They did not flinch – and we salute them for that

They did not want to be treated as heroes, and insisted they were merely doing their duty. But the 40 British veterans who travelled to Normandy for Thursday’s moving ceremonies to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day were rightly greeted as heroes by the French people who thanked them for the inspirational acts of courage that rescued their country from the horrors of Nazi occupation.

Anniversaries have become something of a devalued currency but D-Day is one of those rare, pivotal events that deserves all the attention it gets. It provides a moment to reflect on the remarkable operation that changed the course of the Second World War, and thus history.

The greatest amphibious operation the world has seen involved 156,000 seaborne and airborne troops from Britain, the United States and Canada landing in Normandy on 6 June 1944, marking the start of Operation Overlord. More than 4,400 Allied troops were killed on that day – a tragic loss but, given the huge risks, a figure that could easily have been much higher.

D-Day was only the beginning; nor should we forget that more than 220,000 Allied service personnel perished in the bloody Battle of Normandy before Paris was liberated in August 1944.

In an echo of his grandfather George VI’s stirring message to Britain and the empire 80 years ago, the King told an emotion-charged event at the British Normandy Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer: “How fortunate we were, and the entire free world, that a generation of men and women in the United Kingdom and other Allied nations did not flinch when the moment came to face that test.”

He added: “We recall the lesson that comes to us again and again across the decades – free nations must stand together to oppose tyranny.”

That is as true today as it was in 1944 – and the absence of an uninvited Russia from the D-Day events was a sobering reminder there is again war on European soil.

In one sense, it was regrettable that Vladimir Putin or another Russian representative was not present, since the Soviet Union lost more than 25 million people in its “Great Patriotic War”. But it was right to send Mr Putin a message by snubbing him and inviting Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president. Just as the UK and its allies fought to free Europe from the Nazis, the leaders in today’s highly dangerous world cannot afford to allow Ukraine to be defeated, in its own darkest hour, by a revanchist Russia.

This year’s commemoration was even more poignant because the march of time means the ranks of the D-Day veterans are dwindling. Some of the 23 British veterans who went to Normandy this year returned for the first time since 1944 to pay their respects to “the lads” who did not make it home. Some 225 attended the 75th-anniversary events in Normandy. Even those who took part in D-Day in their teens are now approaching 100, and there might be only a handful of survivors, or none, by the 90th anniversary.

The two-day commemoration rightly prioritised the need to ensure future generations do not forget the bravery and sacrifices of the D-Day heroes. But, as the historian Sir Anthony Seldon noted in The Independent, there is much work to be done to ensure that this flame is kept alive.

Worryingly, a survey by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission found that fewer than half of 18-to-34-year-olds correctly identified D-Day, and one in five of them thinks there is no need to hold events to remember the two world wars. It falls to all of us to safeguard their proud legacy – including the politicians whose petty point-scoring during the election makes them look smaller than those who led the UK through those wars.

The passing of a torch to a new generation was symbolised after Eric Bateman, who joined the navy aged 17, moved the Queen to tears by speaking about the loss of his dear friend Fred, who fought alongside him but “never made it”.

Mr Bateman’s great-granddaughters, Annabel and Imogen, told the memorial event in Portsmouth: “We want to thank our great-grandfather and all the veterans of D-Day and the Normandy landings… Without them, we would not have the freedom we enjoy today.”

We must never forget them.