D-Day: Cafe owner, 84, recalls moment British troops liberated her family’s Normandy cafe

The owner of a cafe next to Pegasus Bridge has said D-Day veterans were with her “in spirit” as she raised an annual toast.

Arlette Gondree, who runs Cafe Gondree, one the first houses to be liberated in June 1944, thanked veterans and spoke of her “difficult times” during the Second World War.

Ms Gondree was four years old when British troops entered the cafe, then run by her parents.

People crowded around as she held a champagne toast shortly before 11pm on Wednesday 5 June - the eve of the anniversary - a tradition which has occurred since 1944.