Westbury marks D-Day 80th anniversary

Westbury residents attended Soisy Gardens this morning, Thursday 6th June, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings. 

The town crier read the Proclamation and town mayor Jane Russ read the International Tribute next to a 25-pounder field gun which was built in 1939 and used during World War II. 

Speaking about the importance of remembering what happened during D-Day, Andrew Thomas, owner of the field gun, said, “I think it’s important to learn lessons so these things don’t happen again or to try to reduce the risk of them happening again. So many people died to give us the freedoms that we have today. I think it is important to remember their sacrifice. Without them, we wouldn’t have the lives that we have today. People in Ukraine, Yemen, and Gaza are all in a completely different situation where their freedoms are being taken away from them under oppressive regimes. We live in a very peaceful society, and the reason we do is because people stood on the wall and protected us when we needed it.” 

Mayor Jane Russ said, “It is important for everybody to remember D-Day, perhaps now more than ever, in these particular times when we see the situation in Ukraine. It becomes even more important to realise that we have to defend against tyranny. We are so grateful to everybody who took part in that event. It was so horrible, but it did liberate Europe. I have been watching the D-Day Unheard Tapes on IPlayer. If anybody wants any detail of what happened, it is the most amazing series. I’ve never seen anything like it, and I highly recommend it.” 

The D-Day landings on 6th June 1944 in Normandy was the historic operation which started the liberation of France and western Europe from Nazi occupation that ultimately tipped the course of the Second World War in the Allies’ favour.