HomeNewsLeaders commemorate D-Day soldiers on 75th anniversary

Leaders commemorate D-Day soldiers on 75th anniversary

Leaders from every country that contributed soldiers to the D-Day landings in Normandy have gathered in Portsmouth, in England, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the beginning of the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany.

Queen Elizabeth led the ceremony, and paid tribute to the courage, resilience and sacrifice of the veterans who fought for the Allied powers in World War Two. She was joined by Prince Charles, President Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, UK Prime Minister Theresa May and representatives from Australia, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Poland and Slovakia.

Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, was also in attendance representing her country and paying respect to the Allied veterans.

The Queen spoke twice, about her experience as a member of the “wartime generation” and to commemorate the sacrifice of the soldiers who fell defending Western democracy. Other leaders typically chose to read excerpts from the diaries or letters of soldiers from their country who fell, although President Trump read out, word for word, the same prayer that President Franklin Roosevelt broadcast over the radio in the wake of the landings.