No D-day veterans on Normandy beaches as anniversary events cancelled

[nitpicker]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/05/no-d-day-veterans-on-normandy-beaches-as-anniversary-events-cancelled

No D-day veterans on Normandy beaches as anniversary events cancelled

For the first time in 75 years, there will be no D-day veterans on the beaches of Normandy to mark the anniversary of the allied landings on Saturday.

Official commemorations have been cancelled except for a limited gathering of representatives from nine countries – including the British ambassador to France – for a short ceremony.

A year after the fanfare of the 75th anniversary of the 1944 landings that marked the beginning of the end of Nazi Germany, many of this year’s events will be relayed by livestream to the dwindling number of elderly former soldiers who took part in Operation Overlord.

A website will transmit events commemorating the day when 150,000 troops swarmed ashore at strategic points along 50 miles (80km) of France’s north-west coastline. That day in 1944 they were met with a hail of machine gun fire and bombardments, leaving 10,000 casualties, among them 2,500 dead.

Saturday’s commemorations will include a flypast by the French air force’s air acrobatic team, the Patrouille de France.
(snip)

[crickets]

1. I'm glad there is still going to be some official commemoration, even a small one. nt