good morning. welcome to breakfast, from normandy, at the start of a day of events marking the 75th anniversay of the d—day landings. on these beaches on 6june1944, tens of thousands of allied troops began their invasion of nazi—occupied europe. ceremonies marking the key events began shortly after midnight. this was the scene at pegasus bridge. after a massive send—off in portsmouth, hundreds of normandy veterans have sailed to france to take part in services of remembrance.

every one of those names is somebody‘s father or somebody‘s son. it feels a little bit... sorry. it makes you emotional. here on what the generals codenamed gold beach, a memorial will be unveiled to hounour those under british command who died. we will bring you that ceremony, and the memories of some of those who were there 75 years ago. much of the focus today is at arromanches, and i will be meeting some of the people behind this amazing display. we are on hms belfast, the ship that led the naval fleet to the normandy beaches on d—day. i will be telling you more about her and the role she played throughout the morning. but for now, the weather, sunshine and showers for many with heavy rain across northern scotland. i will have more in 15 minutes.

good morning. it is thursday 6june — d—day. behind me is gold beach. 75 years ago, the biggest seaborne invasion force in history gathered off this coast. 130,000 allied troops poured ashore. thousands more pa rachuted in behind enemy lines. many were to lose their lives. today, a series of events will be held to honour those who took part. graham satchell reports. all along the normandy coast there are reminders of d—day. this is arromanches, humming to the sound of military vehicles. there will be a series of services and commemorations today near the beach, in cathedrals, in cemeteries, as world leaders gather to honour surviving veterans. men like 94—year—old frankjenkinson. somebody shouted, keep running, keep running!

and believe me, you didn't need telling twice. suddenly, everything opened up, and i got hit. i got hit in the chest and in the arm. and i thought my time had come, idid. well, i don't think i'm a hero. to me, a hero is somebody who does something he doesn't have to do, in order — you know, puts himself in danger in order to do somebody else a good turn. we were there, we knew whatjob we had to do, and we wanted to do it and not let anybody down. that was it, really. they're on the beach, plunging waist deep into the sea...

75 years ago, the world held its breath as the first landing craft made its way onto the beaches. the fighting was fierce, chaotic. 130,000 british, american, canadian and otherforces made up the biggest naval invasion in history. small normandy villages begin to fall into allied hands... by the end of the day, allied troops began to advance inland, and in the following weeks, more than 2 million troops from 12 countries were in france, fighting their way to berlin. there were 10,000 allied casualties on d—day itself, more than 4,000 dead. today, the courage of those who made the ultimate sacrifice to liberate europe will be remembered. it will be a very emotional day to day. let's look at some of the events taking place today. in around 20 minutes, there will be a special performance from a piper at arromanches, around five miles from here, to mark the moment the first allied troops landed on gold beach. at 7:30am uk time, a statue will be unveiled here in ver—sur—mer to honour more than 22,000 british troops who died

during the normandy campaign. in one of her last major official duties as prime minister, theresa may willjoin the french president, emmanuel macron, at the ceremony. and at 9:00am, the royal british legion will hold a service of remembrance at bayeux cathedral, that is around ten miles from here, before veterans parade to the town's main cemetery, where wreaths will be laid. more than 250 d—day veterans are arriving in normandy by sea this morning to join the commemorations. they crossed the channel on a cruise ship, the mv boudicca, which has been specially commissioned by the royal british legion. she set off from portsmouth yesterday, accompanied by a guard of honour on the hms queen elizabeth, and with crowds of well—wishers lining the quayside. a pair of british d—day veterans, both aged in their mid—90s, have repeated their historic parachute landings of 75 years ago. harry read and jock hutton both

jumped in tandem with instructors from the army's red devils display team from one of the same dakota daks that dropped the first airborne assault troops on d—day. this footage shows the jump made by harry, who featured on yesterday's bbc breakfast. let me tell you a little bit about where we are this morning, we are on gold beach as it was codenames, and all along the five beaches where the allied troops landed, along this stretch of coast, it is so calm, so difficult to understand just how chaotic and bloodied it was a 75 yea rs chaotic and bloodied it was a 75 years ago today. we will be speaking to lots of people who have special memories of that day and who find today so important ahead of that memorial that is being unveiled in honour of those who sacrificed their lives. later this morning on bbc one, there will be a special programme, d—day 75: remembering the fallen live from bayeux war cemetery in

normandy. right now, it's time for a look at the rest of the day's news, with ben. thanks very much, and we will be back with naga in a few moments. let me bring you the other news headlines this morning. the bbc understands that ford will announce the closure of its engine plant in bridgend later, after union leaders were called to a meeting at the company's headquarters at midday. the site employs 1,700 people, with many more working in the supply chain in south wales. tomos morgan reports. just four years ago, the future looked bright in bridgend. a new order of 250,000 engines were scheduled to be built here. yet, just a year later, that production number was halved. fast—forward, then, to january this year, and the company announced that they were cutting 1,000 of the welsh workforce.

and now there are fears that today's announcement may signal the end of ford in south wales. it is a decision that could have a wider impact on this town. i think the whole economy in bridgend is going to suffer. all the local businesses — we've got a lot of independent businesses in this town who rely on the custom of everybody that works in the plants. we've had this saying for so long now, that it's going to be 2020, 2021. but everybody expected it. people expected it'd come along, but now it's happened, it's a bit of a shock. for a0 years, ford has been one

of the bedrocks of the community's economy, but has its time in south wales come to an end? tomos morgan, bbc news, bridgend. voting in the peterborough by—election is due to get under way in the next hour. the election was triggered when the former labour mp fiona 0nasa nya was removed from office after being jailed for lying about a speeding offence. 15 candidates are standing. the result is expected in the early hours of tomorrow. an inquiry into a failed nhs trust is expected to be announced by the department of health later, following concerns that 150 deaths were not properly investigated. a review into liverpool community health last year found that it was dysfunctional from the outset, and patients suffered unnecessary harm. the trust no longer exists, and most of its services are now run by nhs merseycare. companies should encourage their employees to take up lunch—time classes such as spinning or yoga to beat obesity.

the national institute for health and care excellence says workplaces could highlight local gym classes in an effort to encourage healthier lifestyles. other measures include holding meetings standing up it's a win for employees, because they'll get more exercise, they'll lose weight, they'll be fitter. it's also a benefit to employers, because staff are more engaged, they are healthier, they'll take less time off work, and they will be more productive when they have spent a bit of time over lunch doing some exercise. two of donald trump's sons enjoyed a pub crawl in the west of ireland last night after the us president and his entourage arrived for a two—day visit. eric and donald junior were given a warm welcome in doonbeg, where their father has a golf resort. 0ur ireland correspondent chris page was there. his report contains flash photography. hey!

this is a corner of ireland where there aren't anti—trump protests. instead, there is pro—trump partying in pubs. so let me ask you a question — does doonbeg love trump? cheering. there began a tour of doonbeg's five bars by the president's two sons, followed by dozens of selfie—snapping, sometimes flag—waving local people. that is not to mention the rough—and—ready media scrum and a determined troupe of security staff marshalling the slight chaos. reporter: what do you think of the welcome, mr trump? it's been incredible. this golf resort is the reason why the trumps are so popular here. they bought it five years ago, when it was financially failing. it sustains many much—needed jobs in the area, so businesspeople are hoping the presidential visit will generate worldwide interest in this coastal community. well, in this village, the visit of president trump to ireland isn't controversial.

in fact, it is a carnival. goodnight. thank you. there will be demonstrations in some irish cities today, but it is a different story in doonbeg. so thank you, thank you for the support, guys. thank you. chris page, bbc news, in the west of ireland. let's take a look at today's front pages, of course dominated by the the d—day commemorations. "on behalf of the free world, thank you", is the headline in the daily mirror — a quote from the queen's speech at a ceremony in portsmouth yesterday. the i also leads on the queen's tribute. "the fate of the world depended on their success", the front page says. "a debt we can never repay" is the headline in the daily mail, which features a photo of d—day veterans saluting theirfallen comrades. and finally, the daily telegraph leads on the queen's description of the wartime generation

as the resilient. the paper calls them the men and women who had saved the world. historian and author giles milton is here to tell us what has caught his eye in the papers this morning. give mea give me a sense of what it was like seeing those veterans on the stage saluting their fallen comrades. seeing those veterans on the stage saluting their fallen comradesm was a really extraordinary event. not only do you have all the heads of state and heads of government there, and as we see on the mirror, her majesty welcoming the heads of government to portsmouth, but the real stars of the show were the vetera ns real stars of the show were the veterans themselves, some 250, 300 vetera ns veterans themselves, some 250, 300 veterans there yesterday. just incredible, they were milling with the crowd, and we heard some of their stories from d—day, absolutely extraordinary. and what is extraordinary, naga in ver—sur—mer,

and the beach looks beautiful, 75 yea rs and the beach looks beautiful, 75 years ago it was hell on earth, and we will get a sense of what the soldiers went through when landing on one of those five beaches that formed the d—day invasion. on one of those five beaches that formed the d-day invasion. many of these men were 17, 18 years old. they were absolutely terrified to be going ashore into a hail of german gunfire. so i think that is what they are remembering today, but we also need to remember as well. they went also need to remember as well. they we nt o nto also need to remember as well. they went onto the beaches to try and break, you know, nazi occupied europe. and that is what we are celebrating. and give us a sense of the location. so ver—sur—mer, between arromanches and gold beach, just behind, just explain the importance of gold beach, because that was one of three that british forces landed on. yes, they were on sword and gold beach, and onjuno. they are rather beautiful beaches, these gently shelving sandy beaches, but they were studded with german gun emplacements, strong points,

machine—gun nests, all of which were going to be firing at the troops landing on the beaches. we will get a real sense of that later. i know you are going to stay with us this morning to go through those important moments, for now, thank you very much. ca role carole is on board hms belfast. good morning. good morning, ben, good morning. good morning, ben, good morning everyone. hms belfast was the ship that led the naval ship to the ship that led the naval ship to the normandy beach. herfirst target was the german gun battery. her success in hitting that target so trips could safely land a shot. her

gunfire broke the toilets on board the ship because of the loudness. it isa the ship because of the loudness. it is a breezy start to the day in as we go through the day, the forecast for most of us is one of sunshine and showers. some of the show could be heavy and thundering. a dry day in northern ireland. yesterday a months worth of raid. the low pressure driving our weather. taking rate up the north sea coast and that rain will become ensconced in northern scotland. likely to be heavy. for the rest of the uk, variable amounts of cloud, some sunny the uk, variable amounts of cloud, some sunny skies as well but also some sunny skies as well but also some showers and some of those showers are likely to be heavy and thundering. not all of us will catch one. we can escape them for example in parts of the south—east. temperatures ranging from 11—12 in

the north, 19 — 20 in the south. 20 likely in east anglia or the south—east in the sunshine. we will see mist and fog patches forming and as we go through the second part of the night, heavy rain from the south coast heading for wales and central and southern england. this is the storm miguel. you can see the progress it takes. behind all the rain, heavy, infact progress it takes. behind all the rain, heavy, in fact torrential showers in wales and england and very windy conditions around the channel islands and the english channel islands and the english channel coastline. by saturday, the rain would have pushed up in across northern england and scotland. looking at bright spells and

showers. some of the showers are likely to be heavy. but it is the d—day anniversary today, the 75th anniversary, what will it be like in portsmouth and normandy? the risk of a shower in the next few hours, perhaps one in the afternoon in ver—sur—mer. as we go into tomorrow, storm miguel bringing all the rain. the sun is shining here this morning and it is breezy but honestly, it is and it is breezy but honestly, it is a beautiful and so emotive when we think about what took place 75 years ago, the first landing was at 630 in the morning on the sixth ofjune 19 44. moment will be marked with a lone

piperjust down the road at arromanches. then, later this morning, here in ver—sur—mer, the prime minister theresa may and the french president, emmanuel macron, will take part in a ceremony here to honour those who lost their lives in the d—day landings. a bronze sculpture, depicting three british soldiers, will be unveiled overlooking gold beach — one of the key battlegrounds. as tim muffett reports, it's the end of a long campaign for a permanent memorial. the sea was red with human blood. as an 18—year—old sapper with the royal engineers, harry was amongst the first to learn on gold beach on d—day. i can't forget and i don't want anyone else to forget my mates that really paid the full price. now 93, harry's most recent mission has been to raise money for a memorial in normandy, honouring the 22,000 troops under british command who died.

the americans have a big memorial to the glorious dead at omaha, they've got another one atjuno for the canadians, but we haven't had a memorial, which is sad, really. how much have you raised? £9,000. not bad for a silly old bloke like me, at 93. thank you very much. the money harry's been raising has gone towards this. when i first got asked to do this, i felt an enormous sense of responsibility. we're in hampshire, where the finishing touches are being made to david williams—ellis' statue. i wanted to have three figures together to show the communication. initially i made them in clay, then i moulded it in rubber, and from the rubber you make a wax positive and the wax is melted out and bronzes poured in. the words around the base from the bbc announcement that the allied forces had landed. newsreader: d-day has come, early this morning the allies

began the assault... close—up, you can see just how well the stance and body shape has been captured. so where might you find models who could pose for hours in positions like this? well, david turned to the world of ballet and football. the final sculpture took about nine months to actually make. my models were a footballer and a ballet dancer. i needed people like that because they had strength, they could hold the position. if you look at the sculptures, you can see that standing on one leg for a long time is very difficult. i really want people to react by, i think it's sort of a, to stop and look at it and have some slight feeling in their stomach going this, this — this means something to them. once it is inaugurated in normandy, this culture will form part of a larger memorial, the fundraising for which continues. harry's attending the remembrance ceremony in france, but before we set off, we were allowed to send him a special preview.

