Public invited to attend service marking 75th anniversary of D-Day in Great Yarmouth borough

On that date in 1944, thousands of Allied troops began landing on the beaches of Normandy, in northern France, at the start of a major offensive against the Germans, during the Second World War.

Following a procession of the standards, Winterton Marine Cadets will set up a drumhead altar in the centre of the park, which will become the focal point of the service. There will be readings, prayers and hymns, led by the Rev Canon Simon Ward, of Great Yarmouth Minster.

The service will end with the singing of the National Anthem, an act of remembrance for those who died in the war and a two-minute silence. Cllr Michael Jeal, the mayor of the Great Yarmouth borough, will lay a wreath on behalf of the borough.

For this special anniversary year, Marc Robert, the mayor of Great Yarmouth's twin town of Rambouillet, in France, will be in Great Yarmouth for the service and will also lay a wreath at the drumhead altar.

The event is organised by Great Yarmouth Borough Council, in collaboration with the Great Yarmouth Minster and the Great Yarmouth branch of the Royal British Legion.

Cllr Jeal said: "The D-Day service always attracts a respectable turnout and we are expecting even larger numbers for the 75^th anniversary. This year, I am pleased to be welcoming my counterpart from Rambouillet and I also look forward to seeing the cadets constructing the drumhead altar, which will be an appropriate focal point for the service.

"D-Day played a key role in achieving Allied victory in Europe, and the anniversaries remain as relevant today as they were in the 1940s.The service is an opportunity for the whole community to honour and remember those who sacrificed so much in the landings and during the rest of the Second World War, both at home and abroad."