world leaders gather on the beaches of normandy to recognise the greatest generation. at 630 this morning a lone popo mark the moment that thousands of troops started to land on the normandy beaches. when my life is over and i reach the other side, i will meet my friends from normandy and shake their hands with pride. presidents tromp and

emmanuel macron are among the world leaders gathered to pay their respects. herewith you are over 60 veterans who landed on d—day. our debt to you is everlasting. today we express our undying gratitude. the skies over normandy are filled with red white and blue as they fly past by the red arrows marks the battle that turned the war. the ceremonies continue. this is the scene atjuno beach where canadian soldiers made la ndfall beach where canadian soldiers made landfall on d—day. and giving pictures from the past new life. we speak to the women injecting colour into d—day photographs. hello and welcome to the programme. iam hello and welcome to the programme. i am matthew price in northern france. jane o'brien is in

washington, dc and today, world leaders and veterans have been gathering here in normandy in france to commemorate the events of 75 yea rs to commemorate the events of 75 years ago today. the d—day landings. the allied attempt and ultimate result, the victory of taking control of western europe from german nazi hands. today at the american cemetery, 15,000 people gathered to hear speeches and words of commemoration. the american cemetery here is a resting place for more than 9000 american service personnel who died during the battle to ta ke personnel who died during the battle to take normandy. french president emmanuel macron emphasise france's gratitude and sense of obligation to those who fought and died. he also used his speech to turn to donald trump urging him to fulfil the promise of normandy. that means never forgetting that free people when theyjoin never forgetting that free people when they join forces never forgetting that free people when theyjoin forces can surmount any adversity, he said. let's look

at some of the day's events. the sounds that made europe's history are buried on these beaches. above gold beach, where gunfire rang out 75 years ago, a lone piper marked the moment when british soldiers set the din of battle echoing for some beneath the silence of the crowd. along the coast at ver—sur—mer, theresa may and emmanuel macron saw the foundation stone laid for a new memorial in honour of the 22,000 british—led troops who died in the normandy campaign. the faces around them, a reminder that wars between nations, between ideologies, are fought by individuals, that this war was fought by these men. these young men belonged

to a very special generation, the greatest generation. a generation whose unconquerable spirit shaped our post—war world. they didn't boast. they didn't fuss. they served. they did their duty, and to our veterans, here in normandy today, i want to say the only words we can. thank you. george batts, a d—day veteran who'd campaigned for the monument in honour of his fallen comrades, rose to remember them. 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. last post plays. at bayeux cathedral,

those who never returned from the normandy beaches were honoured by veterans and leaders from the commonwealth in a service of remembrance. the prince of wales paying tribute alongside the men who'd fought under his grandfather. the bittersweet words of the kohima epitaph read on behalf of the fallen here in the first french town freed by the allies. for your tomorrow, we gave our today. at the us cemetery, america's modern day president gave his thanks to the servicemen of the past. you are the pride of our nation. you are the glory of our republic. and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. the experience of american soldiers on omaha beach among the most brutal

of the allied campaign, etched onto the faces in front of him. we know what we owe to you veterans. our freedom. on behalf of my nation, i just want to say thank you. at arromanches, british veterans gathered on the beaches they once took. as europe remembers those who will never grow old, there is a need to cherish those who grow older each year. those for whom remembrance is memory, for whom a nation's heroes are friends. for whom a minute's silence holds within it the noise of war. this is it, they are on the beach, plunging waist deep into the sea and treading their way among the steel asparagus tops that project out of the water. as the sounds of remembrance drifted back across the channel, there is a sense there may not be

many more moments like today. when europe pays tribute to the heroes who are here with us, as well as those who aren't. lucy williamson, bbc news, normandy. three quarters of a century on it is ha rd to three quarters of a century on it is hard to put yourself in the shoes of those who fought on the beaches on that day. it is harder still to quantify the losses that took place. yes, and don't forget d—day was never a preordained success. some of the top allied commanders had serious doubts about it and in the words of one, you could have been the most costly disaster of the war. here to give it a bit more context is the historical biographer claire mcnally. claire, it is very easy to become complacent about all this with the distance of history. give us an with the distance of history. give us an idea of what the risks were. it wasjust us an idea of what the risks were. it was just horrendous. us an idea of what the risks were. it wasjust horrendous. even now,

