EFE 06/06/2019

EFE - UK D-DAY - Queen and Trump attend 75th D-Day anniversary events

Portsmouth (United Kingdom), Jun 5 (EFE).- Queen Elizabeth II and US President Donald Trump were in Portsmouth on Wednesday for the official commemorations marking the 75th anniversary of the D-Day Normandy. The 93-year-old UK monarch was the last to arrive at the event, attended by some 300 veterans and other world leaders, among them French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. A huge stage had been set up for the occasion, decorated with the national flags of the World War II allies, and members of the Armed Forces put on a military display to welcome the Queen. The Queen, who was a car mechanic during the war years, was accompanied by her son and heir to the throne, Prince Charles, as well as Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, UK Prime Minister Theresa May and the leaders of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Denmark. As part of the commemorations, images of the D-Day landings were shown on a large screen set up on the stage. Several nonagenarian veterans took to the stage, mostly with walking sticks and wearing medals on their lapels, and were greeted by the applause of those in attendance. British actress Celia Imrie gave a reading on the significance of D-Day as members of the Queen’s Guard paraded across the stage and a map showing the crossing and scenes of the conflict came up on the screen. Considered a crucial moment in World War II, “Operation Overlord” was a military campaign carried out by the Allied Forces that led to the liberation of territories in western Europe that were under Nazi German occupation. The Normandy landings were considered the greatest amphibious invasion in military history. Spitfires and a group of Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team Red Arrows were also due to put on an air show, while Royal Navy ships would be deployed off the coast of Portsmouth. Veterans Harry Read, 95, and John Hutton, 94, were due to parachute into Normandy in honour of those who were killed in the battle 75 years ago. EFE vg/sh/rb -- EPA-EFE Multimedia Desk, Madrid +34 913 467 493