thrillerchild
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French President Francois Hollande has led the D-Day 70th anniversary tributes by remembering those who died on a day that "changed the world".
He attended a service near Bayeux with US President Barack Obama, who said the US commitment to liberty was "written in blood" on French beaches. The Queen laid a wreath at a ceremony nearby.
They will gather at Sword Beach, one of five landing points for Allied troops.
The landings were the first stage of the invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe.
By the end of D-Day on 6 June 1944, the Allies had established a foothold in France - an event that would eventually help bring the war to an end.
The Queen lays a wreath at a memorial service in Bayeux War Cemetery
The Queen and Prince Charles attended the Bayeux ceremony along with presidents Hollande and Obama
Military enthusiasts paid their respects to D-Day soldiers at Omaha Beach in Vierville-sur-Mer
US veterans including Morley Piper, 90, gathered at Omaha Beach on Friday morning
A piper played a lament as the Royal Marines arrive at Gold Beach, Arromanches
Presidents Francois Hollande and Barack Obama attend a ceremony at Colleville-sur-Mer
During his speech at a US war cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer near Bayeux, Mr Hollande said every man who took part in D-Day was a "hero".
He said France would never forget what it owed them, nor would it forget its solidarity with the US.
Also at Colleville-sur-Mer, President Obama said: "America's claim - our commitment to liberty, to equality, to freedom, to the inherent dignity of every human being - that claim is written in blood on these beaches, and it will endure for eternity,"
Speaking earlier in the city of Caen, President Hollande said: "This day, which began in chaos and fire, would end in blood and tears, tears and pain, tears and joy at the end of 24 hours that changed the world and forever marked Normandy."
The day's commemorations began at midnight with a vigil at Pegasus Bridge near Ouistreham, marking the first assault of the D-Day invasion when British soldiers began the first Allied action of the campaign.
At 00:16 on 6 June 1944, six Horsa gliders carrying 181 men from the Glider Pilot Regiment and the 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, landed silently to capture the strategically-vital bridge and another nearby.
Heads of state, including the Queen, Mr Hollande, US President Barack Obama and Russia's Vladimir Putin will meet at Ouistreham - the beach codenamed Sword. Around 650 UK veterans are also expected to gather there.
Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall attended a Royal British Legion service at Bayeux Cathedral.
In other events:
At the Royal British Legion service, national chaplain, the Right Reverend Nigel McCulloch, said: "What you achieved here in Normandy and beyond validated the sacrifices made earlier in the war by thousands who, like my father, were killed in action".
He added that the "self-concern and love for others" shown by those involved in D-Day "is the route of human justice, freedom and peace".
In a reading at the cathedral, Brigadier David Baines MBE spoke of men who died "with no memorial".
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This is a thread for reflection on a war which took the lives of millions and to the brave young (and older!) men who took to the beaches on this day back on 6th June 1944. I mean boys as young as 15 were fighting in this damned war!
Do any of you have family who fought in the war or even took part in this moment that changed the outcome of World War II?
He attended a service near Bayeux with US President Barack Obama, who said the US commitment to liberty was "written in blood" on French beaches. The Queen laid a wreath at a ceremony nearby.
They will gather at Sword Beach, one of five landing points for Allied troops.
The landings were the first stage of the invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe.
By the end of D-Day on 6 June 1944, the Allies had established a foothold in France - an event that would eventually help bring the war to an end.
The Queen lays a wreath at a memorial service in Bayeux War Cemetery
The Queen and Prince Charles attended the Bayeux ceremony along with presidents Hollande and Obama
Military enthusiasts paid their respects to D-Day soldiers at Omaha Beach in Vierville-sur-Mer
US veterans including Morley Piper, 90, gathered at Omaha Beach on Friday morning
A piper played a lament as the Royal Marines arrive at Gold Beach, Arromanches
Presidents Francois Hollande and Barack Obama attend a ceremony at Colleville-sur-Mer
During his speech at a US war cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer near Bayeux, Mr Hollande said every man who took part in D-Day was a "hero".
He said France would never forget what it owed them, nor would it forget its solidarity with the US.
Also at Colleville-sur-Mer, President Obama said: "America's claim - our commitment to liberty, to equality, to freedom, to the inherent dignity of every human being - that claim is written in blood on these beaches, and it will endure for eternity,"
Speaking earlier in the city of Caen, President Hollande said: "This day, which began in chaos and fire, would end in blood and tears, tears and pain, tears and joy at the end of 24 hours that changed the world and forever marked Normandy."
The day's commemorations began at midnight with a vigil at Pegasus Bridge near Ouistreham, marking the first assault of the D-Day invasion when British soldiers began the first Allied action of the campaign.
At 00:16 on 6 June 1944, six Horsa gliders carrying 181 men from the Glider Pilot Regiment and the 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, landed silently to capture the strategically-vital bridge and another nearby.
Heads of state, including the Queen, Mr Hollande, US President Barack Obama and Russia's Vladimir Putin will meet at Ouistreham - the beach codenamed Sword. Around 650 UK veterans are also expected to gather there.
Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall attended a Royal British Legion service at Bayeux Cathedral.
In other events:
- US President Barack Obama visited Colleville-sur-Mer, where 9,387 US service personnel are buried in a war cemetery
- French President Francois Hollande was in Caen, honouring civilians killed during the fighting, many of them by Allied bombing raids
- A flotilla led by HMS Bulwark sailed from Portsmouth to Normandy with four vessels from other countries
- Prince Charles and The Duchess of Cornwall will attend a remembrance ceremony at the Juno Beach Centre, Courseulles-sur-Mer, to commemorate Canada's role in the Normandy landings
- The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are to attend a veterans' tea party in Arromanches
At the Royal British Legion service, national chaplain, the Right Reverend Nigel McCulloch, said: "What you achieved here in Normandy and beyond validated the sacrifices made earlier in the war by thousands who, like my father, were killed in action".
He added that the "self-concern and love for others" shown by those involved in D-Day "is the route of human justice, freedom and peace".
In a reading at the cathedral, Brigadier David Baines MBE spoke of men who died "with no memorial".
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a thread for reflection on a war which took the lives of millions and to the brave young (and older!) men who took to the beaches on this day back on 6th June 1944. I mean boys as young as 15 were fighting in this damned war!
Do any of you have family who fought in the war or even took part in this moment that changed the outcome of World War II?
