'When I go back I cry...I saw bodies brought off that beach'

D-DAY warriors have recalled the bravery and the horror of the historic landings as they mark the invasion's 80th anniversary.

- Giles Sheldrick

 Some 156,000 troops took part as the Allies stormed Normandy beaches on June 6, 1944.

The names of the 22,442 servicemen and women from 38 countries who lost their lives in D-Day and the subsequent Battle of Normandy are inscribed on 160 limestone columns at the British Normandy Memorial overlooking Gold Beach at Ver-sur-Mer.

Some of the few remaining lionhearts will muster there next month to pay tribute to and give thanks for comrades who served, but did not live to tell the tale.

Pivotal

Second World War heroes will lead Royal British Legion commemorations at Bayeux War Cemetery, final resting place of 4,144 Commonwealth soldiers 338 unidentified, the British Normandy Memorial and at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffs.

The poignant ceremonies across the Channel are likely to be the last time those who played a pivotal role in the liberation of France and Western Europe from Nazi tyranny will gather at the spot.

Despite the eight decades that have passed Jack Mortimer, 100, from Leeds, still vividly recalls Operation Overlord when, aged 20, he dragged himself up Sword Beach as shells rained down.