"Thirty of us went out, 16 including my brother got back, five of us got captured and nine got killed," Hay said. He is now an active ambassador for the nearby British Normandy Memorial, overlooking Gold Beach in the UK sector. Until two years ago, Britain was alone among allies on the Western front in not having a dedicated Normandy memorial. The 30-million-pound ($37 million) memorial was financed by fines levied on banks by the British government, as well as private donations. In a forest near Regensburg, Germany, guns approached from the West and the German commanding officer accepted the war was over.

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Persons: Ken Hay, Tim Hepher, Hay, Britain's King Charles III, Emmanuel Macron, Sacha Marsac, Thomas Hardwyre Milligan, Sidney Bates, VIII, I've, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Normandy, Juno, Royal International Air, REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Normandy, Fairford, Britain, France, Nazi, English, Essex, Gold, Ver, Mer, British, Hay, Czech Republic, Regensburg, Germany