69th Anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, France
Normandy Veterans gathered at Bayeux War Cemetery in France, for a remembrance and wreath laying ceremony to commemorate the 69th anniversary of the D-Day landings. Across Normandy several hundred of the surviving veterans of the Normandy campaign assembled to commemorate the D-Day landings which eventually led to the Allied liberation of France in 1944. Next year, which will mark the 70th anniversary of the landings, is widely expected to be the last time that the veterans will gather in any great number.
- Normandy Veteran, sapper John Buchanan Smith, 91, poses for a photograph at a remembrance and wreath laying ceremony to commemorate the start of the D-Day landings at Bayeux War Cemetery. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
- French Junior Minister for Veterans Kader Arif (C) lays a wreath in honour of Canadian World War II soldiers as he takes part in a ceremony at the Juno Beach centre in Courseulles-sur-Mer. (Thomas Bregardis/Getty Images)
- Canadian World War II veterans discuss during a ceremony at the Juno Beach centre in Courseulles-sur-Mer during the commemoration of the 69th anniversary of the D-Day landing in Normandy. (Thomas Bregardis/Getty Images)
- Canadian Junior Minister for Veterans Eve Adams (R) greets a Canadian World War II veteran as she takes part in a ceremony at the Juno Beach centre in Courseulles-sur-Mer. (Thomas Bregardis/Getty Images)
- A man dressed as a World War II soldier walks with a bicycle along Juno Beach in Courseulles-sur-Mer during the commemoration of the 69th anniversary of the D-Day landing in Normandy. As part of D-Day commemorations, a ceremony was held in Courseulles-sur-Mer to mark the 10 year anniversary of the June Beach centre in Courseulles-sur-Mer, Canada’s Second World War museum in Normandy. On June 6 1944, American, British, and Canadian troops launched an assault on Nazi German forces which were occupying the northern French coast, in a battle which marked the beginning of the liberation of France and the victory of allied forces over Nazi Germany in the Second World War. (Thomas Bregardis/Getty Images)
- Normandy Veteran 90-year-old Eric Reedman attends a remembrance and wreath laying ceremony to commemorate the start of the D-Day landings at Bayeux War Cemetery on June 6, 2013 in Bayeux, France. Across Normandy several hundred of the surviving veterans of the Normandy campaign are gathering to commemorate the 69th anniversary of the D-Day landings which eventually led to the Allied liberation of France in 1944. Next year, which will mark the 70th anniversary of the landings, is widely expected to be the last time that the veterans will gather in any great number. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
- Normandy Veteran, Major Edwin Hunt, looks at the headstones of fallen comrades at a remembrance and wreath laying ceremony to commemorate the start of the D-Day landings at Bayeux War Cemetery. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
- A Normandy Veteran, stands in the shade at a remembrance and wreath laying ceremony to commemorate the start of the D-Day landings at Bayeux War Cemetery in Bayeux, France. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
- Normandy Veterans attend a remembrance and wreath laying ceremony to commemorate the start of the D-Day landings at Bayeux War Cemetery. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
- Serving soldiers look at the headstones at a remembrance and wreath laying ceremony to commemorate the start of the D-Day landings at Bayeux War Cemetery in Bayeux, France. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
- A Normandy Veteran looks at the headstones of fallen comrades at a remembrance and wreath laying ceremony to commemorate the start of the D-Day landings at Bayeux War Cemetery in Bayeux, France. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
- Normandy Veteran 90-year-old Bob Barker looks at the headstones of fallen comrades at a remembrance and wreath laying ceremony to commemorate the start of the D-Day landings at Bayeux War Cemetery. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
- Normandy veteran Douglas Baines, 89, (who was a paratrooper dropped into Normandy in the early hours of D-Day) poses for a photograph as he visits the Pegasus Bridge Memorial Museum. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
- Two Normandy Veterans clasp hands at a remembrance and wreath laying ceremony to commemorate the start of the D-Day landings at Bayeux War Cemetery. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
- Normandy Veterans, attend a remembrance and wreath laying ceremony to commemorate the start of the D-Day landings at Bayeux War Cemetery. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
- Normandy Veteran 90-year-old Eric Gibbons looks at the headstones of fallen comrades at a remembrance and wreath laying ceremony to commemorate the start of the D-Day landings at Bayeux War Cemetery in Bayeux, France. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
- Normandy Veteran 90-year-old Jim Kelly, (a Royal Marine who landed on Sword Beach on D-Day) carries a wreath at a remembrance and wreath laying ceremony to commemorate the start of the D-Day landings at Bayeux War Cemetery. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
- A Normandy Veteran looks at the headstones of fallen comrades at a remembrance and wreath laying ceremony to commemorate the start of the D-Day landings at Bayeux War Cemetery in Bayeux, France. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
- A visitor to Bayeux War Cemetery looks at the headstones for British servicemen that were killed during the Normandy campaign at a remembrance and wreath laying ceremony to commemorate the start of the D-Day landings in Bayeux, France. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
- Normandy Veteran Reg Burge looks at the headstone of a fallen comrade at a remembrance and wreath laying ceremony to commemorate the start of the D-Day landings at Bayeux War Cemetery in Bayeux, France. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
- Normandy Veteran 90-year-old Eric Gibbons looks at the headstones of fallen comrades at a remembrance and wreath laying ceremony to commemorate the start of the D-Day landings at Bayeux War Cemetery in Bayeux, France. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
- People dressed in Second World War uniforms sit on a tank close to the Pegasus Bridge Memorial Museum near Caen, France. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
- Normandy veteran Douglas Baines, 89, (who was a paratrooper dropped into Normandy in the early hours of D-Day) smokes a cigarette. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
- A man dressed as a British Second World War soldier leaves a tent at the Merville Gun Battery near Caen, France. Across Normandy several hundred of the surviving veterans of the Normandy campaign are gathering to commemorate the 69th anniversary of the D-Day landings which eventually led to the Allied liberation of France in 1944. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)