WE should not really be surprised at the outpouring of emotion and sheer determination of veterans taking part in today’s D-Day 70th anniversary commemoration events.

A decade ago when veterans of the largest seaborne invasion in history gathered on the beaches of Normandy, many commentators said that this would be the last time such commemorations could take place.

Old age and frailty would make it impossible for another gathering in 2014.

That thousands of veterans from the nations that took part in that historic event from Britain, the USA, France, Poland and other Allied nations from the war have made the journey should really not surprise us at all.

Their bodies may now be frail, their years long, yet the courage and valour that enabled them to storm the beaches to free Europe from the yolk of Nazi tyranny remains.

We should also not forget the bond that ties those veterans with their fallen comrades.

To stand on the beaches is to remember brave souls who were not so lucky, who gave their lives so that we could remain free. In that sense the veterans are in Normandy to pay all of our respects to a body of men the like of whom we may never see again.

We will remember those who fought in Normandy and throughout the war in the years to come. There will come a time when the veterans will no longer be able to journey to Normandy. But we will remember.