D-Day veterans mark 77th anniversary on landing craft at Portsmouth dockyard

Royal Artillery veteran Joe Cattini, pictured on the left, joked with spectators as he came ashore

D-Day veterans have taken part in commemorations for the 77th anniversary of the Normandy landings at a special event in Portsmouth.

Four veterans arrived at the city's Historic Dockyard, home to the National Museum of the Royal Navy, by landing craft.

Their appearance was organised by the D-Day Revisited charity which usually stages trips to Normandy beaches.

Earlier, a wreath-laying ceremony was held on Southsea seafront.

Arriving at the site by landing craft, the five D-Day veterans were piped ashore by with the so-called Millin Pipes used by William Millin on D-Day itself.

The veterans were piped ashore on the landing craft

With the Covid-19 pandemic still restricting international travel and large gatherings, most D-Day veterans had to mark the occasion closer to home.

Members of the public were also able to see the original Landing Craft Tank LCT 7074, which was recently restored and is now open to the public at the D-Day Story museum.

The vessel was finally unveiled at its new home in December but was forced to close days later because of Covid-19 restrictions.

The Historic Dockyard also staged a display of a range of military vehicles, musical performances, model boats and rides on historical vessels.

George Chandler, Joe Cattini, John Dennett and Jack Quinn posed for photos at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard

Portsmouth played a key role as one of the south coast departure points, launching what was the largest seaborne invasion in history.

About 160,000 troops from Britain, the US, Canada, France and other Allied nations landed in Normandy, marking the beginning the liberation of France from the Nazis and paving the way for victory on the Western Front in World War Two.

Earlier, a memorial honouring soldiers who died under British command on D-Day and in the fighting that followed was unveiled in France.