Emma Little Pengelly: As I join leaders from across the UK and allied nations in France, I remember the sacrifice of Northern Ireland soldiers in the D-Day landings

Emma Little-Pengelly, the DUP MLA and deputy first minister of Northern Ireland, is representing the province at today’s commemorations in France, and yesterday’s memorials in Portsmouth. She writes here:

Earlier this week I had the enormous privilege of visiting George Horner, the last surviving Royal Ulster Rifles veterans from D-Day, at his home in Carrickfergus.

George is a living reminder of our history, and a link to one of the most significant days in our nations past. Over the past few days George has never been far from my thoughts as I represent Northern Ireland at 80th Anniversary events in Portsmouth and Normandy.

June 6th, 1944 is a date that will forever be etched in history, with Operation Overlord remaining the single greatest combined land, sea and air operation ever launched.

The allied invasion of Normandy marked a turning point in the Second World War and the beginning of the end for Nazi occupation in Western Europe.

Allied forces suffered heavy casualties, but their sacrifice wasn't in vain. The courage, determination and resilience demonstrated on that day in 1944 was not only instrumental in securing a foothold in Normandy, but the vital first step in securing victory in World War Two.

Those brave young men from the UK, Commonwealth, US and Canada secured their objectives, disrupted German lines and seized key pieces of infrastructure such as Pegasus bridge, paving the way for a successful beach assault at Gold and Sword.

D-Day wasn't just about liberating France, it was about reclaiming the continent and securing the very freedoms that we all enjoy today.

As I join with other political and civic leaders from across the United Kingdom and allied nations, it is important to remember the huge sacrifice our forefathers, people like George, played during the D-Day landings.

The D-Day landings stand as an enduring reminder that tyranny must be confronted and challenged, that nations must continue to work together in partnership to defend liberty, and that we must be ever vigilant as new global threats to our freedoms emerge in various parts of the world today.

I trust that our generation remembers the supreme sacrifice of those who came before us, and that we can all pause in eternal gratitude to those men and women from Northern Ireland who gave so much to secure the freedoms we enjoy today.’