Monument honouring British D-Day heroes to become as important as Taj Mahal or Pyramids

A monument listing the names of 22,540 soldiers killed during the D-Day invasion is to become as historically important as the Taj Mahal and Egyptian Pyramids.

Some 50 miles of French coastline including beaches used by the Allies to mount the amphibious invasion in 1944 are set to be given World Heritage Site status.

The protected area includes The British Normandy Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer which was opened by the then Prince Charles on June 6, 2021.

The sacred site overlooking Gold Beach was selected by British Second World War veterans as a place to remember those who fell during the bloody fight to liberate Nazi-occupied Europe, hastening the end of the Second World War.

Recognition of the area's outstanding value to humanity will be announced at a special UNESCO session in Busan, South Korea, next month.

Last week the British Normandy Memorial hosted a deeply moving service of remembrance on the 82nd anniversary of D-Day at which the last surviving warriors of the Normandy landings were present.

General Lord Dannatt, former Chief of the General Staff, Chairman of the Normandy Memorial Trust, and Patron of Spirit of Normandy Trust, said: "The Normandy landing beaches are among the most important historic landscapes in the world. It was here that the liberation of Western Europe began on June 6, 1944, at immense human cost.

"These beaches are not only places of remembrance for those who served and sacrificed; they are symbols of freedom and shared international heritage. Their preservation is vital if future generations are to understand the price paid for the liberties we enjoy today.

"UNESCO World Heritage Site status would provide well-deserved global recognition and help safeguard these historic sites for generations to come."

Allied soldiers launched an audacious air assault in the early hours of June 6, 1944 and, hours later, an amphibious raid when troops stormed five beaches codenamed Omaha, Gold, Juno, Utah and Sword.

It remains the largest military invasion ever mounted.

Special permission to build the edifice on consecrated ground was granted by French President Emmanuel Macron with the 50-acre site - just 700m from Gold beach - of particular significance to Britain.

The remains of the Mont Fleurie Battery, a German artillery bunker, borders the site to the east.

Stan Hollis, Company Sergeant Major with D Company, 6th Battalion Green Howards, was one of the first to step foot on Gold Beach at 07.32 and was awarded the only Victoria Cross of D-Day. The youngest soldier to die was just 16 while the oldest was 64.

On 160 limestone columns are inscribed the names of servicemen and women from 38 nationalities who lost their lives on D-Day and the three-month Battle of Normandy that followed.

A delegation of UNESCO assessors sat alongside the Express and the handful of surviving invasion veterans at the service.

Richard Brock, 102, who served with the East Lancashire Regiment, soldier Ken Hay, of the 4th Dorset Infantry Regiment, and Royal Navy heroes Henry Rice and Ken Benbow, all 100, are among the last surviving witnesses to a day that changed the course of the world.

Recognition would honour the legacy of George Batts, who was an 18-year-old soldier in the Royal Engineers tasked with clearing mines from Gold Beach on D-Day.

He later became the National Secretary of the Normandy Veterans' Association and his ambition was for a monument to be built in France to commemorate those who lost their lives in the Battle of Normandy.

George, who lived in Barming, near Maidstone, Kent, realised his dream. He died aged 97 in 2022.

Recalling his memories of June 6, 1944 he said: "No-one who landed will ever forget it. As we approached the coast the noise was phenomenal. You've got every type of gun going off - and there was like a mist over the whole of the beach.

"And that ramp goes down and you run. Training took over and you just went. You lost all sense of... adventure. Whereas you'd thought about going, suddenly you were, and you think 'Oh my God I could be killed - we've got to fight'.

"You see your friends going down, bodies go down but you're not able to help because you just had to keep going. I suppose I lost about four or five of my mates. They were just hit by whatever.

"One thing I've never, ever talked about and will not talk about is the state of the beaches. Everyone knows what happens in war. Everyone's got an imagination and knows what happened on those beaches. We lost a lot of men.

"On each of those beaches, British beaches, there were about 1,000 killed on D-Day. That's a hell of a lot of people to be killed in between 12 and 24 hours."

UNESCO documents seen by the Express state the D-Day landings beaches "outstandingly and tangibly embody, symbolically commemorate and evoke memories of the concerted, multinational collaboration and coordination of logistical and military efforts, and the immense human sacrifice required to break an entrenched authoritarian occupation in Europe in the mid-20th century and paved the way for reconstruction, reconciliation, and a renewed commitment to collective security".

