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| Trump, Macron and May address veterans in Portsmouth D-day commemoration – live news | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Theresa May is holding a series of bilateral meetings with world leaders at the D-day event. Downing Street said she had met her Polish counterpart, Mateusz Morawiecki, and was due to have talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, the Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, and Canada’s Justin Trudeau. “The main theme of the talks today is about shared security,” a Downing Street spokeswoman said. | |
| Here is the “family photo” for leaders attending the D-day commemorations. | |
| In the back row, from left to right: the Slovakian deputy prime minister, Richard Rasi; the Polish prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki; the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau; Luxembourg’s prime minister, Xavier Bettel; the Norwegian prime minister, Erna Solberg; the Belgian prime minister, Charles Michel; the Czech prime minister, Andrej Babis; the Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison; and the Danish ambassador to the UK, Lars Thuesen. | |
| And in the front row, from left to right: New Zealand’s governor general, Patsy Reddy; the French president, Emmanuel Macron; Britain’s prime minister, Theresa May; Prince Charles; the Queen; the US president, Donald Trump; the Greek president, Prokopis Pavlopoulos; the German chancellor, Angela Merkel; and the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte. | |
| There were some reminders of historical details during the commemoration. | |
| Many American troops were based in Portsmouth and other towns and cities across southern England.A letter home from Private Arthur Pranger of the 86th Chemical Mortar Battalion dated 6 May 1944 was read out: | |
| Dear Mom, | |
| Somebody is always shoving a cup of tea in my fist. People even stop us on the street and invite us for tea and cake. The kids around here are always asking for chewing gum and candy. They can’t get that over here and everything is rationed. There’s hardly any automobiles here and everybody rides a bicycle. | |
| The chief of the defence staff, General Sir Nicholas Carter, paid tribute to the tactical ingenuity that lead to the success of the Normandy landings: | |
| The marvellous range of technology that helped to make the landings succeed and ensured that over two million men and half a million vehicles could be landed in the ensuing months included amphibious and mine clearing tanks, Mulberry harbours, gliders, undersea pipelines, self-heating soup cans, air-portable motor-bikes – all reflected British ingenuity and innovation at its best. | |
| Flags from the 14 allied nations that took part in the Normandy Landings were displayed during the event. The flags are historically accurate for 1944 so in many instances were not the same as they appear today.For example, the French flag displayed was the Free French Flag. Another example was the Canadian flag, which only adopted a maple leaf in 1965.Music was provided by, among others, a 70-piece orchestra and a 90-strong choir. Hymn to the Fallen, composed by John Williams – the track that opens the film Saving Private Ryan – was played and the actor and singer Sheridan Smith performed the song made famous by Vera Lynn, We’ll Meet Again. | |
| Linda Spence, a university worker from Portsmouth who was carrying a home-made placard stating “Keep your tiny, groping hands off our NHS ‘Mr’ president”, tried to speak to one of the men who attempted to disrupt the anti-Trump protest in the centre of the town. | |
| “I just asked him why he was so angry and then he just started shouting, and then his mate tried to grab my placard,” said Spence, who spoke to a man wrapped in a US flag seconds after he snapped a protest placard in two and waved part of it around. | |
| He was saying that it was a disgrace that we were here and that we should be down at the D-day commemorations. I said that I would have loved to have been there but I felt it was important to protest and send a message in support of the NHS services that he and all of us use, and which could be under threat if Trump has his way in trade talks. | |
| A lady in the crowd who (very calmly) tried to speak to some of the men who disrupted the anti Trump event. “I asked him why he was so angry and he just started shouting” pic.twitter.com/s6M4VKv0cL | |
| One of the speakers at the D-day event was Sergeant John Jenkins MBE, 99, from Portsmouth, who was in the Pioneer Corps on D-day and landed on Gold beach on 8 June. He said: | |
| I was 23 years old when I landed on Gold beach. | |
| I was terrified, I think everyone was. I look back on it as a big part of my life. | |
| I was just a small part in a very big machine. | |
| Jenkins said he was honoured to be at the service along with other D-day veterans. | |
| You never forget your comrades because we were all in it together. | |
| It is right that the courage and sacrifice of so many is being honoured 75 years on. We must never forget. | |
| The events on the stage end with Sheridan Smith singing the wartime classic We’ll Meet Again. | |
| Now an RAF flypast is taking place. | Now an RAF flypast is taking place. |
