D-Day veterans gather in Normandy to mark 81st anniversary of historic landing

Published connected 06/06/2025 - 14:20 GMT+2•Updated 14:25

D-Day veterans gathered successful Normandy connected Friday to people nan 81st day of nan pivotal subject landing successful World War II.

Along nan coastline and adjacent nan D-Day landing beaches, tens of thousands of onlookers attended nan commemorations, which included parachute jumps, flyovers, remembrance ceremonies, parades, and humanities reenactments.

Many were location to cheer nan ever-dwindling number of surviving veterans successful their precocious 90s and older. All remembered nan thousands who died.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth commemorated nan day of nan D-Day landings, successful which US soldiers played a awesome role, pinch veterans astatine nan American Cemetery overlooking nan statement successful nan colony of Colleville-sur-Mer.

On 6 June 1944, nan D-Day penetration of Nazi-occupied France represented nan largest-ever armada of ships, troops, planes and vehicles to breach Nazi leader Adolf Hitler’s defences successful occidental Europe. A full of 4,414 Allied troops were killed connected D-Day itself.

In nan ensuing Battle of Normandy, 73,000 Allied forces were killed and 153,000 wounded. The conflict — and particularly Allied bombings of French villages and cities — killed astir 20,000 French civilians betwixt June and August 1944.

The nonstop German casualties are unknown, but historians estimate betwixt 4,000 and 9,000 men were killed, wounded aliases missing during nan D-Day penetration alone.

“The heroism, honour and sacrifice of nan Allied forces connected D-Day will ever resonate pinch nan US Armed Forces and our Allies and partners crossed Europe,” said Lt Gen Jason T Hinds, lawman commandant of US Air Forces successful Europe – Air Forces Africa. “So fto america retrieve those who flew and fell."

"Let america honour those who survived and came location to build a amended world. And fto america guarantee that their sacrifice was not successful vain by gathering today’s challenges pinch nan aforesaid resolve, nan aforesaid clarity of purpose, and nan aforesaid committedness to freedom.”

Nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed connected D-Day.

Of 160,000 troops landing successful Normandy connected D-Day, 73,000 were from nan US and 83,000 from nan UK and Canada. Forces from respective different countries took portion successful nan fighting, including French troops nether General Charles de Gaulle. The Allies faced astir 50,000 German forces.

More than 2 cardinal Allied soldiers, sailors, pilots, medics and different group from a twelve countries were progressive successful nan wide Operation Overlord, nan conflict to wrest occidental France from Nazi power that started connected D-Day.