A very poignant morning has taken place in Normandy today [6-June-2019] to celebrate the day that started the invasion [the locals prefer liberation] of Europe to end World War two.
After Bucking Palace, banquets, tours of London and Portsmouth, President Donal Trump is currently in Ireland while President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Theresa May are in Normandy for the anniversary. There was an interesting statement from President Macron presumably hinting at Brexit "Leaders come and go. But the work they do continues and the power of our link goes beyond the events of a given moment."
One point highlighted this morning was the types of casualties, not just British soldiers, Canadian, Australian, American, but the French civilians, because Normandy had been bombarded all night by the battleships in the channel, and they continued this bombardment for days after the initial landing. We have records of the soldiers lost from all the nations but not an accurate figure of the civilian loss.
Queen Elizabeth II also hinted at the banquet three days ago that after the war various countries made a commitment to prevent such events by sticking together "While the world has changed, we are forever mindful of the original purpose of these structures: nations working together to safeguard a hard won peace." as organisations like NATO seem to be struggling today in a fractious society.
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