Armed Forces veterans to honour our D-Day heroes at Cleethorpes ceremony

Armed Forces veterans in northern Lincolnshire are counting down to two major events to honour servicemen and women.

To mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day Normandy landings a beacon will be lit at The Knoll in Cleethorpes. A short service will be held around 9pm on June 6, in line with other international events to commemorate the invasion by Allied Forces on the beaches of northern France.

It was the largest amphibious invasion the world has ever witnessed. In 1944 Operation Overlord saw over 5,000 ships and landing craft set down more than 130,000 troops on five Normandy beaches in an action that would bring about the liberation of north-west Europe from Nazi occupation.

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There will be an international beacon lighting ceremony on Gold Beach, Normandy, with a similar national beacon lit at Portsmouth at 9.15pm. Armed Forces organisations around the UK will also light up beacons.

Armed Forces Champion for North East Lincolnshire, Alex Baxter said a service will be held at The Knoll, in Cleethorpes to coincide with the national and international events. Sadly one of the last remaining veterans of the D-Day landings from northern Lincolnshire, William Taylor, of Scartho died last year, aged 97 years. Organisers say they are not aware of any other survivors still living in northern Lincolnshire, but would like to hear of any.

The chief of the Armed Forces Major Events Team said plans for the Armed Forces Weekend in Cleethorpes, which is anticipating over 250,000 visitors, are "all going to plan."

"It will always be a stunningly successful event with an enormous attendance, because we have such big attractions, such as The Red Arrows, a Typhoon display and The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight as well as other displays of tanks and our traditional features. We will have the Model Boat Club giving displays at The Boating Lake too," he said.

He said there will be a stage purpose-built for the weekend and will feature a number of bands, including local rock band Ever. On Saturday night the skies will light up with a fireworks display.

The weekend is the biggest event, by attendance on the east coast of England and one of the top Armed Forces events in the UK.

"We are all going 100 mph to have everything in place for a spectacular event. We are still keen to get companies to come up with sponsorship.

"We are all volunteers and doing all this for the borough, as well as for King and Country. There have been hours and hours of work which have gone in to making it a success and I hope people recognise the effort," Mr Baxter said. The event starts on Friday, June 28 and goes on through to Sunday, June 30.

Any businesses wishing to support the weekend event with sponsorship can contact the Armed Forces Team at The Knoll on 01472 324355.