Almost 2,000 veterans and
world leaders are attending the main commemoration event marking the
70th anniversary of the D-Day landings in France.
They are gathered at Sword Beach in Normandy, one of five
landing points for the Allies, where scenes from the 1944 invasion will
be recreated.
The Queen earlier laid a wreath at a cemetery in Bayeux during a ceremony attended by about 400 veterans.
The landings were the first stage of the invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe.
By the end of D-Day on 6 June 1944, the Allies had
established a foothold in France - an event that would eventually help
bring the war to an end.
The ceremony at Ouistreham is being held in blazing sunshine and high temperatures
The crowds at Sword Beach were treated to a fly past by WWII aircraft, which included this Lancaster bomber
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended a tea party in Arromanches, near Gold landing beach
US veterans including Morley Piper, 90, gathered at Omaha Beach on Friday morning
At the D-Day commemorations
Caroline Wyatt, BBC defence correspondent
As the sun rose over Normandy shores this morning, a veteran
watched, lost in memories, from the deck of HMS Bulwark. The Royal Navy
flagship had sailed the English Channel overnight at the head of an
international task group of ships.
For former Royal Marine Corporal Bill Bryant, 89, the sight of the beaches brought back emotional recollections of the same time exactly 70 years ago, as he prepared to drive his landing craft to the shores - carrying his colleagues to their fate on land, amid a barrage of noise and chaos.
The contrast with today could not have been greater as he joined many other veterans on "Gold" Beach, amid a festival atmosphere. The sunshine sparkled on the waves, and French families and tourists from across Europe gathered to watch military bands on the main square at Arromanches.
This doughty but dwindling band of brothers know this may be the last time they meet on these shores. For the veterans, and those who've come to honour them, the ceremonies at Bayeux cemetery are a poignant but powerful reminder of courage and endurance, as D-Day slowly passes from living memory into history.
For former Royal Marine Corporal Bill Bryant, 89, the sight of the beaches brought back emotional recollections of the same time exactly 70 years ago, as he prepared to drive his landing craft to the shores - carrying his colleagues to their fate on land, amid a barrage of noise and chaos.
The contrast with today could not have been greater as he joined many other veterans on "Gold" Beach, amid a festival atmosphere. The sunshine sparkled on the waves, and French families and tourists from across Europe gathered to watch military bands on the main square at Arromanches.
This doughty but dwindling band of brothers know this may be the last time they meet on these shores. For the veterans, and those who've come to honour them, the ceremonies at Bayeux cemetery are a poignant but powerful reminder of courage and endurance, as D-Day slowly passes from living memory into history.
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