MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

King Charles and President Macron will head commemorations June 6 in Normandy

On the 80th anniversary, British, Belgian, Canadian and US paratroopers jumped onto fields at Sannerville, in a unique tribute to parachutists in June 1944 (Pic PA)

More than 400 multinational paratroopers jumped into Normandy on Wednesday 5 June in a unique tribute to the soldiers who parachuted in on D-Day.

The 8,500 British and Canadian soldiers of 6th Airborne Division were the first Allied troops to land by glider and parachute in France in the early hours of 6th June 1944, tasked to secure the eastern flank of the invasion beaches.

Eighty years later, British, Belgian, Canadian and US paratroopers jumped onto fields at Sannerville, which in 1944 were designated as Drop Zone ‘K’ and used by 8th (Midlands) Parachute Battalion.

UK's Ministry of Defense is hosting UK’s National commemorative event for the 80th anniversary for D-Day on Southsea Common in Portsmouth. King Charles, the Prince of Wales, British Prime Minister, special guests, members of the public and hundreds of local schoolchildren are attending the spectacular cultural commemoration which was broadcast live on BBC One.

The official UK commemorations comprise a national commemorative event in Portsmouth and a vigil at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Bayeux War Cemetery on 5 June, as well as services at the cemetery and at Bayeux Cathedral. On 6 June, The King and President Macron will gather at the British Normandy Memorial to mark the 80th anniversary.