do you see that? yes. that's lovely. what do you think? it's lovely. very good indeed. indeed! i'm moved beyond measure. i'm overwhelmed! and i mean that, most sincerely. and that's all i can say, really. as you just heard in tim muffett's report, that memorial was created by david williams—ellis and his son jack. theyjoin me now. good morning. how fabulous does it feel to see this finally unveiled? it is an extraordinary experience. i was usually relieved when it was delivered and reported on top of its pla nts delivered and reported on top of its plants and we knew it was going to work. tell me about the process? it was over two years. initially some designs and drawings which we talked through. we made some small models

and then i made the large ones working from life. i had a footballer as a model and a ballet dancer is at the other one because you need strong legs to stand on one leg for long periods of time. you do get the sense of movement. what does it mean to you? it has been such a long journey and i am incredibly proud of my father doing such an incredible feat and for the younger generation, bringing it back into life and making something that is so distant more of a reality to us because it is very important. you are ofa because it is very important. you are of a similar age of the men who landed on these beaches are 75 years ago. how important is it that they are remembered? it is incomprehensible what they went through. hopefully this will help us

rememberthem, an through. hopefully this will help us remember them, an important part of modern history. one of the veterans has been keen that there is a memorial to british and commonwealth soldiers here. for 75 years there has not been a proper memorial. lots of individual memorials, statues and various cemeteries but no central piece. i building this we have been able to create something that people can focus on. ——by. able to create something that people can focus on. --by. your father was one of those involved in the d—day landings? he supported the landings. he was the same age as jack, 21. he was on the plus four or five. he died 30 years ago and they never talked about it but i think he was supplying ammunition and food and things to the landings a few days

after. you say he never spoke about it, that is so typical. so many but what is fantastic today, and especially with the research i have done, it seems as though when they talk it is a release for them and i have had amazing experiences talking to people. my father's best friend isa to people. my father's best friend is a veteran coming today. he was on a destroyer on the beach behind us. extraordinary and his stories are remarkable. jack, it feels as though military runs for your family. remarkable. jack, it feels as though military runs for yourfamily. —— through. it is incredibly special, walking down this morning and seeing the sculpture with the backdrop such a beautiful day, is really special. thank you both so much. let me tell you what is happening. we can now cross over

to arromanches, just down the coast from here, where pipe major trevor macey—lillie will mark the exact moment the first british soldier landed on gold beach. let's take a listen, after which we'll be bringing you the news, travel and weather where you are. pipes playing applause good morning from bbc london news, i'm sonja jessup. the 75th anniversary of d—day is also being remembered here in the capital today. world war ii veterans will gather at hms belfast at tower bridge.

the ship reportedly fired one of the first shots on the 6thjune 1944 and provided important cover for the troops. at 11 o'clock today, guns will be fired to mark the anniversary. veteranjohn nichols has been sharing his memories with us. he lost much of his hearing in the battle. i think of them sometimes, all the time, and! i think of them sometimes, all the time, and i have this hearing loss. people living on a social housing estate in kensington are celebrating, after controversial plans to demolish it were scrapped. housing association clarion wanted to knock down most of the flats at the sutton estate as part of a regeneration scheme. it now says it will bring empty homes there back into use. campaigners have called it a "victory for social housing". passengers at heathrow airport will be able to keep their liquids and laptops inside their bags, once new security equipment is installed.

the airport's investing £50 million in the computer tomography security scanner, which provide a clearer picture of a bag's contents. the airport says they'll be rolled out over the next few years. let's take a look at the travel situation now. we're off to a good start with the tube this morning. no reported problems on any of those lines there. south—western of those lines there. trained disrupted. from south—western trained disrupted. from guilford to effinghamjunction. and on the roads well it's mostly typical rush hour problems at the moment — as you can see, northbound traffic‘s slow as usual at the blackwall tunnel. in silvertown, there are southbound delays on connaught road heading towards london city airport, it's the roadworks round there slowing things down now the weather with elizabeth rizzini. good morning. a little bit of a chip in the airthis good morning. a little bit of a chip in the air this morning. temperatures back into single

figures to many spots. we will turn into a nice day of weather, lots of sunshine. just the small chance of one or two showers. some could turn out to be on the sharp side with a bit of lightning around as well. a sunny start to the morning. showers are more likely to be in the north—west as we head through the afternoon. more fairweather cloud for the second half of the day. noticeable south—westerly breeze building and top temperatures of 18 or 19. plenty of sunshine to end the day. 0vernight, we will start to see cloud creeping from the south—west. the wind will pick up and eventually outbreaks of rain. temperatures holding in the double figures in the city centre but turning wet and windy. spells of sunshine as we and the day. gusty conditions for the first half of the weekend. i'm back with the latest from the bbc london newsroom

in half an hour. plenty more on our website at the usual address. bye for now. welcome back to ver—sur—mer, in normandy. it is 75 years since the d—day landings, which helped to turn the course of the second world war and eventually liberate europe from german occupation. the landings began that day at 6:30am in the morning. just a few miles from here, in arromanches, that moment is being commemorated with a flag—raising ceremony.

ver—sur—mer isjust down ver—sur—mer is just down the road from arromanches. we are on gold beach here. troops deliberately didn't land on arromanches on d—day itself, they wanted to leave the coast clear for a new portable harbour which is just behind coast clear for a new portable harbour which isjust behind me, mulberry harbour, it was towed across the channel and that enabled the allies to land huge numbers of troops and equipment. two portable harbours were built, and you are seeing the remains of that over here as well. a silent vigil has taken place at pegasus bridge in normandy to mark the first key battle of d—day, 75 years on. shortly after midnight on 6june 1944, paratroopers captured two bridges, codenamed ham and jam, over the river and canal at benouville. it was here that the first house on french soil was liberated, six hours before the d—day landings.

a series of events will be held throughout the day. later this morning here at ver—sur—mer, a sculpture will be unveiled to honour the 22,000 people who died during the normandy campaign. in one of her last major official duties as prime minister, theresa may willjoin the french president, emmanuel macron, at the service. the royal british legion will then hold a service of remembrance at bayeux cathedral, that is around ten miles from here, before veterans parade to the town's main cemetery, where wreaths will be laid. in the afternoon, there will be services in arromanches to mark the royal air force's contribution, with fly—pasts from the red arrows and the battle of britain memorial flight. more than 250 d—day veterans are arriving in normandy by sea this

morning to join the commemorations. they crossed the channel on a cruise ship, the mv boudicca, which has been specially commissioned by the royal british legion. she set off from portsmouth yesterday, accompanied by a guard of honour on the hms queen elizabeth, and with crowds of well—wishers lining the quayside. a pair of british d—day veterans, both aged in their mid—90s, have repeated their historic parachute landings of 75 years ago. harry read and jock hutton both jumped in tandem with instructors from the army's red devils display team from one of the same dakota ‘daks' that dropped the first airborne assault troops on d—day. this footage shows the jump made by harry, who featured on yesterday's bbc breakfast. lots more from normandy throughout the morning. right now, it's time for a look at the rest of the day's news, with ben.

good morning. good morning, thank you very much. we will be right back with naga later in the programme. the bbc understands that ford will announce the closure of its engine plant in bridgend, after the company called union leaders to a meeting at its headquarters later this morning. the plant has been under threat because of falling demand for the two engines it makes. it employs 1,700 people, with many more jobs in the supply chain in south wales. voting in the peterborough by—election is due to get under way in the next hour. the election was triggered when the former labour mp fiona 0nasa nya was removed from office. 15 candidates are standing. the result is expected in the early hours of tomorrow. an inquiry into a failed nhs trust is expected to be announced by the department of health later, following concerns that 150 deaths were not properly investigated. a review into liverpool community health last year found that it was dysfunctional

from the outset, and patients suffered unnecessary harm. the trust no longer exists, and most of its services are now run by nhs mersey care. companies should encourage their employees to take up lunchtime classes such as spinning or yoga to beat obesity. the national institute for health and care excellence says workplaces could highlight local gym classes in an effort to encourage healthier lifestyles. other measures include holding meetings standing up and asking staff to use the stairs instead of lifts. young people are less likely to move away from home in search of better—paid jobs, because potential salary gains are swallowed by rent prices. the think tank the resolution foundation says that young people can no longer afford to move to cities where wages are higher. the number of people aged 25 to 34 starting a newjob and moving home has nearly halved over the last two decades.

two of donald trump's sons enjoyed a pub crawl in the west of ireland last night after the us president and his entourage arrived for a two—day visit. john is with us, with the sport.|j think england will be hoping that virgilvan think england will be hoping that virgil van dyck hasn't recovered from his celebrations after the weekend, because they won the european cup, the champions league, and of course, virgil van dijk will be at the heart of their defence when they play england in the nation ‘s leg. potential silverware on the horizon for england. and what a night for raheem sterling, who will win his 50th cap for his country, and could even

captain the side, as regular skipper harry kane has onlyjust returned after seven weeks out playing for tottenham in their champions league final defeat on saturday. the rumour over sterling captaining england came from his his own management company. i woke up this morning fuming. you know, i haven't had a conversation with gareth, i haven't had a conversation with anybody in my agency so... it was kind strange for me to wake up to that and see it. i called my agent and i had to apologise, you know. on my behalf, i don't know where this has come from. it was captain's display from cristiano ronaldo. he scored a hat—trick for portugal including this brilliant free—kick, as they beat switzerland 3—1, and will face england in sunday's final if they bet the netherlands later. the premier league say some decisions made by the video

assistant referee will be broadcast on giant screens, when they start using the system next season. var has already been used in the world cup, the champions league, and domestic cup matches. the premier league also said that some decisions might in the future be shown on apps for mobile phones. scotland are expected to train in nice later after arriving for the women's world cup. they flew out from edinburgh yesterday ahead of their first appearance in the competition against england on sunday. the world cup kicks off tomorrow, with hosts france taking on south korea in paris. england have already held their first training session in nice. at 20 years old, manchester city's georgia stanway is the youngest member of the squad, and during the last world cup, she had her eyes on a different prize. sitting my gcses. i remember doing that, and i remember getting up in

the middle of the night to watch the games, and if i fell —— whether i fell asleep watching them was another story. but i absolutely loved watching it, and obviously it is crazy being here now, and obviously it's only being four yea rs, obviously it's only being four years, so obviously time flies. india got their cricket world cup campaign off to a winning start with a six—wicket victory over south africa in southampton. set a modest 228 to win, india lost skipper virat kohli to a brilliant catch by quinton de kock. but they were seldom troubled again. rohit sharma made 122, leaving hardik pandya to hit the winning runs. south africa have played three, lost three. new zealand made it two wins from two after scraping home against bangladesh at the oval. set 245 for victory, they survived a batting collapse to win by two wickets, with 17 balls to spare. and england's women play the first of two one—day internationals against west indies in leicester today. they are two wins away from qualifying for their world cup in 2021.

