as frank gardner reports. war planes from another time. memories from 80 years ago. today, a chance to honor those men and women who took part in d day, the operation that helped end the second world war. service chiefs, prime ministers past and present, the royalfamily and of course, the veterans. roy haywood was 19 on that day, a trooper in the sherwood rangers. i landed in on the evening of d day, and three weeks later i was so badly damaged that they had to amputate both my legs below the knee. i returned home eventually, and i have to say that i always considered myself one of the lucky ones that survived because so many of us didn t. this was the largest ever amphibious invasion in human history, over150,000 british, us, canadian and french troops landing on normandy s beaches under withering fire from german defenses. let us once again commit ourselves always to remember, cherish and honor those who served that day and to live up to the freedom they died for. honoring
and not only those who stormed normandy s beaches. sybil was a wren in a signal station. we all did our bit. if we didn t fit in our slot, things wouldn t have worked out, would they? we were a good team. this is my great grandad edwin, he was a part of the 48 royal marine commandos, he landed onjuno beach with the canadians and there were 300 royal marine commandos landing. only 115 survived. portsmouth s naval history runs deep and the grammar school s connections are personal. this is my great grandma stella, she was a wren during world war ii and d day. we are lucky to be around today, since there are people who fought in world war ii who are still around and we can talk to them about their experiences. it is an amazing day and we have