Region to commemorate 80 years since D-Day landings

Beacons like the one in Queens Park in Loughborough will be lit

Events across the East Midlands will take place to mark 80 years since the D-Day landings.

Alongside a programme of events across the nation and in France, D-Day services will provide focal points for commemorations in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire.

Southwell Minster will host The Royal British Legion’s Nottinghamshire rededication and D-Day service on Sunday from 14:30 BST.

And an evening sunset parade and open air service will take place on Nottingham’s Victoria Embankment on Tuesday, from 18:30.

Medals and decorations may be worn, while units and veterans are requested to form up for a march.

The landings on 6 June 1944 started the liberation of France and western Europe from Nazi occupation.

Derby Cathedral will host a commemorative service on Thursday from 17:15 to provide a moment of reflection and gratitude for those who took part in the landings and the wider armed forces, followed by a peel of the Cathedral bells.

Derby mayor Ged Potter said: “Without the events of that day we would be living in a very different world. I hope that as many people as possible will be able to come and remember heroism and sacrifice.”

Leicester Cathedral will host an evensong service on Thursday at 17:30, and all are welcome to attend.

For those representing uniformed services and organisations, wearing uniform is encouraged and insignia, decorations and medals may be worn.

Across the region

Events are also being organised in towns and villages across the three counties.

These include in Loughborough, where the Queen’s Park beacon will be lit for the first time since Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee.

The event will take place on Thursday, with stalls and activities from 19:30 ahead of the lighting at about 21:15.

Mayor Julie Bradshaw said: “Charnwood has a rich military history and it is important that we mark this anniversary and pay tribute to those who lost their lives during the allied invasion in 1944.”

On Thursday, churches across Hinckley and Bosworth will ring out at 18:30 while the beacon in Argents Mead, Hinckley, will be lit at 21.15.

In Market Harborough, at 09:00 on Thursday, a flag raising ceremony takes place at The Symington Building, which has been lit red, white and blue.

A declaration and prayer will be led by the Revd Phil Bryson, attended by veterans.

And from 19:00 a public commemorative church service at St Dionysius Church will be attended by Harborough Borough Council representatives and veterans from the Royal British Legion, Royal Naval Association, members of the local sea, army, air and police cadet organisations and the town’s Scouts and Guides groups.

'Darkness of war'

Lutterworth Town Council is hosting a beacon lighting ceremony on Thursday at Coventry Road Recreation Ground at 19:15, with music from Lutterworth Town Band.

Stapleford will light a beacon at the Old Mill Club in Mill Road on Thursday from 21:00.

Mountsorrel Memorial Centre will stage a flag raising ceremony from 09:00 on Thursday, followed that afternoon by bell ringing at St Peter's Church from 18:30 and a beacon lighting in Castle Hill at 21:15.

On the same day in Syston, commemorations will include bagpipers, town criers and church bells, and the lighting of the town’s beacon “to signify the light that emerged from the dreadful darkness of war”.

At 08:00 on Thursday, a reading of the proclamation at Kimberley War Memorial in Main Street takes place.

And from 20:30 nearby Chapel on the Hill will host a beacon lighting ceremony, with music from a local bagpiper.

Lubenham Parish Council is lighting its Village Green beacon at 21:15.

The village is also hosting a D-Day photographic display and commemorative reading in the village hall.

Bagpipers and town criers are involved in several services

Events also take place the following weekend.

A 1940s Weekend is happening at Harborough Indoor Market on Saturday 8 June and Sunday 9 June, with showcase music, stalls, fancy dress and memorabilia.

A D-Day 80th Anniversary Afternoon Tea for pensioners takes place on Saturday 8 June at Awsworth Village Hall, from 14:00 until 17:00.

On Saturday 8 June Mapperley Plains Recreation and Social Club is hosting a 1940s Dance with The Ashby Little Big Band and singer Kitty LaMare.

And from 10:45 on Sunday 9 June, Bramcote Crematorium will host a Remembrance Service for the 80th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings, conducted by the Revd James Lindsay.

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