Memorial Service
of Ground Dedication and Commemoration
The Gosport D-Day Fellowship held a Ground Dedication Service – ‘Breaking the Sod’, for the new D-Day Memorial at Stokes Bay on the 80th Anniversary of D-Day on 6th June 2024.
This significant event was conducted by the Rt Rev Bishop of Portsmouth Dr Jonathan Frost and attended by Mr George Carpenter a 98-year-old D-Day Veteran along with members of all 3 military services and cadets from RNVCC and RN Cadet Force.
The ground dedication marked the site in preparation for the Memorials and to commemorate the bravery and sacrifice of those who were involved in the D-Day landings, particularly those who trained and prepared in the Gosport area before embarking on the historic invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944.
The Stokes Bay area was a crucial embarkation point for troops, vehicles and equipment that would later play an essential role in the success of D-Day. The new memorial will serve as a lasting tribute to the men and women who contributed to Operation Overlord and helped secure the freedom of Europe.
The dedication ceremony brought together veterans, their families, local communities, and dignitaries to honour the courageous individuals who gave so much contributing to one of the most important events in history.
It also marked a key moment in the continued efforts of the Gosport D-Day Fellowship to preserve the memory and legacy of D-Day’s significance to the world, the Gosport story and remains a powerful part of our shared history.
The Memorial will serve as a lasting symbol of their bravery, sacrifice, and determination. Through educational initiatives, community engagement, and acts of remembrance, the Fellowship ensures that the legacy of these heroes is never forgotten.
This was the place…
As spoken by Caroline Dinenage MP 6th June 2024
D-Day Memorial Ground Dedication Ceremony, Stokes Bay
80 years ago launched the largest amphibious operation the world has ever seen.
This was the Place where the hope and optimism of the Free World was carried on the shoulders of thousands of young men from the UK, the US, from Canada, many of whom were little more than boys.
This was the Place where the stakes simply couldn’t have been higher.
The Place where the prospects of failure in this most bold and ambitious of campaigns would have meant victory for the evil Nazi tyranny.
The Place where the lives, the liberties, the democracies of people and Nations across Western Europe hung in the balance.
This was the Place of fear and apprehension of the men in the boats and the planes knowing that ahead of them was the enemy and their bullets, first on the Normandy Beaches then those many days across France, which lay beyond.
This was the Place where some were told, “Look to the man on your left, Look to the man on your right, only one of you may see England again”.
This was the Place that the men we consider today, were not the Silhouettes of History, they were but the Sons, the Brothers, the Husbands to the families who would say.
“To the world, he was a soldier, To us he was the world”.
With Thanks to all those who have created this D-Day Memorial project, We Will Remember Them.
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