On this day 75 years ago, 6 June 1944, the Allied invasion of Normandy began. D-Day, as it became known, was the largest seaborne invasion in history. It was the start of the liberation of Nazi-occupied France and laid the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front.

Today we salute the heroism of those who fought Hitler’s fascism, with some of those veterans still with us. But we also reflect on the terrible loss of life involved. So many of those who went to the beaches of Normandy never returned.

The freedom we enjoy today is precious and the price they paid for it must never be forgotten.