D-Day veterans gather for 82nd anniversary of Normandy landings amid poignant commemorations by French schoolchildren and the grandson of Field Marshal Montgomery

Published: 11:43, 6 June 2026 | Updated: 11:55, 6 June 2026 Veterans have gathered for the 82nd Anniversary of the Normandy landings as French children and the grandson of Field Marshal Montgomery take part in poignant commemorations. Today in 1944, on a cool, cloudy June morning, nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed on beaches across Normandy to carry out the largest seaborne invasion in history. Their brave actions began the liberation of Nazi-occupied France and turned the tide of the Second World War that would eventually lead to the defeat of Hitler's forces in 1945. To mark the occasion, serving military personnel, the grandson of British Commander Field Marshal Montgomery, pipers from the Jedburgh Pipe Band as well as school children took part in a march across Juno Beach. The walk coincided with H-hour - the time at which British servicemen were deployed. Veterans who lost friends on the very same beaches have also made the journey to France and will be attending the annual Ceremony of Remembrance at the British Normandy Memorial.  A line-up of veterans were sat front and centre of the ceremony, ahead of military and political representatives of the UK, including Defence Secretary John Healey. The sun pierced through intermittent rain clouds as 100-year-old veteran Ken Hay stood to pronounce the remembrance poem, before observing a minute of silence. D-Day veterans Richard Brock with (front row left to right) Ken Hay, Henry Rice and Ken Benbow at the British Normandy Memorial today to mark the 82nd anniversary of the Normandy Landings  The Jedburgh Pipe Band lead walkers, including French schoolchildren, across Juno beach to commemorate the poignant anniversary  This year's anniversary is an extra special one as it is the first to take place since nearly 100 more names were added to the memorial.  One such person is Cecil Green who was mortally wounded in Normandy, but his death in a British hospital meant he had not been formally commemorated. His son John Green is in Normandy to mark the occasion.  He told the BBC: 'I was really pleased, I cried... It's a strange mixture of being glad and happy and sad at the same time.' Mr Hay said: 'To most people coming here they're just a series of names. 'To people like myself, they're people, I can see their faces.'  This year the smallest number of Normandy veterans will attend the ceremony since the memorial opened in 2021, with only six confirmed.  Nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed on June 6 1944 to fight Nazi-occupied France. While the exact number of German casualties is unknown, historians estimate between 4,000 and 9,000 men were killed, wounded or missing. Veteran Ken Hay (centre)  stood to pronounce the remembrance poem, before observing a minute of silence Defence Secretary John Healey lays a wreath during the ceremony at the British Normandy Memorial John Green the son of Cecil Green, stands in front of his father's name inscribed on the memorial. His father was mortally wounded in Normandy, but his death in a British hospital meant he had not been formally commemorated On the Allied front, a total of 4,414 died. The Battle of Normandy, which followed the landings, saw 73,000 Allied lives lost with 153,000 men wounded.  Later Field Marshal Montgomery's grandson Henry Montgomery is set to complete the final day of his journey 'In Monty's Footsteps' by walking more than 22km across Sword, Juno and Gold beaches – at the very time the first troops landed. Each step of his two-month journey across Britain and north-western France honoured the lives of more than 22,000 men and women whose names are engraved on the British Normandy Memorial. He is joined by Will Ramsay, grandson of Admiral Ramsay, Commander-in-Chief of the Naval Forces on D-Day. The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.