Special events are set to take place at locations across Hampshire that played a key role in D-Day to mark the 80th anniversary. 

A beacon lighting will go ahead at Lepe Country Park to make the site where troops embarked heading for the Normandy Beaches on June 6, 1944. 

Sections of the beach were a vital departure point for troops, vehicles and supplies and it was also a construction site for part of the prefabricated floating Mulberry Harbour.

More events will take place at Royal Victoria Country Park including a new exhibition in the Chapel telling the story of the American troops.

READ MORE: How will Southampton mark 80th anniversary of D-Day?

The following events will take place at Lepe Country Park: 

  • Monday June 3, 11am - Royal Dragoons Memorial event to mark the day troops started embarkation on the boats in preparation for D-Day.  
  • Thursday June 6 from 7:00pm-10:00pm – Beacon lighting event on Lepe Cliff Top at 9.15pm by Councillor Rob Humby, Leader of Hampshire County Council. Visitors are encouraged to arrive by 8.15pm. The Lookout café will open late offering fish and chip suppers – fish and chips are forming a key part of the national commemorations recognising that the meal was seen as an important element of the war effort, and its ingredients were not rationed.   
  • Saturday June 8 - Family Day focused on the heritage of Lepe Country Park and its role in the D-Day landings with activities including brass bands, singing and family-friendly activities.  
  • Sunday June 9, 11pm – Annual Memorial Service at the Anchor Memorial on the cliff top, including wreath laying.  

Visitors are being advised that some sections of the beach with remaining WWII infrastructure are currently closed for safety due to recent storm damage.

These events will take place at Royal Victoria Country Park: 

  • Saturday, June 15 and Sunday, June 16 – ‘Reminiscence in the Park: Marking the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings’ including a portrait exhibition by artist Nel Brooks of WWII veterans: 
  • Saturday, June 15 – A family-friendly day being run in partnership with the Bursledon, Hamble & Hound Dementia Action Group. Activities include WW2 and other historic vehicles; US Army military medical tentage and equipment; as well as the ‘Dementia Bus’ a unique interactive training experience to show people what it is like to live with dementia, help increase understanding of dementia and raise awareness in the local community. 
  • Sunday, June 16 - Bursledon, Hamble & Hound Dementia Action Group will hold a sponsored walk in the morning and a 1940s-style tea-dance in the Chapel in the late afternoon; There will be a short programme of talks in the Chapel about Southampton and Netley at the time of D-Day, performances by students from Meoncross School; and a guided walk.  

Leader of Hampshire County Council, Councillor Rob Humby, said: “The 80th anniversary of D-Day is an opportunity to honour all those who took part in the largest amphibious invasion the world has ever witnessed, many of whom gave their lives to secure the defeat of Nazism.

"Paying tribute to this sacrifice and service reflects Hampshire’s long-standing commitment to the Armed Forces that continues to this day.  

“In recognition of the important role that several Hampshire locations played in connection to D-Day, now part of Lepe Country Park and Royal Victoria Country Park, we are proud to be hosting events that give residents a chance to mark this extraordinary chapter in history.

"A highlight is a beacon lighting at Lepe, marking the place where thousands of men bravely departed for Normandy.

"This will form a network of illuminations to symbolise the period of peace that followed the darkness of war.”