into the evening they are still coming off the boats and they are arriving in the incredible cold water of the channel, it is dark, they are facing gunfire and there are all sorts of barriers. there are wooden stakes, metal frameworks and barbed wire. it's an appalling situation and when you have some of the veterans talking about it they talk about their fear but they talk about their determination, but also about their determination, but also a little incidental things, seeing the bodies at this time of the day. within 24 hours 156,000 men had disembarked from which is more than the entire population of oxford or dundee, just to give you an idea of the scale of it and they are still coming throughout the evening. terrifying, terrifying work. here in the us, people tend to think of this asa the us, people tend to think of this as a mainly american led experience. but could this have happened without

the extraordinary international alliance? it is very much an international effort. we have the british and the americans, we have the canadians as well. there are some french that disembarked onto the beaches but there was also the international work going on behind—the—scenes. in france we have the massive effort and work of the resistance in preparation for d—day and on the day itself in taking forward as they are fighting through france. last night, there would have beena france. last night, there would have been a message on the bbc broadcasting to france which always began famously and then there would have been the calls to action. nearly a thousand individual acts of sabotage happened within the first 48 hours, so that was things like blowing up bridges, destroying trains, closing certain roads by felling trees, even things like putting sand in petrol dumps to prevent the reinforcements from

reaching normandy. it is quite remarkable here in normandy, the commemorations are going on all day, we are looking at pictures from juno beach were part of that international effort, canadian forces arrived. i wonder the message today has not just forces arrived. i wonder the message today has notjust been commemorative, it has also been celebratory because this was the start of the allied victory in europe but did allied commanders a lwa ys europe but did allied commanders always think they would be victorious? far from it. just yesterday, eisenhower was writing his failure communique which was about how to remove if it didn't work, how to get the men off the beaches, how to save as many lives and regroup and also he took personal responsibility in that communique. write to the last moment there where these massive anxiety about the risks, even despite the fa ct about the risks, even despite the fact that we had so much

intelligence before hand, so fact that we had so much intelligence beforehand, so much months of work, bletchley park had been working around 16 months so this massive effort will focus on this massive effort will focus on this tiny window of opportunity and there was no knowing whether it would succeed. do you know what was fascinating, by chance last week i was in amsterdam, i went to the resista nce was in amsterdam, i went to the resistance museum and there there was a scrapbook that somebody in hiding in amsterdam in 1944 on this day had written, d—day, it has happened, the allies are coming, liberation is coming soon, but it took so long for the nazis to finally be defeated. that is right. paris was only liberated in mid august and from there we still had a long route to take forward to get to berlin. that of course isjust long route to take forward to get to berlin. that of course is just the war in the west. it is important to rememberthe war in the west. it is important to remember the wider effort as well. thank you very much indeed for joining us. you know, matt, as we

are watching those pictures from juno and seeing all these leaders gather to praise, pay tribute and thanked the veterans, that enabled them to be there, it must be incredibly humbling for the likes of donald trump, justin trudeau, theresa may to know that they themselves are personally owed the institutions in the countries they represent to the efforts of those who are there today, that the loss of the loss of that greatest generation. absolutely and you sort of notice that a little bit today when president macron was talking at the american cemetery and he spoke of the need for the institutions, the international institutions that arose out of the rubble of world war ii, the united nations, nato, the fourth runner of the european union and he talked about the need to preserve those institutions and president trump who many criticised as trying to rip up some of the

international order that has existed for the last three quarters of a century, he smiled and nodded at that point. it will be interesting to see if we get any readout of what came of their bilateral talks that took place after that from president macron. quite rightly we have been focusing on the soldiers are today and yet, here in france there is a huge civilian losses and i thought i would give you a scene set of here. the building behind me, on this day on the 6th ofjune, civilians were up on the 6th ofjune, civilians were up on the roof they're painting a giant red cross symbol and they were doing it because were hundreds of civilians were beginning to arrive to ta ke civilians were beginning to arrive to take refuge in this building which is now the city hall, and thousands and thousands of people ultimately ended up taking refuge there while the battle for caens rage. you can see the beautiful gardens here, you can see the city in the background as well but what the camera will eventually find is

