TRIBUTES were paid to those who took part in D-Day during the Second World War, promising to "always remember" the sacrifices made by the Allied soldiers who invaded France by sea and air to drive out the forces of Nazi Germany.
With guests waving British flags, appearances from veterans, recollections and readings - and some tears in Queen Camilla's eyes - the ceremony took place in Portsmouth on Wednesday (5), the main departure point for the 5,000 ships that headed to Normandy for the June 6, 1944, operation.
"Today we come together to honour those nearly 160,000 British, Commonwealth and Allied troops who, on 5th June 1944, assembled here and along these shores to embark on the mission which would strike that blow for freedom and be recorded as the greatest amphibious operation in history," King Charles said.
"So, as we give thanks for all those who gave so much to win the victory, whose fruits we still enjoy to this day, let us, once again, commit ourselves always to remember, cherish and honour those who served that day and to live up to the freedom they died for."
About 4,400 Allied troops died on D-Day.
"We will always remember those who served and those who waved them off," Prince William said. "The mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters who watched their loved ones go into battle, unsure if they would ever return."
An emotional letter written to his wife by a soldier killed the day after D-Day was read out.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak read out the message from General Bernard Montgomery, commander of the Allied forces on D-Day, which was delivered to all troops ahead of the invasion.
Meanwhile in France, where the main ceremonies will take place on Thursday with world leaders including US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, thousands of tourists could be seen alongside the D-Day beaches and visiting World War II cemeteries.
Collectors drove army jeeps, and US, Canadian, British and French flags adorned buildings.
"It's very important not to forget this sacrifice," British tourist Daniel Reeves, 27, said as he visited the US war cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer earlier this week.
It's "absolutely amazing and extremely emotional, especially when you see them, the veterans, and they say: Thank you my friend," said British visitor Karen Swinger.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who paid tribute to French resistance fighters in Brittany earlier in the day, will later take part in a ceremony in Saint-Lo, Normandy, which was almost entirely destroyed by Allied bombardments as part of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy.
"This trauma turned our city into the 'capital of the ruins', as playwright Samuel Beckett wrote," the city's mayor, Emmanuelle Lejeune, told Reuters. The city of 12,000 people at the time was 90 per cent destroyed.
UK veterans sail for Normandy
Eight decades after Allied forces landed on the beaches of German-occupied France, a group of British veterans made the journey again - crossing the English Channel to mark the anniversary of D-Day.
John Mines, 99, was amongst the first wave of soldiers to go ashore in Normandy as part of the biggest naval operation ever in terms of the number of ships deployed and the troops involved.
By the end of what became known as "the longest day", 156,000 Allied troops with 20,000 vehicles had landed in Nazi-occupied northern France despite facing a hail of bullets, artillery and aircraft fire.
"If I could go again, I would go again. I'm glad we sacrificed so that others (could) have a good life," told AFP. "It wasn't me, they're all heroes."
Mines is one of 29 D-Day veterans - 20 from the Royal British Legion and nine from the Spirit of Normandy Trust organisations - who boarded a ferry Tuesday in England's Portsmouth bound for Ouistreham on the French side of the Channel.
Nearly 80 years ago, soldiers made the same journey on June 6, 1944 for the operation which became known as D-Day.
Three months before the launch of D-Day, Mines was called up for military service at 19.
"I got picked because of my surname!" he said.
Mines's first mission, along with other soldiers, was to clear Gold Beach of its hazards.
"I was lucky, very very lucky," Mines said facing the Channel - where so many of his fellow soldiers were killed.
"If you got caught off by a machine gun you were cut in two pieces. A mate of mine that came ashore with me died like that soon after we landed," he added.
'Pay their respects'
Walking onto the deck of the vessel under a greyish sky, the veterans, of which several are over 100-years-old, were greeted by bagpipers.
Passengers on the upper deck paid their respects to the group of former soldiers.
As the D-Day survivors departed the ferry, two fireboats sprayed water at the boat while warships docked at the military base sounded sirens with their personnel standing to attention.
A Royal Air Force A400M made several overflights to mark the occasion.
"Making sure that they can pay their respects to their comrades is our primary purpose and make sure the legacy of what they did in 1944 will not be forgotten," said Mark Waring, the vice-president of the Spirit of Normandy Trust.
'Too painful'
During the ceremony, a wreath was thrown overboard by two veterans to the sound of an orchestra - which left some spectators in tears.
Joyce Cooper, the 70-year-old daughter of a D-Day veteran, told AFP that her father didn't want to go to war but was sent draft papers in 1942 when he was 18.
"My father Alan landed in a floating tank on Sword Beach in Lion-sur-Mer, they had been told they had one hour to live," she said, adding that her father's tank commander died in his arms during the Battle of Normandy.
"He didn't talk about it till he was forty. He couldn't. It was too painful, really painful. He really suffered inside," she said. (Agencies)
