80th anniversary celebrations around Yorkshire

Commemorative services were held around Yorkshire to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

Wreath-laying ceremonies took place at war memorials across the region, including Leeds, York, Sheffield, Bradford, Barnsley and Ripon.

The beacons were due to be lit at 21:15 BST to coincide with the five lit along the Normandy beaches.

Signal locations in North Yorkshire included Ripon Cathedral and along the coast in Scarborough and Robin Hood’s Bay.

It was D-Day the largest military operation at sea ever attemptedand marked the beginning of the campaign to liberate Nazi-occupied northwestern Europe.

It involved the simultaneous landing of tens of thousands of troops on five separate beaches in Normandy.

In York, the Royal British Legion held a rally at the city’s railway station.

Readings and prayers were said at the Normandy Veterans Memorial Bench on platform three, with participants including former soldiers, sailors and aircrew.

In East Leeds, stories and memories of D-Day – 6 June 1944 – were shared.

One of those who attended the Burmantofts Community Friends gathering was Rita Green, who was 11 on D-Day.

“I was young, but I still remember every detail,” she said.

“My grandmother died at the beginning of the war and my aunt took me to her house,” she recalls.

“I remember sitting at the window crying, listening to the German planes fly over and watching the searchlights – it was terrifying.”

She continued: “I remember the fear, just hearing a plane, even to this day I can tense up.

“Now, I find it very emotional.”

Council buildings were also lit up in red, white and blue, including in Leeds and Bradford.

Wreaths were laid at the war memorial in Leeds’ Victoria Gardens, with the service led by Mayor Abigail Marshall Katung.

At Bradford Cenotaph, Lord Mayor Bev Mullaney and Reverend Duncan Milwain of Bradford Cathedral joined representatives of the Royal British Legion.

Ms Mullaney said she was “immensely proud” to represent Bradford on the D-Day anniversary.

“With great gratitude they gave their lives for the freedom we have today,” she said.

Attendee Gary Bentley, 64, an ex-Royal Marine, said: “I’m here to represent the whole nation and my whole family.

“My son was a Royal Marine and was injured in Afghanistan in 2010 with a gunshot wound to the head, thankfully he survived.”

He added: “We must continue to tell the next generation what the people have been through, what the nation has been through, over the years.”

Meriel Briscoe, also at work, said her father, Gerry, landed on D-Day and stayed in northern France and Belgium to help liberate Europe.

When asked why it was important to remember the date, an emotional Mrs Briscoe, 68, said: “Because it’s so sad.”

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