Next week’s commemorations of the 80th anniversary of the Normandy Landings on 6 June 1944 will be marked in Norwich with a ceremony at the War Memorial in front of City Hall.
Lord Mayor of Norwich Councillor Vivien Thomas, Sheriff of Norwich Sirajul Islam and the Vice Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk Michael Gurney will join with veterans at the memorial for a service led by Revd Naomi Tuma from St Peter Mancroft Church.
The event will begin at 10.45am on Thursday 6 June, with the service and wreaths being laid at the memorial before the lowering of the standards as the Last Post is played.
This will be followed by the National two-minute silence at 11am. After this, the bugler will play the Reveille.
Throughout the day, the D-Day 80th anniversary commemorative flag will fly above City Hall.
The road in front of City Hall will be closed from 10am until 12 noon.
Also known as D-Day, the Normandy Landings saw the Allied Forces of the Second World War mount a large-scale invasion of Nazi-occupied France. It was the largest seaborne invasion in history and, along with their associated airborne operations, ultimately tipped the course of the war and marked the beginning of the liberation of France and Western Europe.
Commemoration events will be taking place in Portsmouth (the launch pad for the invasion), the British Normandy Memorial at Ver-sur-Mer in France, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's at Bayeux War Cemetery and the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.
Lord Mayor of Norwich Councillor Vivien Thomas said: “We’re proud to represent the people of Norwich as we gather on June 6 to honour the service and sacrifice of so many brave people who battled through the D-Day Landings and those who lost their lives on the Normandy beaches. It is a debt we can never fully repay, and we wholeheartedly thank them for the gift of freedom they won for us on that day.”
The Sheriff of Norwich Sirajul Islam said: “It is fitting that we pay tribute on this 80th anniversary to those who paid a high price to secure the liberation of Europe. The invasion claimed so many young lives and we must never forget the sacrifices that were made to ensure we could live in peace.”
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