Military piper begins commemorations in Normandy on 80th anniversary of D-Day

Royal family members and world leaders are set to gather with veterans in the northern French region to mark the occasion on Thursday.

At Gold Beach in Arromanches, Major Trevor Macey-Lillie paid tribute to fallen veterans, who led the biggest seaborne invasion in military history, by playing Highland Laddie as he came ashore.

The piece was also to remember a lone piper who played in the Normandy landings and was never shot at.

Maj Macey-Lillie told the PA news agency he felt “totally humbled and privileged” by the experience.

He began in a landing craft utility before being driven up the beach in a DUKW amphibious vehicle.

Crowds of re-enactors with their wartime vehicles, and visitors, had previously filled the area as the sun rose, with some writing in the sand and others cupping hot drinks as they looked out to sea.

After the piper’s lament, a French church service was held and military planes flew overhead.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was spotted coming down to Gold Beach ahead of the tribute.

Down the coast from Arromanches, the Royal Marines of 47 Commando recreated a beach landing at Asnelles.

Aboard a landing craft, they waded into the sea while a piper played on the beach – paying tribute to those who took part in the invasion.

Spectators clapped as the troops came ashore, some carrying wreaths.

Also on Thursday, the King and Queen will pay tribute to fallen soldiers at the UK’s national commemoration event at the British Normandy Memorial, in Ver-sur-Mer, along with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron.

The site, which opened in 2021, pays tribute to 22,442 service personnel under British command who died on D-Day and during the Battle of Normandy in the summer of 1944.

It will be the first major anniversary event hosted at the memorial, and Charles and Camilla will officially open the Winston Churchill Centre for Education and Learning following the commemorations on Thursday.

Mr Sunak will miss the major international ceremony for the anniversary of D-Day but Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer will mingle with world leaders at the Omaha Beach event.

A Tory source played down the diplomatic impact of the PM’s absence, pointing out he will see Mr Macron, Mr Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other key leaders at the G7 summit in Italy next week.

The Prince of Wales and senior ministers will represent the UK at the international event, joining more than 25 heads of state and veterans for the official ceremony on Omaha Beach, Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer.

Thursday’s commemorations follow an emotional ceremony in Portsmouth on Wednesday where the King appeared to wipe away a tear during an event where he paid tribute to the “courage, resilience and solidarity” of veterans.

Following the piper on the beach in Arromanches, commemorations will continue in the French town including a veterans’ parade, air and firework display.

Bayeux War Cemetery, the largest Commonwealth cemetery of the Second World War in France, will host a service led by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

In the UK, an 80-strong flotilla of boats will leave from Falmouth, Cornwall, where thousands of troops departed to take part in the invasion, while a beacon-lighting ceremony will take place in Aylesford, Kent.

The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh will join veterans at a Royal British Legion remembrance service at The National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester will meet veterans at a show at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

The event, D-day 80: Remembering The Normandy Landings, will be hosted by Davina McCall and feature music from the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, as well as Lulu, Katherine Jenkins, Emeli Sande and D-Day Darlings lead vocalist Katie Ashby.

The weather is expected to be “generally dry” during the commemorations, the Met Office said.