I’ll be supporting British, Northern Irish, and Irish ceremonies in Thiepval, the Ulster Tower, and Guillemont to commemorate the Battle of the Somme, one of the darkest moments in British military history. Men ran towards gun fire through mud: a horrendous imbalance between man and machine, and in many ways the beginning of the warfare we have today.

If you are able, I recommend making the pilgrimage to the Somme. It is beautifully peaceful, and yet scarred by thousands of white headstones representing those who risked everything for this peace.

The Dutch have a warm-hearted tradition of honouring their veterans on the last Friday of June: each city or town organises an event, usually a meal, to bring local veterans together. This year I’ve been asked to sing in Leiden as part of the city council’s programme. I’m really looking forward to it!

On 8th June I sang for 22 US veterans in the Abbaye aux Hommes, the city hall of Caen.

Best Defense Foundation, supported by Delta Airlines, Michelin, Next Gen, and a warm and wonderful team of volunteers, arranged the tour in a specially chartered plane from Atlantis to Deauville – a rare event as the airport does not usually receive trans-Atlantic flights.

The motto of the foundation is “Taking care of the ones who took care of us.”

Cpl. Jack Myers, Company B, 692nd Tank Destroyer Battalion, attached with the 104th and 42nd Infantry Division

SSgt Jake M. Larson – “Papa Jake,” G3, V Corps

SSgt George K. Mullins, Co. C, 327th Glider Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, author of “Foxholes”

Perhaps the greatest honour of all was being asked to lead “The Star-Spangled Banner” for the veterans’ farewell dinner.

And the memory that will stay with me forever was Jack Myers pure joy when he asked me to sing “How Great Thou Art.”

The glider pilots played a fundamental role in the Normandy campaign, transporting troops and equipment. Being towed in a mostly wooden glider was not without risk.

The Glider Pilot Regiment Society was established to remember the glider pilots, bring veterans and descendants together, and to pass on the history of the Glider Pilots. In 2022 they unveiled a memorial in Ranville, and today I supported their ceremony, along with the members of Massed Bands of the Pegasus Memorial.

The story of the crew of the plane that was shot down near Grangues is tragic and awful. The surviving airmen were taken as prisoners of war and shot. The people of the commune hold a three part ceremony each year to remember the airmen, and the villagers who died, and finally a British airman called Wally Troutt.

Troutt parachuted over Grangues on 6th June 1944 when his plane caught fire. He was taken prisoner of war and marched to the Dresden camp. Miraculously, he survived and was liberated by Russian forces in April 1945. He returned to Grangues and Ranville to speak to children and share his message about war: never again.

Troutt’s wish was that his ashes would be taken back to Grangues so he could rest in the valley. He was honoured in the third and final ceremony.

The afternoon ceremony in Arromanches on 6^th June concluded with a sing along. Thank you to Ken Hay for joining in “We’ll Meet Again,” and to Henry Rice for “Auld Lang Syne.” Watch until the end to see Henry’s special dance!