the camera will eventually find is the cathedral, the church here of st stephen and that cathedraljust down the left side, that is still damaged from the allied bombardment of caens. it took 43 days, 43 long days in which those 10,000 civilians sheltered in the building here for the allies to take caens from the germans. there was fierce fighting and the battle for normandy took many, and the battle for normandy took any and the battle for normandy took many, many weeks indeed. that really is just many, many weeks indeed. that really isjust a reminder of many, many weeks indeed. that really is just a reminder of the real sacrifices that not just is just a reminder of the real sacrifices that notjust the soldiers made but also the civilians. a final astonishing statistic for you. around 22,000 british soldiers died in this effort, around 30,000 american soldiers, around 20,000 french civilians were killed during the

battle for normandy. and so many of those scars are still visible as you are saying. as we have seen, hundreds of veterans have made their way here to normandy for today's events. robert hall has been with many of them this week and he brings this report. along the narrow streets of bayeux, dappled with sunlight this morning, the sight of old men paraded with pride. in 1944, the first ally liberators moved cautiously between the old houses. the people here have never forgotten what that meant. humbling. it makes you feel humbled that people want to come out and applaud you. not enjoy, but i've come here to remember those that never came back. how important is it for you to be here on the anniversary? we are all getting old, aren't we. i'm nearly 96. ken hay came ashore with the dorset regiment.

i got captured a couple of weeks later. i went out coal mining in poland. it's a bit overwhelming. they are so welcoming. at the cemetery at bayeux, eric strange, his head full of last night's emotional departure from portsmouth. as a young officer, eric commanded a landing craft underfire from german offences. there was this royal marine lieutenant, and his chest was not very good. all one could do was try to get some first aid up to him as quick as, but... for a moment, among the lines

of white stones, eric and his fellow veterans were back on the beaches. there is a lot of lads there that were unlucky. you've got to thank god that i was lucky, but it's very moving when you see that, the people who did give their lives for it. eric rarely talks about his d—day experiences, but his voyage over has helped him to open up and today he found a willing ear. this evening, as veterans reach the journey‘s end, the message they carried was simple. don't say i'm a hero. i'm no hero, iwas lucky, i'm here. all the heroes are dead. robert hall, bbc news, arromanches. our next guest like so many others are spending today remembering lost loved ones. bill kelly's father served with the antrim parachute squadron and was killed when his

plane was shot down by germans over the normandy coast. that happened 75 yea rs the normandy coast. that happened 75 years ago but bill kelly himself only found out about it in 2004. we are honoured with bill's presence in our london studio. bill, good evening, thank you forjoining us. the simple question at the beginning, your thoughts on a day like this. i am in awe of what is happening around me. i have been on a journey of discovery to find out about the circumstances of when and where my father died. it has been, it took me 50 years as you said to find out the where it happened, but my mother knew he was missing, he was reported missing at the end of june1944 and in 1945, she had a message from the war office saying he was assumed killed in action on

the 6th of june, he was assumed killed in action on the 6th ofjune, so we knew he was dead. but we didn't know where or when and in 1945, there wasn't a gravesite for him. it was an uncertainty for me and it took me until 2004 when papers were made available in the national archives that unearthed the cause of his death and where it happened. it's an astonishing story and we are seeing astonishing story and we are seeing a photo there of your father and mother on their wedding day. you would have been extremely young. i'm just wondering, did you ever meet your father? no, i am 75 on christmas day this year so i was a product of i think leave in march 1944. but my grandparents in

scotland, which is where he came from, told me about him as a man. i didn't know much of him as a person, person to person. my mother... sorry, bill, why did it take you so long to find out more about him? was it hard to piece the story together? no, not at all. not once the papers we re no, not at all. not once the papers were available. you have to ask the right questions and the question i asked was, were their war crimes tribunal is which were held in 1944 which were about the crash of an aircraft which had been shot down over the french coast, of which half the occupant survived and were taken prisoner and it emerged that my father was one of those, in fact there were seven paratroopers,

paratroop engineers who were taken prisoner. there was an officer who was taken prisoner. there was an officer who was ta ken off prisoner. there was an officer who was taken off for interrogation but the seven royal engineers were captured by a group of german grenadiers who disarmed them, laid them prone in the grounds of the chateau where the crash site was. they knew, there was evidence that they had been there because the owner of the chateau and the gardener, his gardener had seen them. at eight o'clock on the morning of the 6th ofjune, the officer in charge of the group of grenadiers reported to the owner of the chateau that he had to shoot the seven engineers who were prisoners of war because they try to escape. and an eighth, who was a glider pilot, they were buried in the

