Shrewsbury is set to join the national 80th anniversary of D-Day on Thursday, June 6 to remember the tens of thousands of allied forces who gave service on D-Day eighty years ago and helped secure the peace we in the UK enjoy today.
A daylong programme of events is scheduled to mark the anniversary. Church bells will ring out, town criers will proclaim the victory and in a final gesture of homage, beacons and Lamp Lights of Peace will be lit to signify the light that emerged from the dreadful darkness of war.
In Shrewsbury at 8:00am on Pride Hill, Town Crier Martin Wood starts the Commemoration day by joining Town Criers from around the World to read the DDay 80 Proclamation.
At 6:30pm Churches in Shrewsbury will take part in the National Ring out the Bells for Peace.
To end this day of Commemoration, Shrewsbury Town Council will be holding a Lamp Light of Peace Ceremony at the War Memorial in the Quarry from 8:45pm and all are welcome to attend.
The evening will start with some personal moments of reflection. Memorial cards will be available for anyone to record their thoughts and memories which they can then secure to the railing around the War Memorial.
Shrewsbury’s Town Crier Martin Wood will read out the D-Day 80 Proclamation which will then be followed by readings of poems and speeches from that time.
The International Tribute, read out across the nation at the same time, will be read locally by young pupils from Wilfred Owen School and Veterans. During the reading of the Tribute the Lamp of Peace will be lit, at the same time as lamps of peace will be lit on the five Normandy beaches.
The evening will end with closing prayers from Reverend Mann, Vicar of St Chad’s Church.
In times of peace, it is hard to understand the scope and risk that involved 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces invading those Normandy Beaches to liberate Europe from Nazi occupation.
Remembering D-Day honours their bravery and sacrifice and is a constant reminder of the horrors of war and the importance of preventing conflicts in the future. It teaches us about the value of freedom, democracy and the need for international cooperation and allows us to pay tribute to those 4,414 Soldiers who fought and died on the beaches of Normandy. Their lives live on, and they will never be forgotten.