Rayleigh and Wickford MP and Armed Forces Minister, Mark Francois, recently attended a special gathering of D-Day Veterans aboard HMS Belfast, to commemorate the famous allied landings on the 6th June 1944.
The Veterans, drawn from across the three services, witnessed a fly-past of a C47 Dakota and were addressed by the Prime Minister, David Cameron MP, who thanked them for their vital service on D-Day and told them that the country will always remain proud of what they did. The event was also supported by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.
HMS Belfast was chosen as the venue for the special event as she was one of the first warships to open fire in the preliminary bombardment, before the landing craft went ashore, with her guns coming into action just before 5:30am on that fateful morning.
As well as in his Ministerial role, Mark had a personal reason for attending as his own father, Reginald Francois, served in a minesweeper on D-Day, HMS Bressay, which swept the approaches to the landing beaches very early in the morning of 6th June.
Commenting about the event, Mark Francois said:
"It was wonderful to have an opportunity to meet some of the Veterans and thank them in person for the service that they gave to their country and indeed the whole cause of freedom 70 years ago. It was also poignant for me because my father was there and I remain very proud of what he did for his country on that momentous day. I think the Veterans were very pleased to have the Prime Minister come and speak to them and also to witness a wonderful flypast by a C47 Dakota, which very appropriately was in D-Day markings. The Prime Minister was right, we will always remain proud of what these men did and I will also be attending the official D-Day commemorations in Normandy on 6th June to pay my respects in person."