grounds of the chateau and their graves only emerged in 1945 when the court of enquiry was held. the bodies were disinterred, they found out what had actually happened to them and they were reburied in a cemetery which is where i first discovered his grave. i knew the grave was there but i had never been there myself. up until that time i had spent 30 years in the royal navy and it was only when i was serving in the headquarters of nato that i took a trip across and that was my first visit to the grave site. well, bill, we have heard some astonishing anecdotes and astonishing stories throughout this day. yours is adding to that collection of memories and of anecdotes which paints such a vivid picture of what do you day and indeed world war ii was like. bill

kelly, thank you very much indeed for sharing your memories. when the soldiers embarked for the coast of normandy, dwight d eisenhower wish them well and also told them, reminded them that the eyes of the world were upon them. and knowing that, the allies documented their movements extensively through film and still photography. marina is a digital colourist, i spoke to her earlier. i think colour gives us the opportunity to connect to these people in a more deep level. i love black—and—white photos and i think they are incredible, but i cannot, i don't feel a connection with them in the way that i feel when i see the photos in colour because it is easier to relate to the people and the historical events that we are seeing if we understand that everything was real and colourful as the world that we live in today.

that is why i do this, i want people to be able to connect and understand what these people from our pass went through. what made you start doing this? i love history. i have always loved it. iwas this? i love history. i have always loved it. i was an international relations student but i had a lot of free time and i decided to start exploring photoshop and trying to understand how it worked and then i found a collection of world war ii photos in colour on the internet in 2015 and i decided i wanted to try to reproduce the same technique. it was by accident and it began my career. i know it is something that allows people to see history from a completely different perspective. these are of course historical documents. when you manipulate

images in this way, do they remain historical documents or do they become something else? historical documents or do they become something else ?|j historical documents or do they become something else? i think they become something else? i think they become and in to —— artistic interpretation. all the colours are researched first. i work with a group of historians and experts to make sure i only use colours as accurate as possible but sometimes i have to make artistic decisions. this is something i had to accept so ican this is something i had to accept so i can say that the colours are 100% accurate although i try to make them be as accurate as possible but there is some level of artistic interpretation and so i see them as a different version of a document, historical document. that is digital colourist marina. a trend there, matthew, bringing these old

photographs to life through colour. iamjoan photographs to life through colour. i am joan o'brien. matthew is photographs to life through colour. i amjoan o'brien. matthew is in northern france. this is beyond 100 days from the bbc. good evening. a lot going on with our weather over the next few days. most of us had a day of sunshine and showers today. for northern scotland there was a persistent rain courtesy of one weather system and down west, notice the way this car of cloud has been developing. we have a deepening area of low pressure approaching and it will bring some heavy rain and some unseasonably strong winds. do bear that in some unseasonably strong winds. do bearthat in mind some unseasonably strong winds. do bear that in mind if you have outdoor plants over the next few days. some heavy rain, strong winds which could cause some disruption. deeper into tonight, we will see outbreaks of rain arriving across the channel islands, the far south of england. elsewhere a lot of dry weather with clear spells. it will

turn a little bit chilly across some parts of scotland, may be down to one or 2 degrees across some rural locations, but tomorrow morning is all about the rain across the channel islands, the south of england, wales, getting into the midlands as we move through the rush—hour and that wet weather will spread its way northwards into parts of northern england, eventually moving towards the south—east, northern ireland and the far south of scotland. there will be those increasingly strong winds. temperature wise we are looking at highs of 15 to 18 degrees, perhaps the driest weather across the northern scotland and north—west northern ireland. this rain moves further north friday evening. further south and a scattering of heavy downpours. that could cause localised flooding and travel disruption and also this really blustery wind for coastal parts of south wales, southern england and channel islands. gusts in excess of

50 mph. low pressure still with us as we head into saturday. this will continue to drive some showers or longer spells of rain particularly where we are close to the centre of the low. down towards the south perhaps drying up but it will be windy. parts of england and wales suit could see gusts of 40 mph or more and temperature is no great shakes, 12 to 18 degrees. sunday the winds will be lighter. some dry weather, spells of sunshine per showers as well especially towards the north and west of the uk.

