Surviving World War Two veterans are converging on the beaches of Normandy to mark the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings. Some are old friends who have reunited for the first time in 70 years.
As most of the veterans are in their 90s and he youngest survivors of the landings are now in their late 80s, this will probably be the last substantial gathering of D-Day veterans.
Joe Cattini, 91, and Denys Hunter, 90, who were both in the same unit of Herefordshire Yeomanry on Gold Beach on D-Day, share a joke as they meet up again for the first time in 70 yearsGettyPat Churchill, 90, who was with the 2nd Royal Marines Armoured Support Regiment which landed on Juno Beach on D-Day, stands in front of the original D-Day Planning Map in the drawing room of Southwick House, which in June 1944 was the headquarters of Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D EisenhowerGettyVera Hay, 92, who was a nurse in a field hospital shortly after D-Day, poses for a photograph in a Rolls Royce that was used by Field Marshal Montgomery during WW2. The car is parked outside Southwick House in Portsmouth, which in June 1944 was the headquarters of Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D EisenhowerGettyJack W Schlegel, 91, of the 508th Parachute Infantry Division of the 82nd Airborne who parachuted near Sainte-Mere-Eglise on June 6,1944, poses with well-wishers as he visits the American War cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, on the Normandy coastReutersLen Buckley, who was a paratrooper on D-Day, is seen in a WW2 photo and in another taken in Portsmouth before travelling to Normandy for the anniversaryGettyVeterans of the 101st Airborne Division of the US Army, Daniel McBride (L) and Donald Burgett (C) arrive at the Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle airport ahead of the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landingsAFPUS WWII veteran Edward W Oleksak, who landed at Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, poses in front of the statue ''Les Braves'' by French sculptor Anilore Banon on Omaha BeachAFPEdwin Jeffery, a seamen on Royal Navy HMS Vanquisher during D-Day, poses next to a peace mural in Arromanches on the Normandy coastReutersHermann Escadron, aged 89, from Antwerp in Belgium waves to well-wishers as he makes his way through the Normandy village of Arromanche after shopping for fresh bread. Herman was part of the Belgian Brigade Piron Forces and is a Special Air Service (SAS) veteranGettyJohn Foy, 88, who was in the United States Army, 87th Infantry Division, 347th Infantry, John Mack, 89 who also landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day and Lou Masciangelo, 93, who was in the United States Army Air Corps, 8th Air Force, 389th Bomb Group, pose for a photograph at a ceremony at Portsmouth Historic DockyardGettyRaymond Shuck, who was a paratrooper on D-Day, smokes a cigarette as he visits the D-Day Museum in Portsmouth prior to catching a ferry to FranceGetty
