Coventry’s D-Day soldiers will be honored on D-Day 80

Coventry’s D-Day heroes will be honored at Coventry Cathedral this week. A choral song for fallen D-Day soldiers in Coventry will mark 80 years since the landings on Thursday, June 6.

The service, which starts at 5.15pm and finishes at 6pm, will commemorate the hundreds of thousands of soldiers from Britain, the US and Commonwealth nations who stormed the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944, leading to the eventual liberation of large areas of Western Europe. In a statement, Revd. Mary Gregory, Canon of Arts and Reconciliation, reflected on the city’s own devastation during the war.

She said “in a place that is known throughout the world as an icon of peace, we will pray for the end of conflict and the reconciliation of enemies by building a culture of justice and peace.” The counteroffensive against German forces in occupied France marked a turning point in the war on the Western Front.

The huge push included soldiers from the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, recruited from Coventry and surrounding towns. To commemorate the regiment’s role 80 years ago, the Fusiliers Museum will host a talk mapping their progress using drones and digital mapping.

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The talk starts at 7pm and sits alongside a temporary exhibition running until September 19, featuring artefacts, photographs and documents, including those from German enemy soldiers. Coventry Diocesan Guild is also encouraging its city bell ringers to ‘ring for peace’ at 6.30pm at the request of the Central Council of Church Bells.

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