Normandy veterans given a heroes' welcome as they cross Pegasus Bridge
Veterans of the Normandy Landings have been taken to Pegasus Bridge, one of the first objectives to be captured by British troops on D-Day, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the battle.
Sixteen black cabs from the Taxi Charity drove across the bridge in convoy, with a veteran in the back of each one, smiling and waving at the crowds.
The veterans are also attending a commemorative service in the gardens of the Pegasus Memorial Museum in Benouville.
One of those was Royal Navy veteran Bob Gravells, who ferried troops to the beaches during Operation Neptune.
He told Forces News he would always remember D-Day as a "special day in [his] life".
"I think of those who fell on that day on both sides really," he said. "War is absurd, but it was necessary sometimes."
Ninety-nine-year-old Dorothea Barron, a former Wren, taught semaphore and signalling to military personnel in the lead-up to D-Day.
She told Forces News she couldn't believe the reception the veterans got on returning to the bridge, describing it as "utterly fantastic".
"They were all so welcoming," she said.
Pegasus Bridge crosses the Caen canal, with it and one other bridge over the adjacent River Orne the first objectives to be captured by British airborne troops in the early hours of D-Day.
As such, the bridges have become the focal point for remembering the start of the operation.
Included in those welcoming the veterans were a number of people who travelled from Cornwall just to be a part of the commemorations.
"History, nostalgia, it's got to be kept alive," one of them said. "One day, there'll be no veterans left so it's got to be kept going."
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