham.
AFP/3 News
source: newshub archive
