Events are taking place in France and the UK to mark the 80th anniversary of the Allied invasion of France
In Normandy, US President Joe Biden says the fight for Ukraine echoes the struggle for freedom on the beaches on D-Day
Earlier, King Charles talks of the "supreme test" of D-Day, and the generation that "did not flinch when the moment came to face that test"
Five years ago, 225 British veterans travelled to Normandy for commemorations – this year there were 23
On 6 June 1944, tens of thousands of soldiers landed on five beaches in Normandy, northern France
The landings were the start of the campaign to liberate Nazi-occupied north-western Europe
Nicholas Tate
Reporting from Normandy
French citizens have been parading at Plage de Colleville-Montgomery near Sword Beach in Normandy.
Commemorative events are taking place across Britain and France to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day - the beginning of the campaign to liberate Nazi-occupied north-western Europe.
Image source, Aaron Chown/PA WirePeople gather to attend the ceremony on Gold Beach in Arromanches in Normandy
We've just heard from Lord Peter Ricketts, former UK ambassador to France and now honorary president of the Normandy Memorial Trust, who's in Normandy today for the D-Day 80th anniversary.
"It's commemoration, certainly not celebration," he tells the BBC Radio 4's Today Programme, remembering all those who died.
Commemorations have taken on a new significance, he says, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. President Putin has not been invited to this year's commemorations, a sign of divisions over the war.
"What Russia has done since then makes it impossible for a senior Russian representatives to be here," he adds, saying that it's all the more pertinent to remember the lessons of 1944, "when we were allied, when we were successful.
"It's vital we pass that message on to the younger people."
Image source, PA MediaKing Charles meets Normandy veteran Lew Trewin in Portsmouth on Tuesday
This morning, the King and Queen will pay tribute to fallen soldiers at the UK's national commemoration event at the British Normandy Memorial, in Ver-sur-Mer, along with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Labour leader Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron.
The Prince of Wales will attend the Canadian event at the Juno Beach Centre, Courseulles-sur-Mer, before joining veterans and more than 25 heads of state for the official international ceremony on Omaha Beach, Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer.
In the UK, an 80-strong flotilla of boats will leave from Falmouth, Cornwall, where thousands of troops departed to take part in the invasion, while a beacon-lighting ceremony will take place in Aylesford, Kent.
The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh will join veterans at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester will meet veterans at a show at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
Chris Andrews
Reporting from Sword Beach, Normandy
The quiet of Sword Beach is occasionally disturbed by the rumble and sight of a military flyover.
Services are being held along Normandy’s coast this morning, including at the statue of piper Bill Millin where Scottish bagpipers marched along with their French compatriots.
Watch: Military piper plays on amphibious vehicle at Gold Beach
About an hour ago at Gold Beach in Arromanches, Normandy, Major Trevor Macey-Lillie, piper with the Scottish gunners, enacted a time-honoured tradition of playing a Scottish lament on the bagpipes.
The tradition recreates the exact moment thousands of British troops disembarked onto French beaches.
Major Macey-Lillie performed Highland Laddie, also known as Hielan' Laddie, in a landing craft utility before being driven up the beach in a DUKW amphibious vehicle.
"I was here on the 75th anniversary, and I was asked to come back for the 80th," he tells BBC Breakfast.
He adds it was a "total humbling and privileged experience.
Quote MessageWe are here to represent and remember the veterans who are still here today and the young soldiers of old who didn't make it home."
Nicholas Tate
Reporting from Sword Beach, Normandy
Massed pipes and drums gather and play on the spot where Piper Bill Millin came ashore on D-Day.
Bill was commander Lord Lovat's personal piper in the 1st Commando Brigade when he landed at the beach in Normandy on June 6, 1944.
He was the only man who wore a kilt during the landings - the same Cameron tartan kilt his father had worn in Flanders during World War One.
The D-Day landings saw troops from the UK, US, Canada and France attacking German forces in Normandy, northern France, during World War Two.
When did it happen?
The mission was originally set to start on 5 June 1944 - the day judged to have ideal conditions for crossing the Channel - but had to be delayed by 24 hours because of storms.
What happened?
A total of 156,000 soldiers were sent to attack five beaches in Normandy.
A deception plan in the weeks beforehand led the Germans to expect the main invasion further along the coast - the element of surprise helped British troops establish a foothold on a beach codenamed Gold.
By midnight, troops on four of the five beaches had managed to push further inland.
On D-Day alone, as many as 4,400 Allied soldiers died, and around 9,000 were wounded or went missing.
Image source, .Why was it so significant?
