D-DAY heroes will be given a spectacular send-off as they set sail for France for the 75th anniversary of the Normandy landings in June.
As 300 veterans begin their voyage across the Channel from Portsmouth on the cruise ship Boudicca, they will be escorted by HMS St Albans, a submarine hunter frigate, and four smaller vessels.
When the Boudicca – chartered by the Royal British Legion – emerges into the Solent it will be met by a flotilla of 11 naval vessels, which will sail past her in salute with sailors lining the decks.
RAF veteran Greg Hayward, 93, Royal Navy veteran Eric Strange, 95 and army veteran Len Williams, 93 (left to right) on board HMS St Albans in Portsmouth for D-Day tributes
Wellwishers are being encouraged to wave off the diminishing band on Normandy veterans on June 5.
On board HMS St Albans in Portsmouth, Mike Utley, commander of the UK carrier strike group, said: 'Sailors will cheer the veterans as they pass by and, once past the Southsea war memorial, HMS St Albans will fire a gun salute to pay the Royal Navy's respects in true nautical fashion.'
Commodore Utley said: 'Those who sailed from Portsmouth landed on Sword and Juno Beaches, joining 132,815 men landed by ships and craft who took part in the most significant victory of the Western Allies in the Second World War.
'And that gives me goosebumps, quite honestly, just saying it.'
On June 6, at 7.26am local time, there will be a lone piper on the remains of the Mulberry Harbour defences as the Army marks the exact moment the first British soldier landed on Gold Beach.
Also that morning, the Normandy Memorial Trust's statue – a tribute to the more than 22,000 British personnel who gave their lives in Normandy, and backed by Daily Mail readers – will be unveiled at Ver-sur-Mer.
Greg Hayward (top right) with his squadron during World War II. Greg served with
