06-Jun-2025
D-Day 81 at the Memorial
On 6 June 2025, the 81st anniversary of the D-Day Landings, the Normandy Memorial Trust hosted a Ceremony of Remembrance in partnership with The Spirit of Normandy Trust.
Nine Veterans attended alongside the Defence Secretary John Healey, British Ambassador to France Menna Rawlings, Chairman of the Normandy Memorial Trust Lord Dannatt, and Honorary President Lord Ricketts. The Merseyside branch of the RAF Air Cadets and the Jedburgh Pipe Band also took part in the ceremony.
Information on visiting the Memorial this summer
The Trust continues to publish stories of the fallen, bringing to life the names inscribed on the columns of the Memorial. For D-Day 81, three new stories have been published. Find out more.
Below is a short video of the anniversary commemorations, created by The Spirit of Normandy Trust.
(Pictures: British Normandy Memorial / Florence Marsac)
Sunrise over Gold Beach on the morning of D-Day 81
Chairman Lord Dannatt opens the ceremony with a welcome speech
Normandy Veteran Ken Hay reading the Exhortation
Left to right: John Dennett, Ken Hay, Henry Rice, Jim Grant, Ken Benbow
Defence Secretary John Healey meets Lord Ricketts
Defence Secretary meets Normandy Veteran Gilbert Clarke
Defence Secretary meets D-Day Veteran Richard Brock
D-Day Veteran Ken Benbow meets local schoolchildren
Normandy Veteran Ken Hay meets local schoolchildren
On 5 June, the eve of D-Day 81 US Second World War Veterans visited the Memorial with Best Defense Foundation.
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