if you are wondering why we are not talking aboutjohanna konta's french open semi—final against marketa vondrousova later today, that is because it has been moved to tomorrow. rain put paid to any play at roland—garros yesterday, meaning both women's semi—finals will be played on friday, after the last two quarter—finals take place today. weather permitting, of course, but we understand things looking much better in comparison to yesterday. looking pretty miserable. ralli is needed. —— brollies needed. commemorations are taking place today to mark the 75th anniversary of the d—day landings. within the next hour, a ceremony will get under way in ver—sur—mer in normandy to unveil a new memorial to remember those who died during those

d—day landings. let's rejoin naga in normandy. good morning to you. good morning, ben. it feels like such a privilege to be here in ver—sur—mer ahead of that memorial commemorating those british and commonwealth soldiers who died, honouring more than 22,000 of those troops who fell during d—day and battle of normandy. it is going to be unveiled in about an hour. we are blessed with the weather here as well. prime minister theresa may and french president emmanuel macron will attend that ceremony, as will lord dannatt, the former head of the british army. hejoins me now. good morning to you. good morning. i was just talking about the scene here. it is a beautiful morning.|j was here. it is a beautiful morning.” was here last year and you couldn't see the sea, it was a complete pea souper. they had to postpone the whole operation for 24 hours, and the met office, the raf met officer,

said he thought there would be a small window, so eisenhower took the decision to go. and of course, it was the right decision, because if they had missed this lot it would have been a month later before the conditions were right again. so a gamble, and succeeded. it isjust wonderful that we are here now, 75 years on. almost from the moment the troops were first landing there on gold beach. two battalions landed there. 75 years later, it is a privilege to be here to inaugurate what will be a wonderful national memorial for the 22,442 soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and a british commander who lost their lives in the normandy campaign. and we had the lone paper earlier marking the first landing of the troops, and as we look over there and people are preparing for this memorial, what does it mean for you? well, it means a tremendous amount,

on behalf of the veterans, especially the surviving veterans, and the genesis of this british national memorial, and it is quite extraordinary to think the americans have had a memorial, the canadians have had a memorial, the canadians have had a memorial, the canadians have had a memorial, we the british have had a memorial, we the british have never had a memorial until this moment. there was a lot of pressure from veterans on the 70th anniversary five years ago to say why haven't we got a national memorial? and the last secretary of the normandy veterans association lead the charge, as it were, and a group of trustees were formed, of which i am one, and we put the money together, made architectural plans, david williams ellis, the sculptor, wasjust here, producing that fantastic sculpture. so we are now seeing the beginnings of 50 or 60 years too late national memorial to all those who lost their lives in the normandy campaign. it is a great privilege to be here, and for the veterans, they really wanted somewhere where all the names were,

so somewhere where all the names were, so they could say that is where my mate, yes, he died with me, and then he died, and the families can come and see the names. it will be a great place of reflection, commemoration and gratitude for the service they gave and the sacrifices they made. gratitude is definitely something we feel today. i know when you have been part of the memorial, actually looking at the faces, the emotions and the movement that we see, talk to us about that.” emotions and the movement that we see, talk to us about that. i think the sculptor here, and it is remarkable, a group of three soldiers storming ashore, with different kinds of guns, they are all determined, but i think the sculptor has done it really well. there is interaction within the group, one is clearly in charge and the others are doing what they are told, but it is the look of determination on them. i think it will be a wonderful centrepiece for the complete memorial, which starts to be built in two or three weeks' time. what will that look like? the

sculptor will stay there, but all the staging will go away. the contractors will move back in again and start to build out the complete memorial. it will take about a year, so we memorial. it will take about a year, so we will probably be back here again maybe this day next year, or a week or two later, to open the complete memorial. talk to me, in your history in the army, the stories that have come through from d—day? army, the stories that have come through from d-day? from my point of view, the story of stan hollis is the one that stands out. he was the only member of the british armed forces to win at the victoria cross on the d—day. just over there, for german runs and as the company came ashore, they were shot up from the germans and stan hollis being stan hollis, charged the germans and

captured them all and continued the advance five kilometres inland where advance five kilometres inland where a second action took place that day. it was individual events like that, on the sixth ofjune that turn the tide of the battle and ultimately made the operation successful. a lot of people lost their lives but actions like that define the grid and a determination of the british soldier. it has been a pleasure talking to you and i know how much this day means to you. carol is on board one of the royal navy ships used during d—day, hms belfast. it was one of the first warships to be part of that naval bombardment on german defences on that day. it is so beautiful here, it is so calm. a little bit of a breeze but it really is so fitting forjust how important

this day is. and it is similar in london. blue skies, a breeze which is chilly but we are right next to the thames. hms belfast, here it is in all its splendour. imagine what it would have been like on the d—day. hms belfast let the naval fleet. the first target was the german gun battery at ver—sur—mer and that meant trips could safely land ashore. she fired the second round to start the invasion. it should have been the first but it was delayed by a few minutes because they were doublechecking the a ccu ra cy they were doublechecking the a ccu ra cy of they were doublechecking the accuracy of their target. they knew how important that was they started firing at around 525 but studied in fa ct firing at around 525 but studied in fact at 527. i 1pm that day

casualties began arriving on board. on board there were three sergeants which could perform surgery on the casualties sadly coming back. this morning, it is a lovely start to the day in london. chilly and breezy. the forecast is one of sunshine and showers. some of the showers heavy but not all of us will catch on. more sunshine in the south—east than yesterday. low pressure dominating our weather. it has been coming up from the continent overnight and moving up the north sea. a few showers along the east coast but most of it in scotland. rang continuing across northern scotland. not as wet as it was in northern ireland yesterday where we had a month worth of rain falling. a mixture of sunshine and showers. some heavy and thundering. 10—11 in

the north, 19—20 in the south. overnight, the rain will move away, many of the showers will fade but by the end of the night, we have got storm miguel, named by the spanish met service, through spain into central southern england and wales. if we focus on that for tomorrow morning, it will bring heavy rain and gusty winds and it will continue to advance northwards as we go through the day. for the far north of scotland, a drier and brighter start to the day with a few showers and behind that band of rain, as it pushes out of england, some torrential downpours and also some thunderstorms as well. pretty windy behind that system going north with gusts of 50 miles per hour across the english channel but particularly around the channel islands. it moves

north during saturday. behind it sunshine and heavy showers. windy across england and wales on saturday. possibly 50 miles per hour. back to today, and the weather from pat smith ver—sur—mer to, fairly calm conditions. risk of a shower in portsmouth in the next few hours but that is all it is. it is tomorrow that this tom comes up from france and brings all that rain. thank you very much. a bit breezy but beautiful here. taking pride of place in today's events will be the veterans who fought at d—day. nearly 300 of them have sailed here, to northern france, on board a specially chartered ship, which was given a send off from portsmouth yesterday.

robert hall was with them. you will be able to see mulberry harbourin you will be able to see mulberry harbour in the background to help enable the trips to get on land. much more from ver—sur—mer and the ceremonies at arromanches. mv boudicca, the veterans have been travelling over from boudicca, the veterans have been travelling overfrom portsmouth on it. we had some of their stories. casting off in a port that was central to the d—day operation, the boudicca's decks packed with veterans still taking in a tribute which had exceeded all their expectations. jack mortimer was part of a team whose mission was to clear a path across the landing beaches. jack and the 300 veterans have had an eventful few days, defying their age to make the most of what might be

a one—off experience. i departed from southampton. and i was thinking, you can imagine all that covered in bombs of all kinds shapes and sizes. jack and the 300 vetera ns a broad shapes and sizes. jack and the 300 veterans abroad mv boudicca have had an eventful few days. a one—off experience. i don't know how to describe it all, it's absolutely beautiful. now it was the navy's turned to bid these pilgrims farewell. the prime minister joining these pilgrims farewell. the prime ministerjoining crewmembers these pilgrims farewell. the prime minister joining crewmembers from the aircraft carrier queen elizabeth then, out through portsmouth pierhead cheers and farewells from the crowds lining the seafront. the last salute from another veteran before thoughts turned to the solemn

moments ahead in the cemeteries in normandy. you realise everyone of those names is somebody‘s father and somebody‘s son. it feels a little bit... sorry... it makes you emotional. the past few days mv boudicca on have been busy and exhausting for the veterans. tonight, though the mood changes. our arrival on the coast of france will concentrate on their minds on the france they have lost and on the thousands who never came home. just down the coast from here is arromanches, which became known as port winston in the months after d—day. that was the nickname for the temporary harbour which became the main entry point for british troops — and their kit and supplies — as they fought their way across occupied europe.

lots going on in arromanches. we we re lots going on in arromanches. we were there this morning. two out temporary studio. lots of people gathering in honour of what happened 75 years ago. anna foster is there. good morning. it is a fantastic atmosphere. the site, as you say, when you want down to the beach this morning and walk out at that absolutely gorgeous weather, the calm sea so different to what it was 75 years ago this morning and there we re 75 years ago this morning and there were hundreds and hundreds of military vehicles on the speech, people from england and right around the country, americans. wartime music into the background, the occasional pass of a helicopter and of course you saw and heard that

wonderful lament played on the beach here at exactly 7:25am, 6:25am in the uk. the very first allied soldier stepping onto the beach. that was made by pipe major trevor macey—lillie, the line pipe up from the 19th regiment. how are you? nervous nervous. this is nothing compared to what you did up there. you have been building up to this moment for so long? totally. i was asked to participate to do this task. a month or so ago. looking down at that sea of faces, what goes through your mind? it wasn't nerve—racking. trying through your mind? it wasn't nerve— racking. trying to through your mind? it wasn't nerve—racking. trying to focus on the job and my legs were dancing. nerve—racking. trying to focus on the job and my legs were dancingm all the things you have done, you're

wearing a metal/ ireland, afghanistan — it sounds like that was something that made you the most nervous! the whole world media as well. that piece of music, either gladly, emotionalfor a well. that piece of music, either gladly, emotional for a scotsman well. that piece of music, either gladly, emotionalfor a scotsman to be here to mark such an important moment. bill played at 75 years ago to encourage his troops to go off the beach into enemy fire. it is incredible. to be surrounded by all of this and to be such a big part of it. a total honour. to start the celebrations for the veterans. it is their day, not our day. 75 years, it isa their day, not our day. 75 years, it is a long time coming for them. and

honour to talk to you. pipe major trevor macey—lillie who performed that lament. so much more to come through the morning but for now, it is time to get the news, weather and travel where you. good morning from bbc london news, i'm sonja jessup. the 75th anniversary of d—day is also being remembered here in the capital today. world war ii veterans will gather at hms belfast at tower bridge. the ship reportedly fired one of the first shots on the 6thjune1944 and provided important cover for the troops. at 11 o'clock today, guns will be fired to mark the anniversary. veteranjohn nichols has been sharing his memories with us. he lost much of his hearing in the battle. i think of them sometimes, all the time, like, you know, i think to myself, i might have finished up with half of my hearing loss, but they didn't only lose their hearing, lost, but they didn't only lose their hearing, they lost their lives, didn't they. people living on a social

housing estate in kensington are celebrating, after controversial plans to demolish it were scrapped. housing association clarion wanted to knock down most of the flats at the sutton estate as part of a regeneration scheme. it now says it will bring empty homes there back into use. campaigners have called it a "victory for social housing". passengers at heathrow airport will be able to keep their liquids and laptops inside their bags, once new security equipment is installed. the airport's investing £50 million in the computer tomography security scanner, which provide a clearer picture of a bag's contents. the airport says they'll be rolled out over the next few years. let's take a look at the travel situation now. we're off to a good start with the tube this morning. no reported problems on any of those lines there. south—western trains disrupted. from guilford to effinghamjunction.

it looks like services are improving though. and on the roads well it's mostly typical rush hour problems at the moment — as you can see, northbound traffic‘s slow as usual at the blackwall tunnel. in silvertown, there are southbound delays on connaught road heading towards london city airport, it's the roadworks round there slowing things down. now the weather with elizabeth rizzini. hello good morning. there's a little bit of a chill in the air this morning for some of us. the temperatures for many spots slipped back into single figures last night, but it will turn into a nice day of weather. there'll be lots of sunshine around and, for the vast majority it will be a dry day too. just the small chance of one or two showers. some of those showers could turn out to be on the sharp side. there could even be some lightning around as well. but it's a sunny start to the morning. if we do get any showers they are more likely to be towards the north—west, i think, as we head through the afternoon. a bit more fairweather cloud for the second half of the day. but still some decent spells of sunshine, a noticeable south—westerly breeze building, and top temperatures of 18

or 19 degrees celsius, and plenty of sunshine to end the day. overnight tonight, we will start to see some cloud creeping from the south—west. the wind will pick up and eventually we'll get some outbreaks of rain. temperatures holding in the double figures in the city centre. tomorrow turning very wet and very windy indeed. there will be some spells of sunshine as we end the day, but also some showers and then very gusty conditions for the first half of the weekend. i'm back with the latest from the bbc london newsroom in half an hour. plenty more on our website at the usual address. bye for now. good morning. welcome to breakfast, from normandy, at the start of a day of events marking the 75th anniversay of the d—day landings. on these beaches on 6june1944, more than 100,000 allied troops began their invasion

of nazi—occupied europe. the ceremonies this morning began with a lone piper marking the moment the first british soldiers came ashore. after a massive send—off in portsmouth, hundreds of normandy veterans have sailed to france to take part in services of remembrance. every one of those names is somebody‘s father or somebody‘s son. and it feels a little bit... sorry. it makes you emotional. here on what the generals codenamed gold beach, a memorial will be unveiled to hounour those under british command who died. we will bring you that ceremony, and the memories of some of those who were there 75 years ago. much of the focus of events here is

at arromanches today, just a few miles west down the coast, and i will be meeting some of the people behind this amazing event. good morning from london. we are on hms belfast this morning, the ship led the naval fleet to the normandy beaches on d—day. i will be telling you more about the role she played throughout the morning, but the weather today — sunshine and showers for most of us, with some heavy rain in the north. i will have more in 15 minutes. good morning. it is thursday 6june — d—day. behind me is gold beach. 75 years ago, the biggest seaborne invasion force in history gathered off this coast. 130,000 allied troops poured ashore. thousands more pa rachuted in behind enemy lines. many were to lose their lives. today, a series of events will be held to honour those who took part. graham satchell reports.

all along the normandy coast there are reminders of d—day. this is arromanches, humming to the sound of military vehicles. there will be a series of services and commemorations today, near the beach, in cathedrals, in cemeteries, as world leaders gather to honour surviving veterans. men like 94—year—old frankjenkinson. somebody shouted, keep running, keep running! and, believe me, you didn't need telling twice. suddenly, everything opened up, and i got hit. i got hit in the chest and in the arm. and i thought my time had come, i did. well, i don't think i'm a hero. to me, a hero is somebody who does something he doesn't have to do, in order — you know, puts himself in danger in order to do somebody else a good turn.

