#DDay77
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On this day, the 6th June, in 1944, over 150,000 troops of allied forces stormed the beaches in Normandy, launching Operation Overlord, which began the process through which victory was eventually achieved.
To mark the 77th anniversary of the D-Day Landings, which is considered the largest land, air and naval operation in history, The Prince of Wales sent a pre-recorded message for the live broadcast opening of the British Normandy Memorial.
His Royal Highness, as Patron of the Normandy Memorial Trust, said:
I know just how much our incomparable Veterans had hoped to be in Normandy today to see their Memorial for themselves. Despite having to watch via satellite link, this in no way obscures the enormous regard, and admiration, in which we hold our veterans or diminishes our debt of gratitude to the more than 22,000 men and women whose names are now permanently inscribed in stone in this place of honour above Gold Beach.
The Memorial is located on a hillside in Ver-sur-Mer above Gold Beach in Normandy and records the names of 22,442 servicemen and women under British command who fell on D-Day and during the Battle of Normandy in the summer of 1944.
The opening was live-streamed to the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire where more than 500 Normandy veterans, their families and relatives of the Fallen came together. A recording is now available to watch on the British Normandy Memorial and Royal British Legion websites.
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