News | Politics I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice . Senior leaders of the UK’s military have paid tribute to the “courage, bravery, ingenuity” of the thousands of soldiers who took part in the D-Day landings 80 years ago.
Speaking at the national commemoration in Portsmouth , Hampshire , the First Sea Lord and head of the Royal Navy Admiral Sir Ben Key told the PA news agency: “We are here to commemorate the courage, bravery, ingenuity of all of those involved in the Normandy landings 80 years ago which was the start of the liberation of northern Europe and really marked the beginning of the end of the Second World War. “And the courage, skill, commitment of those hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom were in their late teens, early 20s. “The scale of the endeavour that had been undertaken was really quite remarkable and I think that accordingly it’s important that we reflect on what it took, how much it meant and just how important those events in 1944 through to 1945 were for the subsequent peace we have enjoyed across Europe.
” Speaking of the veterans, he added: “They are phenomenal, the way they tell their stories, the humility, the humour, they clearly reflect that there are so few of them left now. “You can see in their eyes that they recall those of their mates who are no longer here, some of whom lost their lives on the very first day of the landings. “They set a grea.
