WW2 veterans eye 80th anniversary of D-Day as Europe salutes war dead

Columns commemorating some of the 22,442 who died under British command between D-Day and the end of the Battle of Normandy are displayed at the British Normandy Memorial, in Ver-sur-Mer, France, July 30, 2023. REUTERS/Tim Hepher/File Photo

(Reuters) - English soldier Ken Hay was trapped behind German lines and captured while on night patrol in 1944, days after joining the Allied invasion of Normandy, a turning point in World War Two.

The ambush near the bitterly contested "Hill 112" came during weeks of fighting after the largest seaborne assault in history, which began the liberation of France from Nazi German occupation.