A group of elite French commandos who took part in the D-Day landings have finally been honoured by their country after a 60-year wait and a fierce debate about their role within the British forces.
The Legion d'Honneur was given to the men at a ceremony on the beach at Ouistreham where they landed in 1944.
They were among 177 French troops who joined more than a hundred thousand Allied troops in the D-Day landings.
One veteran said the honour was a ‘long time coming’ but he was both moved and very pleased.
Earlier today a flotilla of ships carrying hundreds of veterans sailed from Portsmouth Harbour in Britain to Normandy to mark the 60th anniversary of D-Day.
Tens of thousands of Allied troops stormed beaches in north-western France 60 years ago to liberate Europe from German occupation.
Earlier, 600 American parachutists dropped from French skies in a re-enactment of operations by the US 82nd Airborne Division, to mark the start of commemorations of the Allied invasion.
War veterans from all over the world have gathered in Normandy to remember their fallen comrades.
