Pictured: Royal Marines conduct drills for D-Day reenactment while beachgoers play football
Royal Marines conducted drills in Cornwall in preparation for a D-day reenactment while a group of beachgoers played football in the late afternoon sun on Monday.
Marines from 47 Commando will land on Gold Beach in Normandy to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day on June 6.
In preparation, they completed a series of beach-surfing drills on inflatable raiding craft, arriving on Tregantle Beach near Torpoint, Cornwall, while sunbathers looked on and a group of young men kicked a football around.
At one point the two groups crossed paths when the football became trapped under one of the marines’ landing craft, but it was swiftly recovered.
In landing on the Normandy coast on the 80th anniversary of D-Day next month, the 31 marines taking part will be following in the footsteps of those who served in their unit during the Second World War and remembering those who lost their lives. 47 Commando landed at 9:50am on Gold Beach on D-Day and suffered 76 casualties.
“It’s important for the marines coming through now to understand they belong to something with a deep and important history,” Royal Navy spokesman Peter Wooldridge said.
“47 Commando is distinct – they had an important role during D-Day, and even though they came ashore with other Commando units, they had a specific task, which was to go inland when they came ashore to secure Port-en-Bessin.”
Sergeant Matthew Frazer described it as an “amazing” opportunity. “I’ve been [to Normandy] before, but never beached a craft there,” he said.
However, taking in the blue skies and beachgoers soaking up the sun, he said the marines he is training on the landing craft can expect to have to perform these manoeuvres in far harsher conditions.
“The hardest part of this training is landing in surf, rain, mist, into a hostile environment,” he says. “You’d never [usually] do it in daylight.”
Marines from 47 Commando will be part of a wider event of military commemorations that will take place across the Normandy beaches in June.
