Today, on the seventieth anniversary of D-Day, we honour the memory of all who contributed to the success of one of the most ambitious and courageous military operations ever mounted.

We are humbled and awed by the bravery of all who fought to bring freedom back to Europe. Though liberation came too late for many millions, the news of the Allied landings brought hope even to the concentration camps, to Jews in hiding across Europe and to all the countries who had suffered Nazi oppression for years.
 
We reflect with deep appreciation on the truth that tens of thousands gave their lives in the battle for Normandy and in the subsequent fighting, so that our parents, we and our children could enjoy the freedoms we so often take for granted.