we were there, we knew whatjob we had to do, and we wanted to do it and not let anybody down. and that was it, really. archive: this is it. they're on the beach, plunging waist—deep into the sea... 75 years ago, the world held its breath as the first landing crafts made its way onto the beaches. the fighting was fierce, chaotic. 130,000 british, american, canadian and otherforces made up the biggest naval invasion in history. small normandy villages begin to fall into allied hands... by the end of the day, allied troops began to advance inland, and in the following weeks, more than 2 million troops from 12 countries were in france, fighting their way to berlin. there were 10,000 allied casualties on d—day itself, more than 4,000 dead. today, the courage of those who made the ultimate sacrifice to liberate europe will be remembered.

earlier, the sound of bagpipes marked the exact moment allied troops landed on gold beach, 75 years ago. pipe major trevor macey—lillie performed a short lament while standing on top of the remains of the temporary harbour which was towed across the channel to arromanches, allowing thousands more troops and millions of tons of equipment to be brought ashore. a series of events will be held throughout the day. later this morning here at ver—sur—mer, a sculpture will be unveiled to honour the 22,000 people who died during the normandy campaign. in one of her last major official duties as prime minister, theresa may willjoin the french president, emmanuel macron, at the service.

the royal british legion will then hold a service of remembrance at bayeux cathedral, that is around ten miles from here, before veterans parade to the town's main cemetery, where wreaths will be laid. in the afternoon, there will be services in arromanches to mark the royal air force's contribution, with fly—pasts from the red arrows and the battle of britain memorial flight. more than 250 d—day veterans are arriving in normandy by sea this morning to join the commemorations. they crossed the channel on a cruise ship, the mv boudicca, which has been specially commissioned by the royal british legion. she set off from portsmouth yesterday, accompanied by a guard of honour on the hms queen elizabeth, and with crowds of well—wishers lining the quayside. a pair of british d—day veterans, both aged in their mid—90s, have

repeated their historic parachute harry read and jock hutton both jumped in tandem with instructors from the army's red devils display team from one of the same dakota planes that dropped the first airborne assault troops on d—day. this footage shows the jump made by harry, who featured on yesterday's bbc breakfast. tim radford was just 15 years old when he signed up to the merchant navy. he lied about this age and took part in the d—day landings. and hejoins me now. what were you thinking at 15 years old? what was i thinking at 15 years old? what was i think 75 years ago? i wanted some of the action. i wanted to be involved. i wanted to go to see, first and

foremost. i didn't know that my first trip was going to be the invasion of europe, but i was happy to play a part in that. and what we re to play a part in that. and what were your memories of d—day? where did you come in? over here you see the remnants of the mulberry harbour, that's where i was. and that was floated in, wasn't it, to enable... all of that was towed in. the mulberry didn't get there by itself, every bit was towed across. so you came in, and what do you remember? initially we were seeking ships to make a framework with the breakwater, so that was quite hairy, because although the beaches had been taken when we arrived in the afternoon, we could see the fighting going on on shore, off the beach, but there were still german guns raining on us. and most of the ships, 7000 ships, the landing

craft, laid—back a mile or so to bombard. we had to be very close inshore, because we were scuttling these block ships, so we were more or less stationary. so we were an easy target, so we were shot at. we are hearing the band played next to this memorial, this will be officially unveiled a little later, we have president macron and theresa may at this unveiling. what does an event like this mean to you? everyone of these surviving vetera ns, everyone of these surviving veterans, you obviously feel a kinship and brotherhood with eve ryo ne kinship and brotherhood with everyone who was involved in that great endeavour. i think we all feel that the 22,000 odd lads who never came back need to be honoured and remembered. and their names will be here. and there needs to be a place where people can come and remember and reflect on what happened here,

and reflect on what happened here, and hopefully to ensure it never happens again. the memorial is important to us, because in a few yea rs important to us, because in a few years there won't be any of us left to tell the story, and the memorial will help to do that. you have been behind us on the shores —— behind a song, the shores of normandy, which has reached number one. yes, that is a surprise! well, people are grateful for what you have done for us. tell us about the song.” grateful for what you have done for us. tell us about the song. i wrote it when i came back and the contrast between our present seaside town and the battlefield i had seen as a boy was so. . . the battlefield i had seen as a boy was so... it moved me, and ifelti needed to record how i felt about it. we can listen to a bit. # as the yea rs it. we can listen to a bit. # as the years passed by, i can still recall.

# the men i saw that day. # who died upon that bloodsoa ked # the men i saw that day. # who died upon that bloodsoaked sand when our sweet children play. # and those of you who have lived in liberty, remember those who made it so on the shores of normandy. how important is it that we know what happened here? i think it's very important. i think... lots of young people nowadays know very little about the war, or what they know they get from war, or what they know they get from warfilms. war, or what they know they get from war films. do you feel comfortable talking about it? we hear so often that vetera ns talking about it? we hear so often that veterans just don't talk about that veterans just don't talk about that part of their lives.” that veterans just don't talk about that part of their lives. i think that's true, i think most of us haven't talked about it for many

yea rs. after haven't talked about it for many years. after the war we got on with our lives and put it aside, and you only talk about it to other vetera ns, only talk about it to other veterans, because otherwise you have so much background to explain. you couldn't talk about it easily. but since i retired, i talk about it more, and especially through the normandy veterans association, and vetera ns for normandy veterans association, and veterans for piece, which i am also involved in, we going into schools and try and talk about it —— peace. we say this is a terrible, you must make damp sure it never happens again. defend yourself, by all means, but don't get involved in offensive was, because this is what it leads to. it is an honour to talk to you. my pleasure. later this morning on bbc one there will be a special programme, d—day 75: remembering the fallen, live from bayeux war cemetery. right now, it is time for a look at the rest of the day's news, with ben.

and we will be right back with naga a little later for more of those incredible stories and for that ceremony which gets under way later to inaugurate the british normandy memorial. in other news: the bbc understands that ford will announce the closure of its engine plant in bridgend, after the company called union leaders to a meeting at its headquarters later this morning. the plant has been under threat because of falling demand for the two engines it makes. it employs 1,700 people, with many more jobs in the supply chain in south wales. voting in the peterborough by—election is due to get under way in the next hour. the election was triggered when the former labour mp fiona 0nasa nya was removed from office. 15 candidates are standing. the result is expected in the early hours of tomorrow. an inquiry into a failed nhs trust is expected to be announced by the department of health later, following concerns that 150 deaths

were not properly investigated. a review into liverpool community health last year found that it was dysfunctional from the outset, and patients suffered unnecessary harm. the trust no longer exists, and most of its services are now run by nhs mersey care. companies should encourage their employees to take up lunchtime classes such as spinning or yoga to beat obesity. the national institute for health and care excellence says workplaces could highlight local gym classes in an effort to encourage healthier lifestyles. other measures include holding meetings standing up and asking staff to use the stairs instead of lifts. it's a win for employees, because they'll get more exercise, they'll lose weight, they'll be fitter. it's also a benefit to employers, because staff are more engaged, they're healthier, they'll take less time off work, and they'll be more productive, when they've spent a bit of time over lunch doing some exercise. young people are less likely to move

away from home in search of better—paid jobs because potential salary gains are swallowed by rent prices. the think tank the resolution foundation says that young people can no longer afford to move to cities, where wages are higher. the number of people aged 25 to 34 starting a newjob and moving home has nearly halved over the last two decades. i think there is a perception today that young people are on the move, whether changing homes or jobs that young people are on the move, whether changing homes orjobs but thatis whether changing homes orjobs but that is not the case. young people are moving far less and it has impacted on the economy and their living standards. two of donald trump's sons enjoyed a pub crawl in the west of ireland last night after the us president and his entourage arrived for a two—day visit. eric and donald jr were given a warm welcome in doonbeg, where their father has a golf resort. our ireland correspondent chris page was there. his report contains flash photography.

hey! this is a corner of ireland where there aren't anti—trump protests. instead, there is pro—trump partying in pubs. so let me ask you a question — does doonbeg love trump? cheering. there began a tour of doonbeg's five bars by the president's two sons, followed by dozens of selfie—snapping, sometimes flag—waving local people. that is not to mention the rough—and—ready media scrum and a determined troupe of security staff marshalling the slight chaos. reporter: what do you think of the welcome, mr trump? it's been incredible. this golf resort is the reason why the trumps are so popular here. they bought it five years ago, when it was financially failing. it sustains many much—needed jobs in the area, so businesspeople are hoping the presidential visit will generate worldwide interest in this coastal community. well, in this village, the visit of president trump to ireland isn't controversial. in fact, it is a carnival.

goodnight. there will be demonstrations in some irish cities today, but it is a different story in doonbeg. so thank you, thank you for the support, guys. thank you. chris page, bbc news, in the west of ireland. well, there you go. we will bring you the ceremony from ver—sur—mer a little later but first let's check in with carole on board hms belfast on the river thames in central london. you have been finding out the role the crew played on the day landings. we can find out somewhat nigel steele, an historian on hms belfast. good morning. what do you do on belfast. good morning. what do you doona belfast. good morning. what do you do on a ship like this? to find the best and most powerful stories to give visitors. what was hms

belfast‘s role? give visitors. what was hms belfast's role? the lead bombardment ship for the area. it was herjob to lead the bombardment of all the ships on shore. she was more than just that. yes, she had a bigger role because hms belfast carried an admiral whose job it was to command the whole of the naval force in the area. it commanded the shore and operated as head office. it was very frustrating for the crew that they we re frustrating for the crew that they were not able to fire the first shell but the captain and gallery officer were doublechecking and that delayed their fire by two minutes and hms orion fired the first shots. it was still given the honour. action stations at five o'clock for the crew on board? they had been at their stations for some time. six

miles offshore at five o'clock, the ship stopped moving. the group would have known, that things were about to happen. the tension would have risen even if they could not see things, if they were locked in the engine room or whatever. they waited and waited, got more tense until the guns started firing. for now, thank you very much indeed. i cannot even begin to imagine what it would be like standing in the bridge where we are looking out there, terrifying. blue skies this morning, breezy and chilly. for most of us are forecast of sunshine and some of the show is heavy. rain in the forecast for scotland. dominating our weather. coming up from the continent up the north sea

and moving across scotland. away from that rain in the north, a mixture of bright spells, cloud and also sunny spells and some showers. some of the showers heavy and thundery. a chance of staying dry in the south—east and not as wet as yesterday in northern ireland when they had a months fall in just a few hours. as we head on through the evening and overnight, many of the showers will fade, the rain will clear but the second half of the night, heavy rain from the near continent, from france, moving into central southern england and also into parts of wales and it will be mastery around this. into tomorrow, that band of rain with gusts, quite high gusts actually, moving

northwards and getting into parts of northern ireland and southern scotland. ahead of it, for the north, looking at some bright spells and also showers. behind it, torrential thundery showers for southern england and south wales. strong gusts across the english channel, especially the channel islands and the english channel coast. by saturday, for england and wales sunshine and showers but also fairly windy conditions even in land. possibly 50 miles per hour. acted today, and if you look at the forecast for portsmouth and across to the normandy beaches, the forecast is affair. for many of us try with the smallest of showers in the next few hours for portsmouth, maybe a few afternoon showers in ver—sur—mer. tomorrow, storm miguel, so named by the spanish met service

will come up from fascinating to get what different roles these ships had. we get a real sense of that when the ceremony began just after 7:30 in ver—sur—mer. one of the logistic problems was how to get the vast number of men, vehicles and equipment onto shore in france before they managed to recapture some of the poles along the french coast and so they came up with a pretty ingenious answer, a temporary floating harbour. they toted across the english channel to arromanches. i really brilliant bit of engineering and intended just to be temporary but served for ten months and some of them still there behind you today? it is extraordinary when you today? it is extraordinary when you think of the amount of men,

supplies, the logistics here. this was absolutely key, notjust to d—day but to the further invasion of normandy. had they not had this temporary harbour, that is how things work. these concrete blocks still exist as a lasting reminder of when they were towed across the channel from england. they brought ships, fitted up with explosives and assigned them around the outside just to be able to provide that really clear area where they could bring everything into the beach and to be able to look at now and see them this morning, even where the piper was playing, on the beach that, you can only imagine the feat of engineering to get that into place. the beach itself isjust an absolute hive of activity. hundreds of military vehicle brought down here, lined up all the way along and

have been a first light. so many people have turned out to inspect them, wearing traditional military address. i have sat nixon here richard, his dad, you have a bike. good morning and susan, looking beautiful in your stripes. tell me about the history of this bike. 1943 royal mp, it was dropped out of the plane last week. this was hurriedly put together about two weeks ago and we have had it for about 15 years and congratulations! so he wrote it for this week so it has been great. i have watched your valiant efforts from keeping it from sinking. what a morning to be in the heart of this, just to think about what was happening here 75 years ago. just to think about what was happening here 75 years agom just to think about what was happening here 75 years ago. it is quite overwhelming. we will continue