It was the largest seaborne invasion ever attempted, and marked the start of the campaign to liberate Nazi-occupied north-west Europe.
While progress through the narrow lanes and staunchly defended towns of Normandy was slow, Allied soldiers now outnumbered their enemy, and were supported by their superiority in the skies.
By late August of that year, the Allies would liberate Paris.
You can read more about D-Day and its impact on the war here.
Robert Persichitti, a World War Two Navy veteran, has died aged 102 while travelling to a D-Day event in France, the New York Times reports, external.
A regular attendee of D-Day commemorative events, he was on board a ship to Normandy with the National World War II Museum group but was airlifted to a hospital in Germany after suffering a medical emergency, where he died.
He had a history of heart problems but prior to the trip, he told US news outlets he was "really excited" to be going to Normandy.
According to US military news organisation Stars and Stripes, Mr Persichitti served in Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Guam as a radioman on the ship U.S.S. Eldorado.
Image source, Wroc-TVRobert "Al" Persichitti
Image source, PA MediaMajor Trevor Macey-Lillie plays Highland Laddie on a DUKW amphibious vehicle on Gold Beach in Arromanches in Normandy, France
Image source, PA MediaThe act remembers a lone piper who played in the D-Day Normandy landings 80 years ago and was never shot at
Image source, PA MediaA giant poppy is displayed on Gold Beach
Image source, PA MediaNicholas Tate
Reporting from Sword Beach, Normandy
A sun rise service has taken place by the Royal Irish Regiment on Sword Beach to commemorate D-Day on the spot where 80 years ago, British soldiers landed to begin their fight against the occupying German forces.
Chris Andrews
Reporting from Sword Beach, Normandy
The Royal Ulster Rifles (RUR) who served on D-Day was a “unique band of brothers”, Maj Gen Colin Weir of the Royal Irish Regiment says.
The RUR was the only British regiment to land by air and sea on 6 June 1944.
It was made up of soldiers from across Ireland and Great Britain, volunteers for the “great crusade to secure freedom for Europe”.
Maj Gen Weir says it is the duty of his regiment carry on their legacy and pass on “some of that experience of service and sacrifice”.
Toby Brown
Reporting from Ver-sur-Mer, Normandy
The 1,475 silhouettes reflect the number of servicemen who died serving under British command on D-Day itself
The media activity is ramping up within the British Normandy Memorial, ahead of today’s ceremony - which will be attended by the King and Queen, Rishi Sunak, and French President Emmanuel Macron.
But a short step from the memorial towards the beach you can see the Standing With Giants installation.
Silhouettes in the early sunlight bring home the scale of the sacrifice on these beaches 80 years ago.
Sarah Farmer
Reporting from Gold Beach, Normandy
Image source, bbcAs the sun rose over Arromanches, final preparations were underway for the commemorative events of D-Day 80.
The tide was out allowing replica military vehicles to park on the beach itself. The remains of the Mulberry Harbour protruding from the sand. Crowds began gathering at 6am, lining the seawall with views across Gold Beach.
The events in Arromanches today begin with a fly past and beach tribute to the veterans, led by a piper - a recreation of the moment Bill Millin led the troops on to the shore on D-Day.
There’ll also be a Mass, and a number of ceremonies throughout the day, as well as a bagpipe parade.
Chris Andrews
Reporting from Sword Beach, Normandy
Hope Durnin and Evie Sloan
At first light on Sword Beach, there was silence on the sand.
Eighty years to the day since the Allies landed in Normandy, soldiers from the Royal Irish Regiment paused to reflect along with young Army Cadets.
They were here to pay respect to the Royal Ulster Rifles; the only British regiment to land by air and sea on D-Day.
Teenagers Hope Durnin and Evie Sloan said it was emotional to be involved.
Hope added the ceremony was so emotional and engrossing, she only noticed the cold morning temperature after it ended.
Katya Adler
Europe editor, reporting from Normandy
Image source, MARIANNE BAISNEEUS veteran Donald Cobb, 99, took part in a landing at Omaha beach
The star attraction in Normandy this week is certainly not world leaders. It’s the surviving D-Day veterans, the youngest of whom are now in their 90s. Wherever they travel along the coast, they’re feted, photographed and fawned over, especially by the locals.
I met young mum Vanessa Foulon, queuing with her six-year-old son to get a D-Day commemorative cap signed by an American veteran. Why is this so important to them, I asked?
“Liberté” she said simply. “They gave us our freedom.” And she burst into tears.
“People here are nice,” 99-year-old US veteran Donald Cobb told me. “We enjoy coming back.”