There are currently 1,248 UNESCO World Heritage Sites across 170 countries.

Each has been adjudged to possess outstanding universal value and selected for their cultural, historical, scientific, or natural significance, and are protected under an international treaty.

UNESCO, which stands for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, designates specific places of historical significance as World Heritage Sites but only a select few connected to war are explicitly inscribed.

Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, where more than 1.1m predominately Jews were slaughtered by the Nazis during the Second World War, has been a World Heritage Site since 1979.

The Genbaku Dome - the only structure left standing after the atomic bomb blast in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 - was designated in 1996.

UNESCO has been told the D-Day beaches along the Calvados coast have become a pilgrimage site for millions of people, including those who survived the landings, and still bear the scars and honour the memories of the battle for freedom and peace.

A spokesman for the Normandy region, which submitted the application, said: "The British Normandy Memorial is well within the zone we have requested to be recognised as a World Heritage Site. The region has spent the past few days looking after a delegation of UNESCO representatives who were able to witness the D-Day commemorations, so we have our fingers crossed."

UNESCO said: "Inscription on the World Heritage List brings several key benefits. It grants a site international recognition, highlighting its outstanding value. It also raises awareness among governments and local communities, encouraging stronger commitment to preserving the site, which often leads to improved protection and management practices."

For years veterans who fought on D-Day waged a battle of a different kind as they sought a monument that would stand as a lasting tribute to those who sacrificed their lives for freedom.

The British Normandy Memorial was officially opened by the then Prince Charles on June 6, 2021, on the 77th anniversary of the landings.

The imposing £30m edifice on cliffs overlooking Gold Beach in Ver-sur-Mer lists the 1,476 soldiers who died on D-Day and the three-month Battle of Normandy that followed. In all 22,540 names are inscribed on 160 limestone columns chronicling heroes from 38 nationalities who served under British command.

The campaign to erect the stunning monument was led by George Batts who was an 18-year-old sapper when he stormed Gold Beach on June 6, 1944.

Mr Batts, who lived in Barming, near Maidstone, Kent, was awarded an MBE and France's highest military honour, the Legion d'Honneur. He survived the invasion but was aghast there was no single point of remembrance for those killed during the liberation of Nazi-occupied France.

The site was selected by Normandy veterans during a consultation process in April 2017 and formally opened on June 6, 2021 by the then Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, as Royal Patron of the Normandy Memorial Trust.

Alongside Mr Batts stood indefatigable D-Day veteran Harry Billinge who was also an 18-year-old sapper with the Royal Engineers as part of the first wave of troops on D-Day. He was one of only four to survive from his unit.

When Harry heard about Mr Batts' idea for a monument for fallen veterans he rattled a collection tin in Par Market in his hometown of St Austell - and vowed to continue doing so until he was no longer able.

Speaking to the Express previously he said: "What I saw I can never forget.

"I never want to call it a day - all the fellows I knew never put their feet up, so why should I? So many marvellous people all died.

"I've never been able to forget D-Day. It was a really sad day - it has been all my life.

"I am very lucky. If I can't do what I have done I am not worth anything. These chaps made the supreme sacrifice. My generation saved the world.

"It is my duty to do all I can for the blokes who never came back. That's what I will continue to do and when I can't, I will rest in peace knowing I have done my best. I'll pack up when I'm dead."

Both veterans died in 2022, a year after the memorial was opened. George was 97 and Harry was 96.

Earlier this month the names of 98 lost servicemen who fell on D-Day and the Battle of Normandy that followed were added to the roll of honour.

The names of heroes were engraved on the west wall and formally unveiled in a service of dedication on the eve of the 82nd anniversary of the Normandy landings.

General Lord Dannatt, former Chief of the General Staff, Chairman of the Normandy Memorial Trust, and Patron of Spirit of Normandy Trust, said: "These 'lost' names from the Normandy campaign now take their rightful place on the British memorial in Normandy alongside those of their comrades.

"We honour them all for their sacrifice and remind ourselves of the pressing need to ensure the United Kingdom is adequately defended."

The British Normandy Memorial said: "George touched so many lives with his unwavering dedication to remembrance and efforts to ensure future generations would never forget the ultimate sacrifice his comrades made all those years ago."