| The Queen is speaking now. | The Queen is speaking now. |
| She says when she attended the 60th anniversary D-day event some people thought it would be the last event of its kind. But the wartime generation, “my generation”, is resilient, and she is delighted to be here. | She says when she attended the 60th anniversary D-day event some people thought it would be the last event of its kind. But the wartime generation, “my generation”, is resilient, and she is delighted to be here. |
| She says 75 years ago hundreds of thousands of soldiers, sailors and airmen left these shores in the cause of freedom. At the time her father, King George VI, said what was required was more than courage; it was a revival of spirit. | She says 75 years ago hundreds of thousands of soldiers, sailors and airmen left these shores in the cause of freedom. At the time her father, King George VI, said what was required was more than courage; it was a revival of spirit. |
| She says many of those young people never returned. | She says many of those young people never returned. |
| It is with humility and pleasure, on behalf of the country and the whole free world, that she says thank you. | It is with humility and pleasure, on behalf of the country and the whole free world, that she says thank you. |
| The Portsmouth commemoration also paid tribute to the secret agents who worked behind enemy lines in the build up to D-day and to the French resistance. | The Portsmouth commemoration also paid tribute to the secret agents who worked behind enemy lines in the build up to D-day and to the French resistance. |
| Of the several hundred Special Operations Executive agents working behind enemy lines, 55 were women.The French president, Emmanuel Macron, read the last letter of a young resistance fighter Henri Fertet, executed at just 16 years old: | Of the several hundred Special Operations Executive agents working behind enemy lines, 55 were women.The French president, Emmanuel Macron, read the last letter of a young resistance fighter Henri Fertet, executed at just 16 years old: |
| My dear parents, I am going to die for my country. I want France to be free and the French to be happy … | My dear parents, I am going to die for my country. I want France to be free and the French to be happy … |
| The soldiers are coming to get me. I must hurry. My handwriting may look wobbly but it is just because I am using a small pencil. I am not afraid of death, my conscience is completely clear ... A thousand kisses. Long live France. | The soldiers are coming to get me. I must hurry. My handwriting may look wobbly but it is just because I am using a small pencil. I am not afraid of death, my conscience is completely clear ... A thousand kisses. Long live France. |
| Some of those who survived appeared at the event. There was warm applause for a group of British veterans when they took to the stage.A video was shown of Eugene Deibler, an American veteran who served as a sergeant in the 501st Airborne Regiment, and parachuted into Normandy at 01.30 on 6 June, behind Utah beach. He said he had never jumped in conflict before. | Some of those who survived appeared at the event. There was warm applause for a group of British veterans when they took to the stage.A video was shown of Eugene Deibler, an American veteran who served as a sergeant in the 501st Airborne Regiment, and parachuted into Normandy at 01.30 on 6 June, behind Utah beach. He said he had never jumped in conflict before. |
| We did what we had to do. We jumped in there. I’m glad I did it, went from a boy to a man. | We did what we had to do. We jumped in there. I’m glad I did it, went from a boy to a man. |
| One note of disappointment – there are scores of unoccupied seats in the official commemoration event, which seems a shame. Some locals have expressed disappointment that they have been kept away because of the tight security. | One note of disappointment – there are scores of unoccupied seats in the official commemoration event, which seems a shame. Some locals have expressed disappointment that they have been kept away because of the tight security. |
| At the D-day commemoration the audience have just been watching an extract from Pressure, the play by David Haig about James Stagg, the chief meteorologist who advised General Dwight Eisenhower about the weather ahead of D-day. | At the D-day commemoration the audience have just been watching an extract from Pressure, the play by David Haig about James Stagg, the chief meteorologist who advised General Dwight Eisenhower about the weather ahead of D-day. |
| Amid the pomp and ceremony it was the stories of the real people who took part in D-Day that shone out during the commemoration in Portsmouth. | Amid the pomp and ceremony it was the stories of the real people who took part in D-Day that shone out during the commemoration in Portsmouth. |
| Theresa May read a letter from Captain Norman Skinner of the Royal Army Service Corps, written to his wife Gladys on 3 June 1944. The letter was still in his pocket when he landed on Sword Beach on 6 June. Skinner was killed the day after, leaving his wife and two young daughters. The letter read: | Theresa May read a letter from Captain Norman Skinner of the Royal Army Service Corps, written to his wife Gladys on 3 June 1944. The letter was still in his pocket when he landed on Sword Beach on 6 June. Skinner was killed the day after, leaving his wife and two young daughters. The letter read: |
