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D-Day 80

D-Day 80 logo

Communities across West Northamptonshire will come together to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings on 6 June 2024.

D-Day was the successful allied invasion of the beaches of Normandy on 6 June 1944. Code named Operation Neptune, the Normandy landings made up the largest seaborne invasion in history and played a crucial role in liberating Western Europe from Nazi occupation.

The official D-Day ‘Flag of Peace’ will be flown at each of the West Northamptonshire Council office buildings in Daventry, Towcester and Northampton to mark the anniversary on 6 June. There are also a number of events taking place across West Northants to honour the brave soldiers who risked their lives for freedom and peace.

Beacon lightings

  • There will be a Beacon Lighting and D-Day Celebration taking place at Roade Village Hall on 6 June, starting from 8pm
  •  A Beacon Lighting event will take place at 9pm on Parsons Green in Irthlingborough on 6 June
  • A Beacon Lighting will take place at Rushden Hall from 7:15pm on 6 June
  • The council’s One Angel Square offices in Northampton will be lit up as part of the national Beacon lighting ceremony on 6 June

Libraries and Museums

  • Brackley Community Museum will be featuring a display of D-Day related objects, papers, photos, and items of local interest at Brackley Library on 6 June. A similar display will also be available at Northampton Central library
  • Daventry Museum will be holding a World War Two: D-Day 80 Years On exhibition inspired by the 80th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings and the Battle of Normandy. The exhibition is on display until14 June
  • Hunsbury library will have a D-Day window display and a cabinet display featuring a model of a Lancaster bomber on 6 June
  • Northampton Museums & Art Gallery will feature D-Day exhibition cabinets filled with Northamptonshire stories, objects and memories of D-Day and its immediate aftermath in libraries from June to September. These will be available at Towcester, Weston Favell, Daventry and Brackley Libraries
  • The Northampton Museums & Art Gallery Craft and Chatter group will be knitting poppies to commemorate every person in the Northamptonshire Regiment, Yeomanry or who flew from a Northants airbase who died during D-Day and Operation Overlord. These will reflect named individuals

Other

  • A village party and picnic will take place in Weston by Welland Village on 6 June, starting at 6:30pm
  • The Northamptonshire County Royal British Legion D-Day 80th Anniversary Service of Thanksgiving will be taking place at the Holy Sepulchre Church in Northampton from 2:30pm on 8 June
  • The Armed Forces will be holding stalls at Northampton Carnival taking place on Saturday 8 June
  • The Songbook Singers, a Towcester trio who sing three-part harmony hits from the 1940s and early 1950s, will be performing at Towcester Mill Brewery on 6 June. Local historian Philomena Liggins will also be delivering a talk entitled 'Secrets, Sabotage and Subterfuge'. Find out more on the Towcester Mill Brewery website
  • A D Day exhibition will feature the role of the ordnance depot at Weedon and its local impacts during the war and for the D Day preparation, also its role in support of the Infantry and how its buildings were changed and updated to meet war effort requirements. The exhibition will run from April to October and will also be open for the Heritage Open Days weekends in September
  • Jeyes at Earls Barton are planning a wartime exhibition in their upstairs rooms with themed culinary offerings in the café. The exhibition will run from 3 to 9 June and coincides with the annual Earls Barton village festival
  • Lamport Hall will be staging a brass band concert to commemorate the anniversary on 8 June

Last updated 11 April 2024