France Honors Allies On D-Day - Greece Included (VIDEOS)

Today, (June 6th, 2014), the eyes of the world were on Normandy in France, and the commemorations of the Landings of June 6th 1944 or 70th anniversary of D-Day (otherwise known as “The Longest Day.”). The French people paid homage and profound gratitude to the Australians, the Belgians, the Czechs, the Danes, the Dutch, the Greeks, the Luxembourgers, the New Zealanders, the Norwegians, the Poles and the Slovakians, who today all had a place of honor in the commemorations events, as France’s liberators.

The ceremony took place at Sword Beach, which was one of the five beaches of the D-Day Landings, along the Normandy coast.

According to historians, on June 1944, British and American forces launched the D-Day invasion, landing in German-occupied France via the coast of Normandy. Soon the German army was forced into retreat from that side as well. Thus, by early 1945, Allied forces were closing in on Germany from both east and west. The Soviets were the first to reach the German capital of Berlin, and Germany surrendered in May 1945, shortly after the suicide of Adolf Hitler.

Greek President Papoulias in Normandy to attend 70th anniversary ceremonies 

President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias represented Greece. Both the president and his wife arrived at the city of Caen in Normandy to attend the ceremonies of the Allied Forces' landings in Normandy.

On Friday morning Papoulias attended a reception that was held at the castle of the town of Benouville. (A small seaside town where the British 6th Airborne Division operated during the Normandy landings).

In the afternoon foreign officials gathered at the Ouistreham beach to attend the main official ceremony.

Limiting its naval and military commitment primarily to the Balkans and Mediterranean, Greece nevertheless did deploy two Royal Hellenic Navy corvettes for Operation Neptune. Those vessels escorted convoys to Juno, Gold, and Sword Beaches. As was the case with individual citizens of other Nazi-occupied or neutral nations, including some who were unable to contribute either units or vessels to the Allied Expeditionary Force, a number of Greek soldiers, sailors, and airmen served as volunteers with Allied Forces on D-Day.

In fact, the Hellenic Navy served in convoy escort duties in the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean, the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. RHN ships also participated in the landing operations in Sicily, Anzio and Normandy, as well as at the ill-fated Dodecanese Campaign. A significant moment in the RHN's history was the acceptance of the Italian Fleet's surrender in September 1943, alongside the British Royal Navy. Two of the most notable Greek warships of the war were the destroyers Adrias and Vasilissa Olga. The large Greek merchant navy, likewise, contributed enormously to the Allied war effort from the first day of the war, losing over 2,500 men and 60% of its ships in the process.