| My thoughts at this moment, in this lovely Saturday afternoon, are with you all now. I can imagine you in the garden having tea with Janey and Anne getting ready to put them to bed. 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. | My thoughts at this moment, in this lovely Saturday afternoon, are with you all now. I can imagine you in the garden having tea with Janey and Anne getting ready to put them to bed. 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. |
| There is so much that I would like to be able to tell you. Nearly all of which you’ve heard many, many times. But just to say that I mean it even more today. I’m sure that I will be with you again soon and for good. Please give my fondest love to my Anne and my Janey. God bless and keep you all safe for me. | There is so much that I would like to be able to tell you. Nearly all of which you’ve heard many, many times. But just to say that I mean it even more today. I’m sure that I will be with you again soon and for good. Please give my fondest love to my Anne and my Janey. God bless and keep you all safe for me. |
| A telegram was shown on screen, accompanied by a voice over: | A telegram was shown on screen, accompanied by a voice over: |
| Dear Mrs Skinner, it is with the upmost difficulty that I write to offer you my most profound sympathies on the untimely death of your husband. All the time he had been under my command, he had done a grand job of work. | Dear Mrs Skinner, it is with the upmost difficulty that I write to offer you my most profound sympathies on the untimely death of your husband. All the time he had been under my command, he had done a grand job of work. |
| Piper Alastair Parks, who serves with 4 SCOTS, The Highlanders, 4th Battalion The Royal Scottish Regiment, read an extract from the autobiography of piper Bill Millins recounting his experience of playing on the Normandy beaches: | Piper Alastair Parks, who serves with 4 SCOTS, The Highlanders, 4th Battalion The Royal Scottish Regiment, read an extract from the autobiography of piper Bill Millins recounting his experience of playing on the Normandy beaches: |
| I jumped off the ramp as quickly as possible holding the bagpipes above my head, and landed in the water up to my waist ... I placed the bagpipes on my shoulder, blew them up, and started to play Highland Laddie as I waded the few yards to the beach. | I jumped off the ramp as quickly as possible holding the bagpipes above my head, and landed in the water up to my waist ... I placed the bagpipes on my shoulder, blew them up, and started to play Highland Laddie as I waded the few yards to the beach. |
| Here is the text of the letter read out by Theresa May. (See 12.15pm.) | Here is the text of the letter read out by Theresa May. (See 12.15pm.) |
| Theresa May is now reading out a letter written by a Captain Skinner to his wife two days for before D-day. | Theresa May is now reading out a letter written by a Captain Skinner to his wife two days for before D-day. |
| In it, Skinner said this was a difficult letter to write. Anyone with imagination must worry about what will happen, Skinner said. He said he had had some lovely years with his wife. He could imagine his family in the garden. He would give anything to be with them, but would not back down from the job he had to do. He asked his wife to give his love to his children. | In it, Skinner said this was a difficult letter to write. Anyone with imagination must worry about what will happen, Skinner said. He said he had had some lovely years with his wife. He could imagine his family in the garden. He would give anything to be with them, but would not back down from the job he had to do. He asked his wife to give his love to his children. |
| After May finishes, the text of a telegram later sent to Mrs Skinner announcing her husband’s death was read out. | After May finishes, the text of a telegram later sent to Mrs Skinner announcing her husband’s death was read out. |
| Here is the translation of the letter from a French resistance fighter read out by Emmanuel Macron, the French president. (See 12.03pm.) | Here is the translation of the letter from a French resistance fighter read out by Emmanuel Macron, the French president. (See 12.03pm.) |
| My dear parents, My letter is going to cause you great sorrow, but I have seen you so full of courage in the past that I do not doubt that you will remain courageous, if only out of love for me. | My dear parents, My letter is going to cause you great sorrow, but I have seen you so full of courage in the past that I do not doubt that you will remain courageous, if only out of love for me. |
| I am going to die for my country. I want France to be free and the French to be happy. I do not want France to be arrogant and the world’s leading nation but hard-working, industrious and honest. | I am going to die for my country. I want France to be free and the French to be happy. I do not want France to be arrogant and the world’s leading nation but hard-working, industrious and honest. |