D-Day: BBC to mark 70th anniversary

More than 156,000 Allied troops stormed the beaches of France on 6 June 1944

The 70th anniversary of the 1944 D-Day landings is to be marked by a series of programmes on BBC TV and radio.

Chris Evans will broadcast his Radio 2 breakfast show live from the Normandy beaches on 6 June, while Huw Edwards will present the corporation's coverage of the day's commemoration ceremonies.

A service of remembrance will also be broadcast live from Bayeux Cemetery.

Sophie Raworth will present four BBC One programmes about the event in the week leading up to the anniversary.

On BBC Two, historian James Holland will take a fresh look at the wider 77-day campaign in one-off documentary Normandy 44.

Other offerings on Radio 2 include a Jeremy Vine show broadcast from HMS Belfast and a Friday Night is Music Night from the Royal Albert Hall.

Vine will host the event with Dermot O'Leary and Louise Minchin, with performances from folk singer Seth Lakeman and the BBC Concert Orchestra.

Radio 4, meanwhile, will air D-Day Dames, a documentary about female US war correspondents working in London in June 1944.

Edwards, Raworth and Evans (l to r) will all feature in the BBC's D-Day coverage

The June 6 attack saw more than 156,000 Allied troops storm the beaches of France and marked the beginning of the end of World War Two.

This year's commemoration ceremonies at Arromanches, France, will be the biggest since the 60th anniversary of D-Day in 2004.

"We all owe so much to the brave servicemen and women who took part in the D-Day campaign," said Danny Cohen, director of BBC television.

"It is a privilege to commemorate and mark this incredibly important anniversary with a range of programming across BBC TV, radio and online."