Wirral remembrance service for 80th anniversary of D-Day

Rector of Birkenhead Priory Parish, Revd Paul Bentley, led the service at the cenotaph in Hamilton Square and the adjoining Normandy Campaign memorial stone.

Residents were invited to join the Mayor, veterans and armed forces representatives to remember those who took part in the Normandy Landings and all those who supported their efforts, including many thousands of workers in Wirral’s shipyards, airfields, and armaments factories.

(Image: Craig Manning / Newsquest) The service was among a series of events marking the anniversary of D-Day, which was the largest seaborne invasion force in history.

The remembrance service marking 80th anniversary of D-Day took place in Birkenhead this afternoon (Thursday, June 6) (Image: Craig Manning / Newsquest) Wirral's mayor, councillor Cherry Povall, arrives for the remembrance service marking 80th anniversary of D-Day in Birkenhead this afternoon (Thursday, June 6) (Image: Craig Manning / Newsquest) On June 6, 1944, 156,000 Allied servicemen landed on the beaches and fields of Normandy by the end of the day.

Allied casualties were documented to be at least 10,000, with 4,414 confirmed dead.

Within a few days around 326,000 troops, 100,000 tons of equipment, and more than 50,000 vehicles had been landed.

The Mayor of Wirral, Councillor Cherry Povall, was among those laying wreaths in memory of those who gave their lives that day.

She said: "It is hard to comprehend the scale of those events 80 years ago, and to overestimate their importance of defeating Naziism in Europe.

Wirral's mayor, councillor Cherry Povall, lays wreath at remembrance service marking 80th anniversary of D-Day in Birkenhead this afternoon (Thursday, June 6) (Image: Craig Manning / Newsquest) “At the centre of it all were hundreds of thousands of young men, from New Brighton to Newfoundland and Heswall to Houston.

“We owe them - The Liberators - and the millions of people who supported their efforts, our eternal thanks.”

Piper after playing at remembrance service marking 80th anniversary of D-Day in Birkenhead this afternoon (Thursday, June 6) (Image: Craig Manning / Newsquest) Commemorations on Wirral began at 6.29am, the exact time the landings started 80 years ago, when a whistle will be blown and, in an echo of the legendary actions of Canadian piper William Millin (Piper Bill) who played as troops landed on Sword beach in Normandy, a lone piper play on the water’s edge on the Wirral coastline.

The Mayor’s Charity Fund is holding a 1940s themed tea dance in Birkenhead town hall this afternoon in local good causes.

Until 5pm today, there are guided tours of the secret manufacturing facility beneath the New Palace in New Brighton - officially registered as US Army Depot 0616 - will take place on the hour.

Among those attending remembrance service marking 80th anniversary of D-Day in Birkenhead this afternoon (Thursday, June 6) (Image: Craig Manning / Newsquest)

Visitors can view the original machinery used to make radio parts, shell casings and bullets, which remains in-situ and learn about facility’s role in the war effort.

Never before seen photographs taken on D-Day and throughout the Normandy Campaign by Chaplain to the Second Army and former Seacombe resident, Revd Warner-Radcliffe, will also be on display.

Places on the tours are limited and must be booked through the New Brighton Heritage Centre.