Britain plans 'unprecedented' D-Day event for queen, leaders

June 05, 2019 12:00 am • Last Updated: June 05, 2019 12:30 am

By By GREGORY KATZ

D-Day veterans gather during a D-Day commemoration event at the Historical Dockyard in Portsmouth, southern England, Sunday June 2, 2019. There are many events over the coming days to mark the 75th anniversary of the landings by the Allied forces on Tuesday June 6, 1944, in Normandy, France, that became known as D-Day. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP)

LONDON (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II is set to join British Prime Minister Theresa May, other world leaders and World War II veteran on the southern coast of England on Wednesday to honor the Allied soldiers who risked and gave their lives in large numbers 75 years ago for the D-Day invasion that helped liberate Europe from Nazi Germany.

Britain promised "unprecedented commemorations" in Portsmouth. Testimony from some of the more than 300 World War II veterans expected there and "one of the greatest British military spectacles in recent years" featuring a flyby of 24 vintage and modern military aircraft on the schedule.

But the event, which kicks off two days of D-Day anniversary observances, is intended to be a tribute to the soldiers who shaped history during the dangerous mission to reach beachheads and fight in German-occupied France.

"The Normandy landings 75 years ago were a moment of historic international cooperation," May said. "And it is right that at the heart of today's commemorations are the veterans who fought to secure the liberty and the peace that we now enjoy."

Planning to attend are presidents, prime ministers and other representatives of the countries that fought alongside Britain in Normandy: the United States, Canada, Australia, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Luxembourg, Denmark, France, Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Poland.

The leader of the country that was the enemy in 1944, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, also was invited.

In Portsmouth, dignitaries plan to read from historical documents linked to D-Day. In May's case, it's a letter written by Capt. Norman Skinner of the Royal Army Service Corps to his wife, Gladys, on June 3, 1944, a few days before the invasion. It was in his pocket when he landed in Normandy.

"I can imagine you in the garden having tea with Janey and Anne getting ready to put them to bed," wrote Skinner, who was killed the day after D-Day. "Although I would give anything to be back with you, I have not yet had any wish at all to back down from the job we have to do."

The observances will conclude President Donald Trump's state visit to Britain, which the 93-year-old queen hosted. Elizabeth will be accompanied by her son, Prince Charles, at the event.

The focus shifts to France, where commemorations will be held at simple military cemeteries near the Normandy beaches where Allied troops landed and died.

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Follow all the AP's coverage of D-Day at https://apnews.com/WorldWarII

Enthusiasts of England salute in front of The Brave, a monument dedicated to the American soldiers who landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day, in Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, Tuesday, June 4, 2019, in Normandy. Extensive commemorations are being held in the U.K. and France this week to honor the nearly 160,000 troops from Britain, the United States, Canada and other nations who landed in Normandy on June 6, 1944, in history's biggest amphibious invasion. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

In this June 5, 1944, file photo, U.S. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, left, gives the order of the day to paratroopers in England prior to boarding their planes to participate in the first assault of the Normandy invasion on June 6. A dwindling number of D-Day veterans will be on hand in Normandy in June 2019, when international leaders gather to honor them on the invasion’s 75th anniversary. (U.S. Army Signal Corps via AP)

In this June 6, 1944, file photo, members of an American landing unit help their comrades ashore during the Normandy invasion. The men reached the zone code-named Utah Beach, near Sainte-Mere-Eglise, on a life raft after their landing craft was hit and sunk by German coastal defenses. (Louis Weintraub/Pool Photo via AP, File)

French enthusiasts gather around a Sherman tank as they re-enact an American camp Tuesday, June 4, 2019, in Vierville-sur-Mer, Normandy. Extensive commemorations are being held in the U.K. and France this week to honor the nearly 160,000 troops from Britain, the United States, Canada and other nations who landed in Normandy on June 6, 1944, in history's biggest amphibious invasion. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

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