to do it as long as we can. it has given us ourfreedom. i hope to do it as long as we can. it has given us our freedom. i hope you enjoyed today. so much going on and so much to see here at arromanches. we will bring you that service very soon. we will bring you that service very soon. here later on today, they will bea soon. here later on today, they will be a parade, you can hear the wartime music already here. a real celebratory field here. we will be back with you a little later. some really wonderful scenes on the beach in arromanches. we will be back with the service of remembrance but first the service of remembrance but first the news and weather where you are this morning. good morning from bbc london news, i'm sonja jessup. the 75th anniversary of d—day is also being remembered here in the capital today. world war ii veterans will gather

at hms belfast at tower bridge. the ship reportedly fired one of the first shots on the 6thjune1944 and provided important cover for the troops. at 11 o'clock today, guns will be fired to mark the anniversary. veteranjohn nichols has been sharing his memories with us. he lost much of his hearing in the battle. i think of them sometimes, all the time, like, you know, i think to myself, i might have finished up with half of my hearing lost, but they didn't only lose their hearing, they lost their lives, didn't they. people living on a social housing estate in kensington are celebrating, after controversial plans to demolish it were scrapped. housing association clarion wanted to knock down most of the flats at the sutton estate as part of a regeneration scheme. it now says it will bring empty homes there back into use. campaigners have called it a "victory for social housing". passengers at heathrow airport will be able to keep their liquids and laptops inside their bags,

once new security equipment is installed. the airport's investing £50 million in the computer tomography security scanner, which provide a clearer picture of a bag's contents. the airport says they'll be rolled out over the next few years. let's take a look at the travel situation now. we're off to a good start with the tube this morning. no reported problems on any of those lines there. south—western trains disrupted. from guilford to effinghamjunction. they had an earlier problem with breaks. and on the roads well it's mostly typical rush hour problems at the moment — as you can see, northbound traffic‘s slow as usual at the blackwall tunnel. now the weather with elizabeth rizzini. hello good morning. there's a little bit of a chill in the air this morning for some of us. the temperatures for many spots

slipped back into single figures last night, but it will turn into a nice day of weather. there'll be lots of sunshine around and, for the vast majority it will be a dry day too. just the small chance of one or two showers. some of those showers could turn out to be on the sharp side. there could even be some lightning around as well. but it's a sunny start to the morning. if we do get any showers they are more likely to be towards the north—west, i think, as we head through the afternoon. a bit more fairweather cloud for the second half of the day. but still some decent spells of sunshine, a noticeable south—westerly breeze building, and top temperatures of 18 or 19 degrees celsius, and plenty of sunshine to end the day. overnight tonight, we will start to see some cloud creeping from the south—west. the wind will pick up and eventually we'll get some outbreaks of rain. temperatures holding in the double figures in the city centre. tomorrow turning very wet and very windy indeed. there will be some spells of sunshine as we end the day, but also some showers and then very gusty conditions for the first half of the weekend. i'm back with the latest from the bbc london newsroom

in half an hour. bye for now. hello, this is breakfast. we have a special programme this morning looking back at the events to mark the 75th anniversary of the d—day landings. it was on this day in 1945 when the landings in europe commenced. the ceremony is getting under way in commenced. the ceremony is getting underway ina commenced. the ceremony is getting under way in a few minutes to commemorate the british normandy memorial. prime minister theresa may arriving, her last major official duty as prime minister, that ceremony getting under way to mark and commemorate the lives of 22,442

men and women who died under british command during the d—day landings. and the subsequent battle for normandy, that battle lasting until 31 august 1944, huge death toll. more than 22,000 men and women dying, and also many french civilians. with me is giles milton, author of d—day: the soldiers' stories. give us a sense of what we will see and hear, i know you were in portsmouth for the ceremony there. it is the stories we hear, the stories of incredible bravery and terrorism, and despite all of these master plans, these grand plans —— heroism, despite all these grand plans, months in the making, the individual decisions that soldiers made. so many veterans will be there, they are all in their 90s now, and the young lads of 16, 17, 18 years of age, stormed the

normandy beaches. it was a terrifying experience to be in a landing craft, very rough in the channel at night, they had been suffering from terrible seasickness, with machine—gun fire, mortarfire, the ramp goes down and they have to run out —— run out and across the beach under withering german machine—gun fire. absolutely petrified. we have heard the stories from veterans who talk about thousands of guns and bullets, and it is really hard to comprehend, just the scale of that assault, and in many cases these soldiers got off these lending crops and were up to their necks in water, wading through with heavy equipment and under fire at the same time. and you have to remember these beaches had german strong points, machine—gun nests, it was called the atlantic wall, for good reason, this was so heavily fortified. to be an infantryman trying to storm these concrete bunkers was a very tall order. and many of these men very young, 15, 16

yea rs old many of these men very young, 15, 16 years old in many cases. they were teenagers, at the time they were going to assure they look like schoolkids, many of them were just out of school. and also many of them never experienced a battle before, many had never fired a never experienced a battle before, many had neverfired a gun in anger before, in battle before. so to do this was, you know, it required extraordinary acts of courage. as we said, this memorial which will be unveiled this morning, there are two parts of this memorial, the statue, the bronze sculpture of three british soldiers, but also subsequently they will build a big memorial, i memorialwhich subsequently they will build a big memorial, i memorial which will hold the names of more than 20,000 men and women who died. you have this permanent memorial, how significant is it, and talk us through the location. why there? it is setjust behind one of the landing beaches, gold beach, primarily a british landing beach. we are talking quite rightly about d—day, but after d—day, there was a whole to battle

to come. and the men who fell in the long and bloodied battle to capture normandy and take the battle across france and into germany. am i right in thinking the battle for normandy was only declared over when paris was only declared over when paris was liberated. we tend to think of d—day as a few days of those landings on the beaches, but that was a long campaign. yes, and they had very ambitious plans for the beachhead, that they hoped these young soldiers would carve out on the day. of course, theyjust couldn't meet their targets, so they we re couldn't meet their targets, so they were meant to capture the city of bayeux, the city of bayeux to —— caen. and we have been looking at the mulberry harbours, the remains of what was designed to be

temporary, and some still there today. those were so important because as you touched on it took a long time to be able to recapture the ports that were needed to get in supplies and men and food. and this was vital, 156,000 supplies and men and food. and this was vital,156,000 men supplies and men and food. and this was vital, 156,000 men landed supplies and men and food. and this was vital,156,000 men landed on d—day itself, but waiting in the south of england were millions more men and tons of equipment, tanks, heavy guns and everything, all of this had to be brought across to france into the beachhead, which could then be used to take the battle out to the german enemy.” just want to remind viewers who might be tuning in this morning, we have a special programme this morning commemorating the 75th anniversary of the d—day landings. the pictures you are looking at this morning are on the normandy coast. just very close to what was known as gold beach, one of the three beaches on which british forces landed during those d—day landings. 75 yea rs during those d—day landings. 75 years ago today, on sixjune1944.

prime minister theresa may waiting for arrivals. we expect the french president, macron, and many of the people who have made the journey. you can see in the background some of the mulberry harbours, the temporary ports which were dragged across the english channel to allow resources , across the english channel to allow resources, men, cargo, equipment, to get onshore. this morning, our reporter is there for us, also hosting the veterans and vehicles used in those landings. to give you a sense of what is going on there. we are waiting for that ceremony. you can see gathered veterans, dignitaries, local officials, as we said, waiting for the french president macron and prime minister theresa may, who is there. let me bring giles milton back in, the

historian and brighter. we were just talking about the huge death toll during the landings, and then the subsequent campaign. what we will also hear this morning ‘s remembrance of the french civilians. normandy devastated during this campaign, many french civilians caught up in the fighting, and the casualties were extensive. and i am sure many viewers will have perhaps visited the normandy coastline, and it is studied with little villages, these villages were all inhabited, families live there, and they found themselves under the heaviest naval bombardment in history. they had no idea this was coming. so many of

them lost their lives, and it is almost as if they have been written out of the story, but not only did they suffer as civilians, but of course the french resistance as well was working on behalf of the allies, with the allies, to blow up key bridges, to destroy railway junctions, to do anything they could to stop the germans being able to train advance into the allied beachhead and push the allies into the sea. and many of us will have heard that phrase, the longest day, explain the significance of that. those first 24 hours were absolutely vital, won't they? they were, it was said that if the allies succeeded in landing and creating a beachhead on sixjune, landing and creating a beachhead on six june, than they landing and creating a beachhead on sixjune, than they would almost certainly wind the second world war. even field marshal rommel, the head of the german army, he said as much himself. he knew if they could establish a beachhead they could land so many millions of men, so much equipment, into normandy, that the war was going to be over for the germans. we will keep an eye on these events in ver—sur—mer, but as we are reporting the 75th anniversary of the d—day landings, i just want to remind you a bit about what happened to me five years ago on six june 1944. the what happened to me five years ago on sixjune1944. the bbc was reporting the news events, they did so reporting the news events, they did so just after reporting the news events, they did sojust after eight reporting the news events, they did so just after eight a.m.. remember, these landings began just after 6:30

a.m.. news of the d—day landings was broken to the nation in a special radio report. it has been recreated for us by the actor benedict cumberbatch. between 0630 and 0730 hours this morning, two naval task forces commanded by rear admiral sir philip von, flying this flag... three enemy torpedo boats with armed trawlers in company attempted to interfere with the operation and we re interfere with the operation and were promptly driven off. one enemy trawler was sunk and another severely damaged. the assault forces moved towards the beach under cover of heavy bombardment by destroyers and support craft, and gliders carrying large forces of troops also made successful landings at a number of points. reports show that our forces succeeded in their initial landings. fighting continues. light, medium and heavy fighter—bombers continued in very great strength

throughout the day, with attacks on gun emplacements, defensive works and communications. naval casualties we re and communications. naval casualties were regarded as being very light, especially when the magnitude of the operation was taken into account. benedict cumberbatch with the recreation of the first news that was reported on the bbc, news of those d—day landings on sixjune 1944. the images you are looking at in ver—sur—mer on the normandy coast, prime minister theresa may and many veterans who have made the journey from the commemoration in portsmouth yesterday arriving on the normandy coast for a special ceremony. this ceremony will inaugurate a site in ver—sur—mer for the british normandy memorial. that memorial will take place, will be created over the coming year. it is expected to be completed by the summer expected to be completed by the summer of next year. at the centre of that memorial is a statue. that statue will be unveiled today, of

three british soldiers made out of bronze. and then surrounding that will be a number of stone plinths bearing the names of 22,000 men and women who died under british command during d—day. giles milton is with me, author of d—day, the soldiers' story. i think when we think of d—day, we often think of men landing in the surf and storming the beaches, but of course this was a great joined beaches, but of course this was a greatjoined up beaches, but of course this was a great joined up operation beaches, but of course this was a greatjoined up operation involving, like you say, air, sea and land. there were 7000 ships involved, 12,000 planes involved, and this memorial really seeks, i think, to honour all of those people. and giles, just bear with me. as we can

see, the french president, macron, arriving in ver—sur—mer and being greeted by british prime minister theresa may for the start of the ceremony which is due to get under way any time now. as we know, they we re way any time now. as we know, they were both in portsmouth yesterday for the special celebration there. today, perhaps a much more sombre experience. yesterday really a celebration of the stories of those vetera ns, celebration of the stories of those veterans, and paying respect to the service that they gave. what we will see this morning is a more sombre ceremony, to dedicate the site of the memorial, the british normandy memorial, that really will give us a sense of the scale of the loss on that day and the subsequent days in the battle for normandy. we talk about those d—day landings as just being six june 1944, but about those d—day landings as just being sixjune1944, but remember, along, protracted, painful battle which took place, only officially

ending when paris was liberated by allied forces. the site at ver—sur—mer, just off the normandy coast, overlooking what was gold beach, one of the three beaches that we re beach, one of the three beaches that were invaded by allied forces. two others, of course, utah and omaha, invaded by american forces. giles is still with me, the author and historian giles milton. when we look at these pictures, this gives us a sense of the significance. you were in portsmouth yesterday, but today are much more sombre atmosphere. yes, there were 300 veterans there and really i think they were just delighted to be there to celebrate stop and i think today they will be remembering the fallen, the friends they lost on the beaches, some men of course never even got ashore. they landing craft landed too far off the coast, theyjumped in the water and they drowned because they

we re water and they drowned because they were wearing very water and they drowned because they were wearing very heavy packs and the water was too deep for them. i think this will be today capturing that mood of remembering those who lost their lives. and this is a british normandy memorial, but at the same time we have to remember this was a very multinational, very co—ordinated campaign, wasn't it? as i touched on, american forces landing on two of the other beaches, canadian forces, french forces, as well as those coming by sea, many airmen dropped enemy lines as well. it was interesting to see the flags of all the nations who took part. many other nations, the french, the norwegians, polls, they were all involved in d—day. so it was a remarkable spirit of allied cooperation —— poles. that enabled them to succeed. we are looking at them to succeed. we are looking at the images of the ceremony about to begin. on the front row we can see french president and british prime minister, her last major official duty as prime minister. so we will just cross over to ver—sur—mer where that ceremony is getting under way.

