D-Day veteran Jim Bellows stands alone on a cliff above the Normandy beaches in silent tribute to the thousands of men who gave their lives to liberate Europe.
The 87-year-old was a signaller with the Hampshire Regiment who sailed from Southampton and, amid deafening gunfire, stepped ashore in France with the bodies of fallen comrades gently turning over in the tide.
"How many lives were lost I simply don't know," said Jim, as he returned to the picturesque town of Arromanches, the scene 60 years ago of one of the most momentous days in history.
Daily Echo writer John Hoskins and photographer Malcolm Nethersole accompanied Jim and fellow Hampshire Regiment veteran George Scriven back to Normandy on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the liberaton of Europe.
Over the next six pages we follow their nostalgic and sometimes tearful pilgrimage to northern France.
They look back on the horror of war, and offer their reflections on the events and men who gave their lives to change the future of the world for the better.
HAMPSHIRE AT WAR: THROUGH THE EYES OF THE ECHO - A 132 GLOSSY BOOK PUBLISHED BY THE SOUTHERN DAILY ECHO IS AVAILABLE PRICED £7.50 FROM LOCAL NEWSAGENTS, BY TELEPHONING 023 8042 4722.
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