this is beyond 100 days. our top stories... a lone piper remembers the moment forces went ashore 75 years ago to the beginning of the d—day campaign that determined the fates of europe. the skies over normandy have been filled with red, white and blue as world leaders mark the battle that turned the war. here with you are over 60 veterans who landed on d—day, our debt to you is everlasting, today we express our

undying gratitude. coming up, canada's justin undying gratitude. coming up, canada'sjustin trudeau joins nancy pelosi onjuno beach, where the canadians landed on d—day to share a moment of reflection. northern france has seen some of the deadliest battles in history, we will discuss the effort and care that goes into maintaining the cemeteries and ordeals. on the newest of those memorials, the names of two women, dorothy field and evershed, who died off the coast of normandy. welcome to the special edition of beyond 100 days. today here in north—western france in normandy world leaders and veterans have been gathering and commemorating the events of 75 years ago today, the

d—day allied landings. speaking at the ceremony is the message was simple, theresa may said thank you to the veterans, donald trump called them the pride of the nation, canada's justin trudeau trump called them the pride of the nation, canada'sjustin trudeau said the mission was a gamble like the world had never seen an emmanuel macron said france owed its freedom to those who fought. we thought we would give you a reminder of how the day unfolded, i've been taking a look at the fighting on the beaches of normandy. the invasion was conducted in two main phases, first and airborne assault and then the amphibious landings. shortly after midnight over 18,000 allied paratroopers were dropped to disrupt the main german land forces, and capture important positions inland. after an intense naval and positions inland. after an intense navaland air positions inland. after an intense naval and air bombardment of german coastal defences the first landing

started at about 6:30am. over 130,000 troops, mainly from the uk, usa and canada, began landing on five beaches, code—named utah, omaha, gold,juno and five beaches, code—named utah, omaha, gold, juno and soared. for most of the day the troops, tanks and artillery continued to flow onto the beach in the face of fierce resistance. air support was crucial. with over 14,000 missions carried out by allied forces. not all of the ambition is to take territory on the first they were met. us forces face particularly difficult opposition from elite german troops. but a foothold had been achieved. the battle to liberate northern europe from nazi occupation was under way. joining is now is a retired general georgejarman joining is now is a retired general george jarman who joining is now is a retired general georgejarman who served as nato supreme allied commander. thank you for joining supreme allied commander. thank you forjoining us. you organised the military participation in the 50th

anniversary of the d—day landings, i'm sure it feels like yesterday to you! how has the significance of these commemorations changed in the past 25 years? it's extremely more important now because it reminds us what brought us together back in 1944 and at the 50th, the president of the united states ca m e 50th, the president of the united states came with the french president and other nations in the alliance and commemorated is what occurred then, but it was the beginning of a new nato a new alliance, now that we were at the fall of the berlin wall and the iron curtain. at that point is communism seem to be on the retreat, germany had reunified, it was a very different world to what we see now. were some of the institutions are coming under assault from within and

without europe, do you think we have had the high point of what these people fought for? not really. i really think the future is the high point we are looking for, where you have you'd up free, men and women from these countries and children, that are treated with respect, that have a bright future for living in freedom, and that was not possible prior to normandy. there was an evil in europe and we fought to get rid of that evil but we must remain vigilant and sacrifice. the alliance really does that. it was interesting today, president macron of france took the opportunity in both his speech at a service alongside the british prime minister theresa may and then alongside us president donald trump,

he took the opportunity to talk about the importance of institutions like nato, which you were supreme commander. i wonder whether at a time when many are wondering how much president trump is real in his ambitions to pull back from american involvement in those international institutions, i wonder how much of a warning you think that was to him? i hope it was a clear understanding of the past role of nato and the future role of nato because we still live in the dangerous world and i think it's important for alliances and friendships and common shared values that we have in the alliance, that propels us forward. we can talk about 2% of this or that, but i think it is the common values and shared values we have that are important and going forward is every