He’d been taking part in a veterans’ march in picturesque Sainte-Marie-du-Mont. The streets here are festooned with banners claiming to be “the first liberated village”.
Donald remembers landing on nearby Omaha beach at 05:30 on 6 June 1944. The water was choppy, the wind biting, he says.
At 19, he must have been petrified.
“Honestly,” he said, “I would rather have been anywhere else.”
Image source, MARIANNE BAISNEESurviving D-Day veterans, including Steve Melnikoff, have been the star attraction in Normandy this week
Several events took place in the UK and France on the eve of the actual anniversary.
In Portsmouth in England, King Charles called on people to live up to the freedom that Allied soldiers had died for, paying tribute to them and to surviving veterans.
Watch our video report on Wednesday's commemorations.
Paratroopers and a drone show mark D-Day 80th anniversary
Image source, ReutersWorld War Two re-enactors in a Willys jeep near Omaha Beach
We're resuming our coverage of one of the most important international anniversaries this year: 80 years since the Allied landings in Normandy, which marked the beginning of the end of the Nazi occupation of northwest Europe.
The sixth of June is a date etched in the memories of generations as D-Day, when mainly US, British and Canadian forces combined to break Germany's hold on France. President Joe Biden will be there to mark the event on Omaha Beach along with King Charles III, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron.
But while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are also expected to attend, the leader of Russia, a crucial military ally back in 1944, has not been invited, in a sign of the deep divisions over President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
Just to remind you of the scale of Operation Overlord: thousands of warships crossed the Channel to the coast of northern France, with more than 150,000 soldiers landing on five beaches of Normandy. It was the largest amphibious invasion in the history of warfare.
Stay with us for updates on Thursday's anniversary events in France and the UK, as the sacrifices of the war are commemorated and the joy of liberation remembered.
Image source, PA MediaRAF veteran Bernard Morgan, 100, salutes the fallen at Bayeux War Cemetery in Normandy, France
The 80th anniversary of D-Day is being marked by events in France and the UK.
Today, King Charles, Queen Camilla, Prince William and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak were all at an event in Portsmouth meeting World War II veterans and commemorating their bravery 80 years ago.
"It is our duty to ensure that we, and future generations, do not forget their service and their sacrifice in replacing tyranny with freedom," the King said in a speech.
Image source, ReutersKing Charles addresses the veterans and the audience with a heartfelt and moving speech
On the other side of the Channel, French President Emmanuel Macron attended events in Brittany and Normandy, where he honoured the veterans who fought on 6 June 1944 and paid tribute to those who had died.
To commemorate the original operation, hundreds of paratroopers from the British, Belgian, Canadian and US military jumped from their plane over Normandy fields.
Image source, ReutersFrench President Emmanuel Macron with Achille Muller, 98, the last survivor of the Free French Forces, at a ceremony paying homage to French Resistance fighters during World War Two
We're pausing our live coverage for the day.
Join us tomorrow as we bring you more on the events commemorating D-Day in France. King Charles will join Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Macron at the British Normandy Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer, followed by another ceremony at Omaha beach, which will also be attended by US President Joe Biden.
Katya Adler
Europe editor, reporting from Omaha beach
Image source, Marianne BaisneeOn Omaha beach, a group of youngsters are energetically rehearsing a presentation of D-Day testimonies, including a French child, an Allied soldier, a frightened young German conscript and a resistance fighter.
Their collaboration, written and rehearsed over the last five weeks, will be part of Thursday’s international ceremony, performed in front of world leaders and veterans.
It was created by the Franco-German youth project, featuring young theatre professionals and historians from France, Germany, Ukraine, America, Canada and the UK.
Image source, Marianne BaisneeHelena (left), Kajali and Kate on Omaha beach in Normandy
“Freedom for all!” was the heartfelt priority for screenwriter Kate Viktiuk from Ukraine.
“The history of D-Day and the history of my country is similar. We all fight, united against one enemy, for peace," Viktiuk says, adding that it is important to "feel the unity" at Omaha beach.
German actor Helena Blechinge says she "really wanted to send a message of peace".
"I would have loved it if there was a Russian person here. Russian politics isn’t equal to Russian people," she adds, "I feel sad that we are separated from part of the Russian people".
Chris Andrews
Reporting from Normandy
There was silence at Merville Battery as a service was held in memory of 9th Para Battalion.
Local children sang both the French and British national anthems before tributes were paid to the daring raid on the site by Col Terence Otway’s depleted force after the D-Day landing.
Those in attendance were asked to reflect that it is the first year there has been no surviving veteran in attendance but that there was a resolve future commemorations would continue.