A FLORAL tribute will be laid in Harwich tomorrow morning as part of a day of commemorations across the town including a beacon lighting to mark 80 years since the D-Day landings.

The Harwich Royal British Legion branch will be laying a floral tribute at Fronks Road Memorial at 6.30am to coincide with the first assault on to the Normandy beaches.

Mrs Dale Cheesman, Secretary of Harwich Royal British Legion Branch, said they would then later join the Mayor Pam Morrison for a civic service at St Nicholas Church at 10.30am.

While at 8am there will be a reading of the Proclamation at The Guildhall, Church Street, Harwich, by Town Crier Richard Bench/

At 10.30am there will be a civic service at St Nicholas Church where school children will also read out poems.

While at 9.15pm, the Harwich Beacon will be lit in an event organised by the Harwich Society on behalf of the town council.

The lighting will take place at the Barrack Field next to Cliff Park with the International Tribute to be delivered by the Mayor.

D-Day, on June 6 1944, was the largest seaborne military invasion in history, involving 150,000 soldiers, 5,000 vessels, 11,000 planes, and 30,000 vehicles.

Five beaches in Normandy were chosen for the assault, with the day being a success for the Allies and a major turning point in the Second World War.

Many historians say D-Day was coined due to ‘D-’ and ‘H-’ being used for day and hour respectively by the allied forces but the precise coinage is unknown.