D-Day: 80th anniversary commemoration to be ‘exciting’

A sergeant said taking part in commemorations to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy will be emotional.

Sgt Joe Lowry and the 1st Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers, based in Tidworth, Wiltshire, will represent the British Army as part of a guard of honor at Bayeux, Ver-Sur-Mer and Arromanches on June 5 and 6.

Ceremonies in northern France to commemorate the 1944 Normandy landings during World War Two will be attended by King Charles, Queen Camilla and the Prince of Wales.

Speaking at a dress rehearsal on Thursday, Sergeant Lowery said: “We are obviously very proud to be part of the day and the remembrance.”

Sgt Lowery said: “The Fusiliers had a huge part to play on D-Day so it only feels right to go there and do them proud with our exercise as part of the ceremony.

“It’s the experience of the day, so for the new Junior Fusiliers who haven’t experienced it before, they probably don’t understand the scale of the event.

“When you get there and you realize there’s going to be thousands of people there and all the veterans, it’s pretty mind-blowing.”

The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, will unveil a statue in Normandy recognizing Canada’s contribution to D-Day before attending a commemoration service in Bayeux Cathedral on June 5.

On June 6, the King and Queen will attend the Normandy British Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer, which contains the names of more than 22,000 people under British command who died during the Battle of Normandy.

Sgt Lowery, who also attended the coronation of King Charles, said the regiment was aware of the importance of getting everything right on the day.

“If you get it wrong, you’ll stand out,” he added.

Maj Stuart Gilbert said it was “so important” that the battalion had “the opportunity to be part of the tri-service guard” as it was something they “don’t do very often”.

“It’s a big ceremony. We’re not sure if the regiment will be involved in the future, so this time it’s our turn,” he said.

Maj Gilbert said that while he was “looking forward” to getting the exercise right, it “took time as many had never done anything like this before”.

Private Logan Bull, who completed training in November, said he was proud to be part of such an important event so early in his career.

“Having an opportunity like this doesn’t come around often,” he added.

“I’m really proud to be able to go and do that in Normandy. It’s quite daunting, but I think it’s going to go really well.”