D-Day 80: Portsmouth unites to remember fallen soldiers involved in the Normandy Landings at annual service

The annual ceremony took place at the D-Day Memorial Stone in Southsea this morning. Residents gathered along the seafront - standing shoulder to shoulder with veterans as the service took place.

Portsmouth was the centre of national commemorations yesterday (June 5), which saw King Charles III take charge of the speeches to reflect on the sacrifices of those in the Second World War, and honour the courage of veterans still alive today. The Southsea memorial service was a more understated but equally important affair.

Frank Hayes, 75, a Mariners Association standard bearer who served in the Royal Navy for 25 years, was honoured to be involved. He told The News: “You look at the age group of those around us, most of them would have had their fathers and grandfathers on the Normandy beaches 80 years ago.

“A lot of people on the beaches would have been 18 or 19 years old, up to their 40s. This is incredible, absolutely incredible. It does bring a tear to your eye when the last post is played and I think of my father.” The Gosport native said his father served in the 147th Essex Yeomanry RA regiment, and would have been on Gold beach at 8am on June 6, 1944, among the first wave of ships.

He added: “I’m honoured to bring this standard here, because two submarines who were at Normandy - X20 and X23 - were the beacons for either side of the invasion route. Being selfish, the standard is for them and my father.” Proceedings began at 10.40am as standard bearers, the Royal Marines band and other personnel marched into position.

Reverend Canon Bob White, Chaplain to the Portsmouth branch of The Royal British Legion, conducted the service. Following hymns, Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson read 3.1- 1 1 from the Book of Ecclesiastes, with everyone then joining in with the Lord’s Prayer.

The Last Post was held at 11am, with wreaths being laid. The National Anthem was upheld in unison. Cllr Vernon-Jackson said: “We’ve got to keep remembering the sacrifices they have made. It was great to see so many members of the public here, so many veterans and people from the forces. It was a really well done service and my thanks to The Royal British Legion.

“It’s hugely important that each generation learns the lessons that D-Day teaches us, which are that all countries are dependent on each other, human rights are important everywhere, you can’t just focus on your own country and defence has to be done working with other people. No country on its own can defend itself anymore, you have to work with others. Those are the lessons of D-Day.”

Captain Lee McLocklan, commander of the base HMNB Portsmouth and commander of HMS Nelson, said the service was a fantastic opportunity to honour the fallen who sacrificed so much for their country. “It’s a huge honour to have our sailors and community around us, and more importantly, to commemorate those who passed and those veterans who are here today,” he added.

“We need to honour not only what they did, but the history that was made from that, certainly our young generation to make them realise the legacy which has been left, and more importantly, to learn those lessons of what went on before.” The world watched Portsmouth play host to the remembrance proceedings, with broadcasts of yesterday’s commemoration being shown around the world.

Council leader Steve Pitt said this event was the perfect contrast to the one before it. He said: “We know that 27,000 men and boys left Portsmouth from these streets that we’re standing on to go to D-Day. Of those, 119 at least of the lads that live locally never came home. A lot of their families still have local connections.

“It’s a particularly poignant thing for Portsmouth and whilst it was a huge honour to host a national commemorative event yesterday, this here is a really special thing for us and it was great to be here this morning with so many people. They are here to remember, and that is the most important thing. It’s wonderful that we can hold this event and allow them the opportunity to do that.”