bit as important today as it was 75 yea rs bit as important today as it was 75 years ago. does the fact there are new powers in the world now, the rise of china, does that necessitate a shift in emphasis of these institutions that we re emphasis of these institutions that were set up 75 years ago? i don't think so. i think you have a wider organisation called the united nations that is, again, an organisation that looks globally but i think most important for us is to understand that we have shed blood together, by the way, we continue to shed blood together, our nato allies are bearing the burden, whether afghanistan or syria or other places in the past 25 years, so there is much we have that unites us and i think it's important to build on that. and understand the world is still a dangerous place. and we

needs to stick together and understand what happened back in 45 is, to me, an important reason to look forward with optimism if we stay together. general, thank you very much indeed for joining general, thank you very much indeed forjoining us. matthew, i think that last point is a very important because even though some people feel these institutions are coming under threat, as the general says, the alliance is still fighting together, we are all over the world, trying to hold together the values that the people that we are paying tribute today put is on the path towards and ido today put is on the path towards and i do think it's important to remember that. there was a symbol here of that needs and desired to make sure the relationships continue to evolve and improve. down the road that is some

bunting, four flags, one improve. down the road that is some bunting, fourflags, one is the british, the american, the french, this is a city occupied by nazi germany, the fourth flight is a germany, the fourth flight is a german flag. that's a symbol of what from the officials here, of where they are hoping this remains, what these memories achieved. the bayeux cemetery where one of the commemorative services happen is the largest commonwealth war graves commission site for the second world war in france. it is, only two of the names are women. british nurses who died when the hospital ship sank off the french coast. here is the story. the nurses were sister dorothy field and sister molly evershed. their names are on their local war memorials at ringwood, in hampshire, and soham, in cambridgeshire. molly trained as a nurse in norwich

after leaving ely high school. we don't know what she looked like but this is her school photo and she is in there. somewhere. dorothy qualified at king's college hospital in london. in 1944, molly and dorothy were on board the hospital carrier amsterdam when it hit a mine and sank off the normandy coast. the nurses helped to save 75 wounded men before losing their lives when the ship went down. the amsterdam was waiting to go home full of men in the wards below decks. so she swung at anchor off the normandy coast. a mine hit the engine room. the lights went out and the amsterdam was broken into. she and the other sister on board, dorothy field, were taken into the lifeboats and they were therefore technically rescued, but they went back again and again and again, and between them they rescued 75

strecher—bound troops. and then, sadly, they went down for another lot, and the ship went down. dorothy was 32, molly died a week before her 28th birthday. she was about to be married. before being taken by the cold english channel, they helped to save 75 men, one for each year that has passed. shaun peel, bbc news. see if you can notice a slight repetition in the programme here, we are live from france and this is proof, i will tell you again the bayeux war cemetery is the commonwealth war graves commission second largest second world war site memorial in france. and i will tell you that contains the graves of more than 4000 commonwealth servicemen, along with 500 from other nations. andrew

featherstone is the chief archivist at the commission and he joins us from london. the images of these war graves are so etched on our consciousness and the way we remember notjust consciousness and the way we remember not just world consciousness and the way we remember notjust world war ii but world war i as well, it's hard to realise that they were quite controversial. why was that? absolutely. in the first world war there was huge controversy, you had an organisation like the imperial war graves commission, which is now the commonwealth war graves commission, telling relatives of those who died that they could not repatriate their loved ones' bodies, they could not pick their own headstone for the grave and it was almost like a state—controlled way of managing the burials. there was lots of opposition, it was never in majority, but some people were really opposed to the commission saying they could not have their loved ones back. by the time the

second world war comes along i think, and after people have seen the cemeteries that were created after the first world war and how well they had been maintained and how those who are buried there looked after and commemorated, there was more acceptance of what they we re was more acceptance of what they were doing. after the first world war there was a certain amount of controversy. from a very pragmatic beginnings, how has their role and significance changed? i think, changed? ithink, in changed? i think, in two ways, firstly, initially, when the cemeteries are constructed, they are there for the relatives, that's why they are built for relatives to know there is a place at their loved ones are buried and they can visit and others graves will be looked after in perpetuity. now when we think about war graves, from the first world war, certainly, the relatives or indeed the people who knew those people are no longer able to go there, there is no one from that generation around, so the

