More than 400 multinational paratroopers jumped into Normandy on 5 June in a unique tribute to the soldiers who parachuted in on D-Day.

The 8,500 British and Canadian soldiers of 6th Airborne Division were the first Allied troops to land by glider and parachute in France in the early hours of 6th June 1944, tasked to secure the eastern flank of the invasion beaches. 80 years later, British, Belgian, Canadian and US paratroopers jumped onto fields at Sannerville, which in 1944 were designated as Drop Zone ‘K’ and used by 8th (Midlands) Parachute Battalion.

On the 6th June, Royal Marines have stepped onto the sands of Normandy – as they did on D-Day, 80 years ago.
Commandos provided one of the more dramatic commemorations of the Normandy landings, landing craft on the shores, before following in the footsteps of the men of 1944.
47 Commando (Raiding Group) Royal Marines is the modern-day successor to the small boat operators of World War 2 – today using landing craft, fast raiding craft and smaller boats to either put large numbers of troops and supporting vehicles ashore or conducting amphibious raids.
For the Royal Marines – who remain the UK’s specialist in amphibious operations – June 6 1944 and the subsequent campaign in Normandy remain one of the proudest chapters in the Corps’ 360-year history.
Five Royal Marine Commando units (41, 45, 46, 47 and 48) assaulted the beaches alongside three Army Commando units – formed into two Special Service Brigades.
Image: UK MOD © Crown copyright 2024

 

A veteran shakes hands with His Majesty The King as he speaks to veterans and their families at the British Normandy Memorial, Ver-sur-Mer, UK’s major commemorative event in Normandy to mark the 80th Anniversary of D-Day.
This anniversary will mark the first time the British Normandy Memorial has been at the heart of major anniversary commemorations, having been opened in 2021. It contains the names of the 22,442 servicemen and women under British command who fell on D-Day and during the Battle of Normandy in the summer of 1944.
Image: UK MOD © Crown copyright 2024

 

Image of a veteran, seen here at the British Normandy Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer France. This was part of the UK’s major commemorative event in Normandy to mark the 80th Anniversary of D-Day.
Image: UK MOD © Crown copyright 2024

 

L-R Sgt Ben Beale, Jack Mortimer Donald Jones, Cpl Aaron Stone, John Life, Cp [l Paul Squires and Peter Newton.
The veterans, on a visit back to Normandy organised by the Royal British Legion, met up with soldiers on Sword Beach at Colleville to talk about their experiences.
Image: UK MOD © Crown copyright 2024The procession heading towards Bayeux War Cemetery after the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Service of Thanksgiving. The Commonwealth War Graces Commission (CWGC), on behalf of the Ministry of Defence and the City of Bayeux hosted the annual D-Day service of thanksgiving at the Bayeux Cathedral with around 1,200 guests.
Following the event, a procession of 200 VIPs made their way to the CWGC Bayeux War Cemetery for a candle-lit vigil, led by a contingent of international pipers (UK, French and German).
Letters and testimonies by people commemorated in the cemetery were read out before all graves were lit up once the sun had set. At 2300 a UK and international personnel will begin a vigil.
Image: UK MOD © Crown copyright 2024

 

A Royal Marines Landing Craft Utility, beached on Gold Beach, and open to visitors.
The annual celebrations for D-Day were held in the Normandy town of Arromanche, France, on Thursday, the 6th of June, 2024, where thousands of people turned up to witness historic vehicles on the beaches and people dressed in World War Two style clothing.
Image: UK MOD © Crown copyright 2024

 

Kayakers from the Royal Marines Association (RMA) Paddle Group arriving at Port-en-Bessin after crossing the English Channel from Portsmouth to mark D-Day 80. The team consisted of nine serving and eight veteran royal marines and paddled through the night on their two-person Klepper folding kayaks.
Image: UK MOD © Crown copyright 2024

 

At Gold Beach Arromanches, Normandy, Pipe Major Trevor Lacey-Lillie of 19th Regiment Royal Artillery (The Scottish Gunners) landed ashore on a Second World War ear amphibious vehicle (a DuckW) and played a lament at precisely 0725hrs marking 80 years to the minute since the D-Day beach landings began.
47 Commando (Raiding Group) Royal Marines is the modern-day successor to the small boat operators of World War 2 – today using landing craft, fast raiding craft and smaller boats to either put large numbers of troops and supporting vehicles ashore or conducting amphibious raids.
Image: UK MOD © Crown copyright 2024

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