we can listen. madam prime minister, mr president, members of the normandy veterans association, distinguished guests, lords, ladies and gentlemen. general sir bernard montgomery, commander—in—chief allied land forces, in a personal message to all forces on the fifth ofjune1944, message to all forces on the fifth of june 1944, wrote, message to all forces on the fifth ofjune1944, wrote, to us is given the honour of striking a blow for freedom, which will live in history, and in better days that lie ahead. men will speak of pride of our doings. today is a better day. as the sun rises over ver—sur—mer, we gather to commemorate the events of

75 years ago. we give thanks for those who serve by land, sea and air in the armed forces or auxiliary organisations between five june and 31 august 1944. who, to paraphrase churchill's words, were allowed each, according to their station, to play a part in making those days memorable. operation overlord was the largest amphibious landing ever seen in military history. the courage and determination of the soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines on land, at sea and in the air, on six of

june, 1944, paved the way for the successful normandy campaign and at the end of the second world war. 22,000 442 service men and women, under british command, lost their lives in normandy, as did many thousands of french civilians. it is only right and proper that their sacrifice and a service is acknowledged and commemorated here as we gather to inaugurate this site of this british normandy memorial. we pray that it may be a unifying, commemorative focus of this extraordinary campaign.

would you please be seated, ladies and gentlemen. it all came down to a bunch of 18 to

20—year—old. they were magnificently trained and equipped and supported but only a few of them had ever been in combat. only a few had ever killed or seen a body killed. they we re killed or seen a body killed. they were citizen soldiers, not professionals. none of them wanted to be part of another war but when the test came, when freedom had to be fought for or abandoned, they fought. they were soldiers of democracy, they were the men of d—day and to them we owe our freedom.

translation: it is an honour today to be with you today, prime minister, dear theresa may, to watch the construction of british normandy memorial ver—sur—mer at. this memorial, we have been imagining it for a long time. from ourfirst meeting in 2017, we launched the

british — french summit and now here we. 1.5 years later at gold beach, where, 75 years ago, six ofjune 1944, nearly 25,000 british soldiers landed to free france from nazi occupation. young people, many had never been on french soil and as a book risks, landing early in the morning under german fire, moving forward on beach full of minds and obstacles. on the evening of the sixth ofjune we began to see victory. the junction with the canadian port. then the very next

day, one of the first towns to be liberated from the barbaric occupation of the reich. sixth of june, 19 44, more than 400 british people and soldiers were killed and injured for the freedom of their french brothers. this monument will be built in their honour and more generally in the honour of the 22,000 soldiers under british command who lost their lives in the normandy battle. and also the civil victims. indeed we have to repair this anomaly whereby there was no place honouring the contribution of the uk in the normandy battle so, on behalf of the past, because it was

intolerable that the sacrifice of these young people should be kind of deleted from the collective memory, into the name of the future, because it is looking at our future and bending before those two whom we owe our freedom, with whom we can envisage our future with confidence. this monument will also be a great symbol of the significant links between our two nations, france and the uk. nothing will ever raise theirs. nothing will ever take away those links built, the shared values, the debates of the present in no way take away from the past. on the contrary, from this part of our shared past in common future, always, we have ensured the relationship between our two

countries should be under the seal of confidence, friendship and i will a lwa ys of confidence, friendship and i will always continue along that path because our history is beyond us, we owe our freedom to our veterans. we will never surrender, whatever it ta kes, will never surrender, whatever it takes, we will stand together because this is our common destiny. ona because this is our common destiny. on a personal level, may i say to theresa may how much friendship i feel for her and what a pressure it has been to work with her in confidence and trust. leaders come and go but the work they do continues and the power of our link goes beyond the events of a given

moment. dear theresa may, goes beyond the events of a given moment. deartheresa may, i goes beyond the events of a given moment. dear theresa may, i believe we can be proud of the work we have done together, the causes we have supported together, in our two countries and internationally also. we can be proud of the results achieved and this memorial is not the least example of it. and i thank you for that. long live friendship between our two countries and thank you. to all those men and women who fought so that french soil could once again be free. applause thank you, president macron, for your support to ensure a lasting

monument to the service and sacrifice of those who fought in the battle of normandy. something which means so battle of normandy. something which means so much to battle of normandy. something which means so much to our battle of normandy. something which means so much to our veteran community and to the whole of the british nation. it is incredibly moving to be here today. looking out across beaches were one of the greatest battles for freedom this world has ever known took place. and it is truly humbling to do so with the men who were that day. it is an honourfor the men who were that day. it is an honour for all of the men who were that day. it is an honourfor all of us to the men who were that day. it is an honour for all of us to share this moment with you. standing here, as the waves wash quietly onto the shore below us, it is almost impossible to grasp the raw courage it must have taken that day to leap from landing craft and into the surf, despite the fury of battle. no—one could be certain what the sixth ofjune, 1944 could bring,

no—one would know how this, the most ambitious and phoebe on an airborne mission would turn out. and as the sun rose this morning, not one of the trips on the landing craft, not one of the pilots in the skies above, not one of the sailors and see, new whether they would still be alive when the sunset once again. if one day can be said to have determined the fate of generations to come, in france, in britain, in europe and the world, that day was the sixth ofjune, 1944. more than 156,000 men landed on the d—day, of which 83,000 were from britain and the commonwealth. over a quarter

million more supported operations from an ansi while the french resista nce from an ansi while the french resistance carried out extraordinary a cts resistance carried out extraordinary acts of bravery behind enemy lines. —— from airand acts of bravery behind enemy lines. —— from air and sea. many are terribly wounded and many made the ultimate sacrifice that day and ended the fierce fighting that followed is to gather our allied nations sought to release europe from the grip of fascism. men, like the lieutenant in the light infantry, 28 years old, husband, father to be, thought to be the first allied soldier killed in action after leading the charge over the bridge. one killed on the approach three weeks before his brother was also killed in normandy.

and tweens, 21, who both served in the raf and were shot down and buried separately. their names will now be reunited here. these young men belong to a very special generation, the greatest generation. a generation whose unconquerable spirit shaped our postwar world. they did not boast, they did not fuss, they served. they did their duty and they lay down their lives so duty and they lay down their lives so that we might have a better life and build a better world. the memorial that we built here will remind us of this, of the service and sacrifice of those who fell under british command in normandy, of the price paid by french civilians and of our duty and our

responsibility to now carry the torch for freedom, responsibility to now carry the torch forfreedom, for responsibility to now carry the torch for freedom, for peace and for democracy. i want to thank all those involved in this memorial. the vetera ns involved in this memorial. the veterans who have campaigned so hard to make it happen. the people of bayeux war —— ver—sur—mer and the town's mayor. in normandy, the names of those british men and women who gave their lives in defence of freedom will forever sit opposite their homeland across the channel, along with those of our allies here in normandy we will always remember the courage, the commitment, their conviction and to our veterans here in normandy today, i want to say the only words we can, thank you. applause

here, on a gently sloping hillside above gold beach, with a commanding view over the landing areas, we gather to give thanks to almighty god for the loyal service given to crown and country by all who served in the battle of normandy. we commemorate the victory of the few achieved on land, at sea, and in the air. for the liberation of the many. and to bless and dedicate this british normandy memorial. let us pray. eternal god, you are the

shepherd of our souls, the giver of everlasting life, on this day when we commemorate and commend to you those who lived and died in the service of others we are glad to remember that your purposes for us are good, that you gavejesus christ for the life of the world. and that you lead us by his holy spirit into the paths of righteousness and peace. amen. would you please stand? we dedicate this memorial to the memory of those who lost their lives in the battle of normandy. and whose names will be recorded here. for

those whom we knew, for those whose memory we treasure, and who lived and died in the service of their country.

french national anthem plays.

music: god save the queen.

normandy veterans, salute.

you're watching a special edition of bbc breakfast here today. the statue has been unveiled at the first stone of the future memorial is going to be laid in the presence of vetera ns is going to be laid in the presence of veterans and the british prime minister, theresa may, and the french prime minister, emmanuel macron. it has been a very emotional morning this morning. we heard from the piper, major paul burns, from the piper, major paul burns, from the royal dragoon guards, honouring those who committed their lives so that we could live hours. the 23,000

british troops who died here in normandy. theresa may has said thank you and paid tribute to all of those taking part. saying it has been incredibly moving to be here today. and this memorial will remind us of the service and the sacrifice of those who fell. president macron also gave an address. and we also heard during the ceremony from private liam dawson, who gave a reading. his father and his uncles we re reading. his father and his uncles were ina reading. his father and his uncles were in a regiment which was a predecessor to the yorkshire regiment. this memorial will record the names of all of those under british command who lost their lives in normandy between the d—day landings and the 31st of august 1944. it has been an incredibly moving morning. graham satchell has the story of the morning so far.

6:30am this morning, and a lone piper marks the moment british forces started their attack 75 years ago. along the coast, a statue, it shows three ordinary soldiers fighting their way up the beach. the prime minister, theresa may, french president, emmanuel macron, joined d—day veterans for the inauguration. these young men belong to a very special generation, the greatest generation. a generation whose unconquerable spirit shaped our post—war world. unconquerable spirit shaped our post-war world. this is the first in a series of services and commemorations today, as world leaders gather to honour surviving vetera ns. leaders gather to honour surviving veterans. men like 94—year—old frank jenkinson. somebody shouted, "keep running, keep running!" and believe me, you didn't need telling twice. suddenly everything opened up and i got hit.

i got hit in the chest and in the arm. and i thought my time had come, i did. well, i don't think i'm a hero. to me a hero is somebody who does something he doesn't have to do. you know, puts himself in danger in order to do somebody else a good turn. we were there, we knew whatjob we had to do, and we wanted to do it and not let anybody down. and that was it, really. archive: this is it. they're on the beach, plunging waist—deep into the sea. 75 years ago, the world held its breath as the first landing crafts made their way onto the beaches. the fighting was fierce, chaotic. 130,000 british, american, canadian and otherforces made up the biggest naval invasion in history. small normandy villages begin

to fall into allied hands. by the end of the day, allied troops had begun to advance inland, and in the following weeks, more than two million troops from 12 countries were in france, fighting their way to berlin. there were 10,000 allied casualties on d—day itself, more than 4000 dead. today, the courage of those who made the ultimate sacrifice to liberate europe will be remembered. graham satchell, bbc news. in the last few moments at ver—sur—mer, statue was unveiled. in one of her last official duties, the mayjoint one of her last official duties, the may joint emmanuel macron for the service. and in around an hour, the royal british legion will hold a service of remembrance at bayeux cathedral, ten miles from here, and then there will be paraded in the

main cemetery, where reeds will be laid. in the afternoon, there'll be services in arromanches to mark the royal air force's contribution, with fly—pasts from the red arrows and the battle of britain memorial flight. more than 250 d—day veterans arrived in normandy by sea this morning to join the commemorations. they crossed the channel on a cruise ship, the mv boudicca, which has been specially commissioned by the royal british legion. she set off from portsmouth yesterday, accompanied by a guard of honour on the hms queen elizabeth, and with crowds of well—wishers lining the quayside. a pair of british d—day veterans, both aged in their mid—90s, have repeated the historic parachute landings of 75 years ago. harry read and jock hutton both jumped in tandem with instructors from the army's red devils display team, from one of the same dakota planes that dropped the first airborne assault troops on d—day. this footage shows the jump made

by harry, who featured on yesterday's bbc breakfast. let me tell you a bit about where we are on ver—sur—mer. gold beach is just behind us. and an idea of the numbers from 75 years ago. the normandy campaign took about 77 days and there were about 200,000 casualties, either killed, injured or captured, of allies. 20,000 died under british command. 30,000 citizens in normandy were killed during the campaign. and 120,000 buildings destroyed. 250,000 people we re buildings destroyed. 250,000 people were made homeless. that is the impact of what happened here 75 yea rs impact of what happened here 75 years ago. it was one of the most brutal and bloody battles of the second world war and arromanches near here, where we have seen a flag

ceremony taking place, and as we left this morning on our way here, we saw vehicles massing, and people re—enacting, dressed in uniforms, commemorating those who fought on those beaches. and the spirit of the town as well reflecting just how much respect there is for those who fought for us, for our freedoms, many dressed in uniforms from the day, and we can see those scenes there. it is sunny here this morning. slightly breezy. in stark contrast to what it was like 75 yea rs contrast to what it was like 75 years ago. and as carol was saying yesterday, d—day was delayed by one day because of the weather forecast. that was so crucial in deciding exactly how the events took place. carol is on board hms belfast this morning. a very special vessel, one of the first warships to be part of the naval bombardment on german defences in normandy. carol, tell us what is