importance somewhat shifts to them being placed as a commemoration for a new generation of people. one of your previous guest, his father is buried in one of these cemeteries so for him and the veterans we've seen today in bayeux, it's a real thing, they are visiting people they knew. for others, new generations, it's also equally important to remember the sacrifices that generation made and to think about what the world would have been like if they had not made that decision at that time to stand up to the things, to almost seize the moment and shape the world into a hopefully a better world than it would have been 75 years ago and it's important we remember that. i always think if i go to cemetery now, i've been to quite a few, if you think about some of the issues that are facing the modern world and some of the difficulties you face day to day, standing in the cemetery

put some of those difficulties into perspective. the thing is those people had to face 75 years ago, 100 years ago, but things you might find troublesome into perspective and we have a duty as the following generations, to remember their sacrifice and strive for a better world that those people give the life to try and achieve. and that is what today is all about. andrew featherstone, thank you for joining us. this is beyond 100 days. still to come, as president trump wraps up his trip to europe we look at his reviews from home and abroad. when we talk about the normandy landings we often forget the role of french forces and the resistance have played both on the 6th ofjune and the following two months of battle. the bbc‘s went to speak to people who lived through the events in different ways.

what did you think when you first saw the plan? we were going back to a country. leonjoined the we were going back to a country. leon joined the french we were going back to a country. leonjoined the french navy we were going back to a country. leon joined the french navy at 17, when the nazis invaded he went to the uk and became part of an elite unit of commandos in preparation for d—day. on guard with the german army, paul saw the first flare slant on the beach. he was then captured by the allies and taken to scotland as a prisoner of war. how did you feel about that? i was happy not to have to shoot any more. we did not want to fight.

leon has been awarded the highest honour in france. how did it feel to get that middle? couldn't care less? i'm proud of what i done, but that's all. of people think you a hero. they are wrong. how often do you think about the day. they are wrong. how often do you think about the daylj they are wrong. how often do you think about the day. i don't think about it anymore. we want to forget that. killing a human is not very nice. the enemy have got a family, the same as we have. killing another man is difficult. the last four days have involved a focus on president donald trump of the united states. he has had his

visit to the uk, ireland, today in normandy and he has met briton's prime minister theresa may, the irish leader leo radtke here, he met separately away from the public view with the french president emmanuel macron —— irish leader leo coughjoining us cough joining us now coughjoining us now is a former state department official who is now at the brookings institution. we've seen so many sides of donald trump over the past few days, which when dominated, do you think? i think you are right, there have been two sets of messages coming out of this trip, the first has been the focus on the ceremonial aspects, the enduring ties between the usa and these key european allies, particularly given the legacy of the

war. on the other hand we've seen real differences in personalities and in policies. the president has conducted himself in a fairly measured way on the official occasions we have seen him make quite provocative comments to the british media and engage in a long—running twitter british media and engage in a long— running twitter battle british media and engage in a long—running twitter battle with the mayor of london, the media and, most bizarrely, bette midler. we've also been celebrating some of the institutions that change the world as a result of the d—day landings such as nato, the eu, the un. how under threat are they because of the america first philosophy that donald trump espouses? i think donald trump certainly in a way that's distinct from any of his predecessors, has called into question the american commitment to the transatlantic alliance. he's raised questions about his

commitment to the article five security guarantee with nato, he's continued to land vast nato allies about the need to spend more on defence, including in his remarks with the prime minister. and called the european union in economic foe and been actively cheerleading for brexit. all of these comments have understandably raised concerns within european minds about whether or not the united states is going to be long—term in ally. i think it was pretty clear those concerns were on the minds of president macron of france when he gave his speech here in normandy when he talked about the need to preserve those institutions and the camera cut to president trump and he smiled and nodded at that point. is there any chance he comes away from these four days of focus on a war that tore apart the world and

perhaps rethinks his approach to nato and other institutions? it's impossible to speculate on what donald trump thinks at any given moment, but he seems to have been quite moved by his interactions with the royal family as well as the participation in the events in portsmouth and today in normandy. certainly, it's worth pointing out that there are many people in washington and the usa that do value the importance of these relationships, the united states congress nancy policy, of course, was in normandy doing everything they can to try and provide reassurance that european allies about the enduring commitment here in the united states to these alliances. i wonder if on the level of the president we saw a more presidential president trump, he

stuck to the script on the speeches, he read from the autocue, he was hogging veterans, there was something slightly different i saw today in his demeanour. —— hugging vetera ns. there has been differences been in the way president trump has conducted himself in an official events throughout this trip. to date with his comments in normandy, with the toast he gave with the queen at the toast he gave with the queen at the ceremonial events he participated in in the uk. we've also seen him continuing to tweets in the middle of the night, engage ina in the middle of the night, engage in a twitter spat with the mayor of london, essentially endorsed boris johnson as the next prime minister in press conferences. there's been a juxtaposition between what we've seen the president say and do publicly and then what he has been doing with some of his media twitter engagements. thank you very much indeed for journeys.

