D-Day remembered 70 years on!

D-Day remembered 70 years on

Hundreds of the last surviving D-Day veterans have gathered on both sides of the English Channel, 70 years on from the momentous World War Two mission.

More than 156,000 troops waded or parachuted onto French soil on June 6, 1944. Nearly 4,500 would be dead by the end of the day. 

One of the survivors, Jock Hutton, marked the anniversary by parachuting to the same spot he landed on as an 19-year-old, this time with a member of the British army's Red Devils strapped to his back for safety.

 

Wearing a bright red jumpsuit, the 89-year-old veteran touched down lightly on the grass just in front of the waiting Prince Charles, dusted himself down briskly and removed his helmet.

"At my age, life tends to get a wee bit boring. So you've got to grab at any chance at excitement," he said. 

As colonel-in-chief of the Parachute Regiment, Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, led the tributes to those in the first wave of air landings shortly after midnight on D-Day.

 

Wearing a field marshal's uniform, he chatted at length to veterans, most of whom are in their 90s and many of them confined to wheelchairs. 

Today we remember the heros that gave their tomorrow for our today!

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