happening. you are right, it was important, and we have similar weather conditions to your cell here in london. the sun is beating down and it is chilly and breezy, but essentially a beautiful day. hms belfast, we were trying to picture it 75 years ago, how it would have felt, because of course by now the invasion would have started. can you imagine how terrifying it must have been? being on any of the land carriers, the ships, being in the troops, running along the beaches, with all your kit. it is hard enough running up the beaches in a swimming costu me, running up the beaches in a swimming costume, much less having all of that on your back. the other thing that on your back. the other thing that we watched this morning from hms belfast was the flag being raised. it is the unionjack and it goes up every morning at eight o'clock and it can only be called a unionjack o'clock and it can only be called a union jack on a o'clock and it can only be called a unionjack on a warship, and this is the only one in london. otherwise it is known as a union flag, of course. it is blowing in the breeze and the forecast for many of us is for

sunshine and showers. some of the showers will be heavy and pantry and not all of us will catch one. we have rain in the far north of scotla nd have rain in the far north of scotland courtesy of an area of low pressure which has been moving up the north sea overnight. it is bringing some rain to the far north. in the final, we could see patchy rain coming in across eastern england. this morning we have got a bright start or a sunny start. by bright start or a sunny start. by bright start or a sunny start. by bright start women a fair bit of cloud, which might make you squint. —— we mean a fair bit of cloud. showers developing through the day as temperatures rise, sometimes heavy and thundery. temperature—wise, ten or 11 in the north, with high temperatures of 19 or 20 towards the south—east. that is in the sunshine. heading through the evening and overnight, a lot of showers will fade and the rain will move away, but by the second half of the night, we will be watching the next system coming up from france, and that will bring some heavy rain

and that will bring some heavy rain and gusty winds. this is stormy girl, named by the spanish met service. —— storm miguel. as we head through the midlands and into wales, we have gusty rain, and as it moves north we are looking at drier conditions ahead of it, with some showers. but blustery around it. behind it, torrential downpours and showers which are likely to be thundery and also windy conditions, gusty across the english channel coast line and the channel islands. by coast line and the channel islands. by saturday, the rain has moved north into scotland and behind it comes sunshine and showers and we are looking at strong winds, with gusts of up to 50 mph in land in england and wales. back to today, you can see the map showing the normandy beaches and the south coast

of the english channel. we could catch the odd shower this morning in portsmouth that it is a diminishing risk. we could see the odd shower this afternoon in france, on the north coast, but that is just a low risk. mostly it will be dry with some sunshine and gentle breezes. thank you. it is a breezy and sunny morning here at ver—sur—mer. it is peaceful. 75 years ago, not so much the case. a battle was raging here the case. a battle was raging here the like of which the world had never seen the like of which the world had never seen before. in the last half an hour, the prime minister, theresa may, and french president, emmanuel macron, and attended the unveiling ofa macron, and attended the unveiling of a statue commemorating the more than 22,000 british troops who died at the d—day and the battle of normandy. it was a very moving service. theresa may said it is incredibly moving to be here today and this memorial will, and i quote, remind us of the service and sacrifice of those who fell. we can

see now those who attended that ceremony leaving now. most ceremonies throughout the day. you can see theresa may walking in white there. that is the statue of those three soldiers in action. as tim muffett reports, all of this is eventually going to form part of a larger permanent memorial. as tim muffett reports, it will eventually form part of a larger permanent memorial which will stand over this stretch of coast, codenamed gold beach. the sea was red with human blood. as an 18—year—old sapper with the royal engineers, harry was amongst the first to land

on gold beach on d—day. i can't forget and i don't want anyone else to forget my mates that really paid the full price. now 93, harry's most recent mission has been to raise money for a memorial in normandy, honouring the 22,000 troops under british command who died. the americans have a big memorial to the glorious dead at omaha. they've got another one atjuno for the canadians, but we haven't had a memorial, which is sad, really. how much have you raised? £9,000. not bad for a silly old bloke like me at 93. thank you very much. the money harry's been raising has gone towards this. when i first got asked to do this, i felt an enormous sense of responsibility. we're in hampshire, where the finishing touches are being made to david williams—ellis' statue. i wanted to have three figures together to show the communication. initially i made them in clay, then they're moulded in rubber, and from the rubber you make a wax positive and the wax is melted out and bronze is poured in. the words around the base

are from the bbc announcement that the allied forces had landed. newsreader: d—day has come, early this morning the allies began the assault. close up, you can see just how well the stance and body shape has been captured. so where might you find models who could pose for hours in positions like this? well, david turned to the world of ballet and football. the final sculpture took about nine months to actually make. my models were a footballer and a ballet dancer. i needed people like that because they had strength, they could hold the position. if you look at the sculptures, you can see that standing on one leg for a long time is very difficult. i really want people to react by... i think to stop and look at it and have some slight feeling in their stomach going this means something to them. once it is inaugurated in normandy,

this sculpture will form part of a larger memorial, the fundraising for which continues. harry's attending the remembrance ceremony in france, but before we set off, we were allowed to send him a special preview. do you see that? yes. that's lovely. what do you think? it's lovely. very good indeed. indeed! i'm moved beyond measure. i'm overwhelmed! and i mean that most sincerely. and that's all i can say, really. we've seen princes, prime ministers and presidents at the commemorations this week. emmanuel macron and theresa may are just leaving. but, of course, the most important people are those who took part. all week you've been sending us pictures of the d—day heroes in yourfamilies. this is charles williams who was involved in the third day of the normandy landings. his unit made fresh bread

for the frontline troops, using oil drums for ovens. peter's daughter ann says he continued baking cakes for friends and family until he died at the age of 75. edith lindley‘s son allan sent us this picture. she was a member of the auxiliary territorial service and sent coded messages for d—day from a secret location in london. stanley jacques's son, also called stanley, sent this photo of him getting ready for d—day. he actually arrived a few days after the initial landings, which stanleyjunior says he is thankful for. we have heard some amazing stories this morning. we are going to be talking to a veteran, george, one of the gentleman who worked very hard and has worked tirelessly to get memorial that you saw earlier of the three soldiers up and ready to commemorate those who fell in the war. we are here in front of gold beach, as it was codenamed. a beautiful day today, but a poignant

one, certainly, as we remember exactly what those men sacrificed for us. you are watching a special edition of bbc breakfast. i will be back with you in a few moments but there is the news, travel and weather where you are this morning. veteranjohn nichols has been sharing his memories with us. he lost much of his hearing in the battle. i think of them sometimes all the time, you know. i think to myself, i might have finished up with half of my hearing lost, but they didn't only lose their hearing, they lost their lives, didn't they? people living on a social housing

estate in kensington are celebrating, after controversial plans to demolish it were scrapped. housing association clarion wanted to knock down most of the flats at the sutton estate as part of a regeneration scheme. it now says it will bring empty homes there back into use. campaigners have callled it a victory for social housing. passengers at heathrow airport will be able to keep their liquids and laptops inside their bags, once new security equipment is installed. the airport's investing £50 million in the computer tomography security scanners which provide a clearer picture of a bag's contents. the airport says they'll be rolled out over the next few years. let's take a look at the travel situation now. the tube is running well this morning. no reported problems. this is how the m25 looks. it's very slow clockwise towards junction 12 for the m3 following an accident.

there's been another accident. in hounslow, the a315 staines road is partly closed. we have tailbacks through feltham along hartington lane and the uxbridge road. and we've got 8 miles—worth of queues on the a127 southend arterial. it's partly blocked westbound heading towardsjunction 29 of the m25 after an accident in great warley. over to elizabeth rizzini now with the weather. hello, good morning. there is a little bit of a chill in the air this morning for some of us. temperatures in many spots back into single figures last night. but it will turn into a nice day of weather. there will be lots of sunshine around and for the vast majority of us, it will be a dry day, too. just the small chance of one or two showers, some of those showers could be on the sharp side. there could even be some lightning around as well. but it's a sunny start to the morning. if you do get any showers, they are more likely to be towards the north—west, i think, as we head through the afternoon.

a bit more fair weather cloud for the second half of the day but still some decent spells of sunshine and noticeable south—westerly breeze building and top temperatures of 18 or 19. plenty more sunshine to end the day. overnight tonight, we will start to see some cloud creep in from the south—west, the wind will pick up and eventually we will get outbreaks of rain too. temperatures holding in double figures in the city centre tomorrow, turning very wet and windy indeed. there will be some spells of sunshine as we end the day, but also some showers. very gusty conditions for the first half of the weekend. there's more from me in around half an hour. hello, this is breakfast with naga munchetty in normandy. their with naga munchetty in normandy. view you were. there their view you were just saying there is a coastal seaside town important when it came to the normandy invasion is, arromanches, the scene of one of the biggest seaborne invasion in history, d—day.

within a day, the allied forces had secured a bridgehead. less than three months later, france was under allied control. within a year, adolf hitler was dead and victory in europe had been declared. but the victory here came at great cost, including more than 22,000 british lives. a short while ago, the prime minister paid tribute to all of those who took part, she was accompanied by president macron. we saw the unveiling of the normandy memorial trust statue, where a first stone of the future memorial will be laid, done in the presence of vetera ns, laid, done in the presence of veterans, and the british normandy memorial will record the names of those under british command who lost their lives between the d—day landings and the 31st of august, 1944. also one it will be the tens of thousands of french citizens who lost their lives in the period —— also honoured. theresa may said it

was incredibly moving to be here today. she said it reminds us of the service and sacrifice of those who fell. we are broadcasting to you here from gold beach, one of the five beaches were allied troops landed on that day 75 years ago, the sun is shining now, slightly breezy, that they of course we have heard from carol earlier, it was delayed bya from carol earlier, it was delayed by a day because of adverse weather, but this marked the start. mulberry harbour, renamed as port winston, man—made harbour, to enable troops to come onto land. it was an incredibly moving day today commemorating what happened and remembering those who sacrificed their lives for us. graham satchell has more. a lone piper marks the exact moment

british forces started their attack 75 years ago. just along the normandy coast, a new statue. it shows three ordinary soldiers fighting their way up the beach. the prime minister, theresa may, and french president, emmanuel macron, joined d—day veterans for the inauguration. these young men belonged to a very special generation, the greatest generation. a generation whose unconquerable spirit shaped our post—war world. this is the first in a series of services and commemorations today, as world leaders gather to honour surviving veterans. men like 94—year—old frankjenkinson. somebody shouted, keep running. believe me, telling twice, suddenly, everything opened up, i got hit. i got hit in the chest and in the arm.

i thought my time had come again.” don't think i am a hero. to me, a hero is someone who does something hero is someone who does something he does not have to do in order... puts himself in danger to to somebody else a good turn. we were there, we knew whatjob somebody else a good turn. we were there, we knew what job we somebody else a good turn. we were there, we knew whatjob we had to do, we wanted to do it and not let anybody down. that was it, really. this is it, they are on the beach, plunging waist deep into the sea... the world held its breath as the landing crafts made its way onto the beaches. the fighting was fierce, chaotic. 130,000 british, american, canadian and other forces chaotic. 130,000 british, american, canadian and otherforces made up the biggest naval invasion in history. small normandy villagers fall into allied hands... allied

troops began to advance in land and in the following weeks, more than 2 million troops from 12 countries we re million troops from 12 countries were in france fighting their way to berlin. 10,000 allied casualties on the day itself, more than 4000 dead. today the courage of those who made the ultimate sacrifice to liberate europe will be remembered —— on d—day itself. more than 250 d—day veterans have arrived in normandy by sea this morning to join the commemorations. they crossed the channel on a cruise ship, the mv boudicca, which has been specially commissioned by the royal british legion. she set off from portsmouth yesterday, accompanied by a guard of honour on the hms queen elizabeth, and with crowds of well—wishers lining the quayside. later this morning on bbc one, there will be a special programme, d—day 75 — remembering the fallen, live from bayeux war cemetery. right now, it's time for a look at the rest

of the day's news, with ben. i will be back with one of the vetera ns i will be back with one of the veterans from that day, a very special man, sat next to me, harry, we will have a chat a little later. looking forward to that. right back with the naga in a few moments. the other top stories today... the bbc understands that ford will announce the closure of its engine plant in bridgend, after the company called union leaders to a meeting at its headquarters later this morning. the plant has been under threat because of falling demand for the two engines it makes. it employs 1,700 people, with many more jobs in the supply chain in south wales. the insurance giant aviva has announced it will cut around 1,800 jobs over the next three years. the company says the job losses are part of efforts to save £300 million. it employs 30,000 staff — half that number in the uk.