engagements. thank you very much indeed forjourneys. very interesting thoughts. as i've been watching donald trump interact with these worldly those it strikes me none of them have never really got the measure of him, none of them really know how to deal with him and his mercurial switches from deciding what's in the best interests of america and what might be in the best interest of a future relationship. of course, the big relationship. of course, the big relationship he's going to have to navigate is the future prime minister of england, of britain, at that whole special relationship. that's up in the air. absolutely. let's not forget, prime minister theresa may's final stepping out on the world stage, of course. she said tomorrow she will formally resign from leaving both the conservative party and the country and then the battle will be on, the politics returns. it's been

on, the politics returns. it's been on hold this week for obvious reasons as we focused on the events of 75 years ago, and yet now the politics in britain begins again, donald trump was back to the united states to his continuing battles between republicans and democrats. and beyond 100 days has plenty more news to be reporting on over the coming weeks and months, i suspect. a quick word on the building behind me, ina a quick word on the building behind me, in a couple hours, as it falls dark, they will light it up and play sounds of liberation, music of liberation and they will do that for the next 43 days, every single night here, to document the 43 days it took to liberate the city after d—day happened 75 years ago. we thought we would leave you after the end of this programme with a montage of some of the best moments from today's very special commemorations. goodbye for now.

these young men belong to a very special generation, the greatest generation. a generation who unconquerable spirit shaped our post—war world. when my life is over, and i reach the other side, i'll meet my friends from normandy and shake their hands with pride. today america embraces the french people and thanks you for honouring our beloved dead. i was lucky. i'm here. all the heroes are dead.

good evening. what's going on with our weather over the next few days. most of us had a day of sunshine and showers, for northern scotland there was some persistent rain courtesy of one weather system and to the south—west notice the way this coral of cloud has been developing, deepening area of low pressure approaching. sliding towards the british isles and bringing very heavy rain and unseasonably strong winds. bear that in mind if you have outdoor plans. heavy rain and strong winds which could cause some disruption. deeper into tonight we'll see outbreaks of rain arriving across the channel islands, far south of england. elsewhere lots of dry weather with clear spells,

turning chili across some parts of scotland. more generally, temperatures between seven and 11. tomorrow morning is all about the rain across the channel islands, getting into the midlands, some brisk winds as well and it wet and blustery weather will spread northwards into part of northern england. eventually moving to the south—east and northern ireland and far south of scotland. there will be increasingly strong blustery winds. highs of 15 or18 increasingly strong blustery winds. highs of 15 or 18 celsius. driest through northern scotland and north—west northern ireland. we will see the rain making progress further north from friday evening. further southin north from friday evening. further south in scattering of heavy downpours i could bring lots of rain ina downpours i could bring lots of rain in a short space of time, causing localised flooding and travel disruption and really blustery winds for coastal south wales, southern england and the channel islands. just across the channel islands in

excess of 50 mph. low pressure still with us heading into saturday. continuing to dry showers and longer spells of rain particularly where we are spells of rain particularly where we a re close spells of rain particularly where we are close to the centre of the low pressure. shower risk address that further north icd moves on. the south drying up when the wherever you are. parts of england and wales could seek gusts of 40 mph or more. not great for the time of year. the later on sunday, spells of sunshine but also showers, especially towards the north and west of the uk.

this is bbc news and i'm shaun ley. today at eight 75 years on, tributes to the fallen heroes of d day. hundreds of veterans gather in normandy for a day of commerative events, honouring those who helped liberate europe and change the course of world war two. as the commemorations drew to a close, a fly pass. our other main story, a devastating blow, ford confirms it is closing its plants there that have been in place since 1980. 1700