The unveiling of the D-Day memorial on a hillside overlooking Gold Beach in Normandy marked the 77th anniversary of the historic operation. Unfortunately, Prince Charles was unable to attend the opening due to restrictions imposed by a Coronavirus. Instead, he gave a speech through a recorded video message and showered praise on all those who died in the operations.
Many former soldiers of the liberation mission could not attend because of COVID restrictions.
As an alternative, they had to Travel to a separate venue where arrangements were made for live-streaming the program. On the 75th anniversary in 2019, the Queen, along with Donald Trump and other world leaders, paid tributes to the D-Day veterans. Sky News says in France, representatives of Britain and France placed wreaths in a prominent place. It was a solemn ceremony.
About the D-Day memorial
The cost of the memorial is around $47 million. It records every person under British command who died in the Battle of Normandy. Their total number was upwards of 20,000, and Gold Beach was one location identified for landing by the war room.
British forces landed there to set in motion the liberation of Western Europe. Prince Charles is a patron of the Normandy Memorial Trust. The World War tested the resilience of the forces who joined to overthrow a dictator. They came from different backgrounds, religions, and countries and fought with whatever weapons they had. They even created new ones to face the challenges. Their objective was to eliminate the man who had terrorized the world by his activities. Sky News quotes Prince Charles mentioning in the video message that he wanted the survivors to see the memorial for themselves.
The 77th anniversary of D-Day
Prime Minister Boris Johnson also paid his tributes on the 77th anniversary of D-Day.
He referred to what General Eisenhower mentioned on the landing of Allied troops on the beaches of Normandy.
George Batts is a Normandy veteran and patron of the Normandy Memorial Trust. To him, it was a dream come true because many of them had never expected this could become a reality. Each name on the monument has a story to tell.
The D-Day memorial on the Normandy landing unveiled
According to France 24, the D-Day memorial was unveiled on the 77th anniversary of the Normandy landing. The British Ambassador to France, Ed Llewellyn, presided over the ceremony. Along with him was Florence Parly, Defence Minister of France. The memorial was a tribute to the thousands of servicemen and women who sacrificed their lives during the invasion of France occupied by the forces of Germany.
The liberation teams were under British command, and it was a three-pronged attack over the land, sea, and air. The memorial is the first such in Normandy. It consists of some upright stone slabs inscribed with each soldier's name in chronological order from June 6 to August 31, 1944. The soldiers belonged to different nationalities. Steven Dean is the manager of the project. In his opinion, the venue could attract visitors in large numbers every year. There are other similar venues in the world. One is a cemetery in the nearby town of Bayeux. Another is in America overlooking Omaha Beach. It welcomes around one million visitors annually before the pandemic struck. A movie like "Dunkirk" shows how the world joined forces to fight and overthrow a common enemy. There are many other movies on World War II that reveal global operations undertaken in the war.