voting in the peterborough by—election has just begun. the election was triggered when the former labour mp fiona 0nasa nya was removed from office. 15 candidates are standing. the result is expected in the early hours of tomorrow. an inquiry into a failed nhs trust is expected to be announced by the department of health later, following concerns that 150 deaths were not properly investigated. a review into liverpool community health last year found that it was dysfunctional from the outset and patients suffered unnecessary harm. the trust no longer exists and most of its services are now run by nhs merseycare. companies should encourage their employees to take up lunch—time classes, such as spinning or yoga, to beat obesity. the national institute for health and care excellence says workplaces could highlight local gym classes in an effort to encourage healthier lifestyles. other measures include holding meetings standing up and asking staff to use the stairs

instead of lifts. young people are less likely to move away from home in search of better—paid jobs because potential salary gains are swallowed by rent prices. the thinktank, the resolution foundation, says that young people can no longer afford to move to cities where wages are higher. the number of people aged 25 to 34 starting a newjob and moving home has nearly halved over the last two decades. two of donald trump's sons enjoyed a pub crawl in the west of ireland last night after the us president and his entourage arrived for a two—day visit. eric and donald junior were given a warm welcome in doonbeg, where their father has a golf resort. they posed for selfies with the locals and handed out free drinks. that is all the news. now the top stories in sport. england and their supporters will be hoping virgil van

dijk might have a hangover after celebrations, liverpool winning the champions league, they play holland in the semifinals later. if they get through that and make it to the final, potentially some silverware for england. long overdue. and what a night for raheem sterling, who'll win his 50th cap and could even captain the side later with regular skipper harry kane having onlyjust returned after two months out. the rumour over sterling taking the armband came from his own management company, unbenkown to him. i woke up this morning fuming. i hadn't had a conversation with gareth. with anybody in my agency, so it was kind of a strange one for me to wake up to that and see that. so first thing i done after i came off the phone to my agent was seeing gareth down the hallway, luckily, and i had to kind of apologise to let him know on my behalf, i don't know where this has come from. no doubts over portugal's captain cristiano ronaldo,

who scored a hat—trick, inluding this brilliant free kick, as they beat switzerland 3—1 and will face england in sunday's final, if they beat the netherlands later. british police have condemned the behaviour of a small number of england fans who clashed with riot police. scotland are expected to train in nice later, after arriving ahead of the women's world cup. they flew out from edinburgh yesterday, ahead of theirfirst—ever appearance in the competition against england on sunday. the world cup kicks off tomorrow, with hosts france taking on south korea in paris. india got their cricket world cup campaign off to a winning start with victory over south africa. we've seen some brilliant catches already in the tounament, —— tournament and we witnesed another yesterday from south africa wicketkeeper quinton de kock, who took this

brilliant catch to remove none other than india captain virat kohli, a brilliant piece of wicketkeeping. that though is as good as it got as india chased down the 228 they needed to win, rohit sharma made 122, leaving hardik pandya to hit the winning runs. new zealand made it two wins from two, after scraping home against bangladesh at the oval. set 245 for victory, they survived a batting collapse to win by two wickets, with 17 balls to spare. and england's women play the first of three one—day internationals against west indies in leicester today. they're two wins away from qualifying for their world cup in 2021. good luck to them. busy day, busy summer. good luck to them. busy day, busy summer. world cup gloom are happening all over the place. you love it. —— world cups happening all over the place. naga is in

ver—sur—mer this morning. pretty incredible stories, really moving stories of what the veterans went through 75 years ago today. i cannot tell you how emotional it is being here, it isjust so poignant. i have had the great pleasure of being able to talk to some people who were there 75 years ago. on the 6th ofjune,1944, one of those was harry, 18, one of the first of the british troops to land. good morning. how are you? tired, weary, very sad. remembering those? bring everything. i cannot forget. try to help me to forget, but i have such a vivid memory, couldn't help me at all. they said, cannot do

anything for you, you have too vivid anything for you, you have too vivid a memory. harry, just 18, one of the first wave of troops, royal engineers. royal engineers, they do the dodgy jobs, the sappers. you are 93, i hope you don't mind me saying, you have dedicated your life to remembering your friends.” have dedicated your life to remembering your friends. i cannot do anything else. i did 64 years for the poppy appeal, too old for that, stopped. i have done a lot and i was president of the royal british legion and a club and i also was a chairman of the south—western group

of the normandy of a two and is. member of the landing craft, a very active part —— of the normandy of a two and is. still going now, no normandy the and is now. tell me about when you landed on the beach. it was hell. you cannot put words to d—day. whatever i told you would be a lot of rubbish because i have never seen a lot of rubbish because i have never seen anything like it in my life. he had firing over your head, you had the germans firing from inland, 88 millimetres guns, blow you off the face of the earth, all of the mines, taken away by tanks... they cleared certain parts to get

the men of the beach as quick as possible and there was a beach master, sas bloat, —— bloke, a lot of people never got out of the sea. what were you told before you landed? keep your head down. what was i cold ? landed? keep your head down. what was i cold? what was i told to expect? did not tell you anything, just get on. you knew what it was going to be. three weeks before i came over on a boat, i got in with the crew, being silly old bloke, i did not eat army rations, i got in with the galley, the merchant navy crew, i was a bit of a wide lad,

thatis crew, i was a bit of a wide lad, that is why i am still here, keep my head down. i have a quote of you saying that when you landed on the beaches, it was either me or them andi beaches, it was either me or them and i made up my mind it was not going to be me. that is right, my dad told me that, keep your head down. my dad was a soldier. when he joined, hejoined the lancashire regiment, royal north lancashire regiment, royal north lancashire regiment, if you go to lancashire, you will find a family name is there, there is a placejust south of manchester called my name. a p pa re ntly of manchester called my name. apparently we came over with william the conqueror normandy. my my brother alan and i were very closely knit family. my sister married an air force fella called george buller, and he was an air gunner. he got shot down in the sea

with the royal coastal command and he was made a member of the goldfish club. he got shot down in bomber command and his face was all damaged. he went down in east grinstead and he was a member of the guinea pig club. so everybody in my family must have been crazy or mad. i'm still here. my brother died last october. he was the headmaster of a school in dorchester. he was a clever fella. harry, how school in dorchester. he was a cleverfella. harry, how important is it that we see a memorial like this and it is remembered? when they sent me the brochure, i said to my wife, i have got to go and collect money for this. and that was what i did. all the people were very generous to me. i made £10,000 for the memorial. and when i came over

to our —— arromanches, where they all know me, i gave them the money. how important is it? more important than anything i have done in all my life. very, very important, because i knew a lot of good men, all lovely young men who are not here, who paid the sacrifice. they went the whole way, walked the seven miles and another mile after that. i can't explain. all i know is, normandy vetera ns explain. all i know is, normandy veterans love one another beyond the love of women. if you're in a hole in the ground, you have got to know that they were marvellous men. my generation save them all was don't forget any of them. and we are grateful to you. a mate of mine died

in my arms in a field. he had a three—week—old baby, and they took me to the 60th anniversary to find out where he was buried. they buried him ina out where he was buried. they buried him in a little cemetery, and i go up him in a little cemetery, and i go up there and put a cross on his grave. i'm very sorry i'm getting choked. you are absolutely entitled to. we are grateful to you. no, don't say i'm a hero. i'm no hero, i was lucky. i am here. all the heroes are dead and i neverforget them was lucky. i am here. all the heroes are dead and i never forget them as long as i live. anna foster is in arromanches for us this morning. naga, what a story. just to hear the

vetera ns' naga, what a story. just to hear the veterans' stories, naga, what a story. just to hear the vetera ns' stories, you naga, what a story. just to hear the veterans' stories, you can see behind me, all of these thousands of people who are here in arromanches who have restored these military vehicles, who are dressed up this morning. they have done it to honour people like harry, to honour his story and do what they can to thank him and the veterans for what they did 75 years ago today. you can see how busy it is here on the beaches. in fact, notjust british people who have come across. some french people as well. wilfried is with us. you live here in normandy. what a sight on the beach today? negative two, i don't live in normandy, i live in the rhone valley. i come back every five years for the commemorations. it's very good, it's a very important event. we just heard there from harry billings, a veteran. there are so many of them. how do you feel about what they did here?

sorry? i don't understand your question. how do you feel about their sacrifice, about everything that happened here? sorry for my debts may go that is ok! we were just asking how it feels to be here and remember everything that happened. yes, it is very important. and emotional. wilfried, thank you so and emotional. wilfried, thank you so much. sorry! don't worry at all! i want you to meet bev, who is here on the beach from the memorial vehicle trust. how are you?” on the beach from the memorial vehicle trust. how are you? i am good today. yesterday, i would have

been introducing john as your boyfriend, but today i'm introducing him as your fiance because he proposed on the beach last night! that is correct! unexpectedly? yes, it was. we had talked about it for some time. totally didn't expect it to be last night. what a day to remember. john, a nervous moment to get down on one knee on the beach here at arromanches? yeah. clearly a special place for you both. definitely. what can you say? without what people sacrificed here 75 years ago, we wouldn't have the freedom to be able to do this, to get engaged and to enjoy the quality—of—life we have got today. congratulations to you both. as you can see, people turn out here in arromanches for so many reasons, but today it's a commemoration, but it's a celebration as well as the

sacrifice and of everything there is men did 75 years ago today. you're absolutely right, thank you so much. we heard from the wonderful harry billings earlier. we have been spoilt today with veterans who are willing to talk to us in this special edition of bbc breakfast, coming to you from ver—sur—mer. judge batts wasjust 18 coming to you from ver—sur—mer. judge batts was just 18 years old when he was ordered to clear mines of gold beach —— george batts was just 18. he is with me now. he has also been one of the driving forces behind the campaign to get that permanent memorialfor behind the campaign to get that permanent memorial for british effo rts permanent memorial for british efforts at normandy. good morning, george. we met yesterday ahead of this being unveiled. and the emotion that was so intense, but this has meant so much to you. god, the emotion today. i can't describe it. standing there, having to say a few words, i could see the beach where i

landed. i have got to be honest, halfway through, i didn't think i would finish because i could feel my voice cracking. but it's incredible to see it now come to fruition. as you know,, it has been my dream and i managed to get it started with david cameron and the rest is history. when this is finished and cove rs history. when this is finished and covers all this area, it will be absolutely fantastic. and i have another dream now. i hope families and schools come over here, not necessarily to remember us, though it would be nice if they do, but to ensure that there is never, ever another world war. it doesn't prove anything. millions get killed, and we don't want it. tell me the role

you played here 75 years ago.” we don't want it. tell me the role you played here 75 years ago. i came ashore in an assault craft. just 18 yea rs ashore in an assault craft. just 18 years old. i was 18, ashore in an assault craft. just 18 years old. iwas18, like ashore in an assault craft. just 18 years old. i was 18, like many of us. and the ramps went down and you ran like mad as fast as you can across the beach. as you know, i never talk about the state of the beaches. but you can imagine. war is warand beaches. but you can imagine. war is war and people get killed, so you have to use your imagination. and once off that beach, i finished up clearing mines and booby chaps and every other bit of stuff that was there. we couldn't use the detectors because there was too much metal, so we had to prod and move them by hand. 22,442, that is the number of those who will be memorialised with

this memorial. you have worked tirelessly, and he worked with the sculptor as well. i have upset a few as well! have you? yes. it has been wonderful working with them or. i never thought i would get anywhere and a lot of people told me i was mad to try. but being determined, i got it. here it is. and in a year's time, it will be ready for everyone to come and see and remember. i hope you will be here to talk to me about it. because if you're not, there will be trouble! i take the one on board! you mentioned that david cameron helped you festival. or is the process? i know george osborne was also part of it. yeah, i wrote

to david cameron and suggested this, and he came back and said he agreed and he came back and said he agreed and he came back and said he agreed and he led various things down. and when theresa may took over, she carried on with the promise. we saw her earlier today. and today, she was marvellous. she brought a tear to all our eyes. the ooh and ah have been very supportive of it. —— the government has been very supportive of it. if you were to give a message today, why is it so important that we remember? well, on the 6th of june 1940 four, 1200 service people we re june 1940 four, 1200 service people were killed. along the three british commonwealth beaches, 4500 were killed in a day stub that is a heck ofa killed in a day stub that is a heck of a lot of people. and if that happens again, where are we going?

for pete ‘s sake, let's have a bit of friendship, cooperation and anything else throughout the world to stop these idiotic fights. wise words. thanks a lot for seeing me. you're watching a special edition of bbc breakfast. carol's on board hms belfast with the weather. hms just along the normandy coast and use statue. it shows three ordinary soldiers fighting their way up the beach. the prime minister theresa may and french president emmanuel macronjoined d—day may and french president emmanuel macron joined d—day veterans for the inauguration. this is the first in a series of services and commemorations today, as world leader matts gather to honour surviving veterans. men like 94—year—old frank jenkinson. surviving veterans. men like 94—year—old frankjenkinson. this surviving veterans. men like 94—year—old frank jenkinson. this” was looking at this departure from portsmouth, and i departed from southampton on d—day, and i was thinking, you can imagine, affecting the far north—east. throughout the night those showers continue to move

further north and east, bit of rain across the far north of scotland and as we go into the early hours of tomorrow morning where we start to see some rain moving from the south. it is linked into this area of low pressure which has been named storm miguel by the spanish met service. it will give some heavy rain throughout much of friday, spreading north read and it will be pretty cool as well. bye—bye.

this is bbc news. i'm anna foster here in northern france where a series of events are being held to commemorate the start of the normandy landings 75 years ago. the headlines at 9: theresa may and emmanuel macron lay a wreath at an inauguration ceremony for a new memorial at ver—sur—mer. these young men belong to a very special generation, the greatest generation, a generation whose iunconquerable spirit shaped our post—war world. the day began with the sound of bagpipes marking the exact moment allied troops landed 75 years ago.