Local MP Alan Mak has led a special delegation of Havant Constituency veterans on a visit to France to commemorate the 80th anniversary of VE Day.
The party left Havant by minibus and travelled via LeShuttle to Normandy where they toured several sites related to the Second World War.
After being greeted by French MP Bertrand Bouyx, they visited Bayeux War Cemetery and paid their respects at the grave of Captain Charles Pring, a soldier from the Havant area who died shortly after D-Day, aged 36.
The veterans, mostly from the Royal British Legion's Havant branch, then went on to the sands of Gold Beach, one of the principal landing areas for British and Commonwealth soldiers during D-Day on June 6, 1944.
The group also visited the British Normandy Memorial, which records the names of more than 22,000 servicemen and women under British command who fell on D-Day and in the Battle of Normandy in the summer of 1944.
Finally, they saw the Standing With Giants installation, silhouettes placed in the meadow fields overlooking the D-Day beaches that represent each one of the 1,475 British servicemen lost on D-Day.
They were in place for the 80th anniversary of D-Day last year and have returned to France to mark this year's 80th anniversary of VE Day, when joy that the war in Europe had ended was mixed with sorrow for those who never came home.
At each location, RBL Havant Branch chaplain Rev David Williams led a short service and wreaths were laid by Mr Mak and the veterans.
Branch President Chris Atkinson from Bedhampton, an Army veteran who was an infantry soldier during the Northern Ireland Troubles in the 1970s and went on to serve with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers corps, said: "We must never forget those who paid the ultimate price. When you stand there and think about their bravery and what they did, it's very humbling.
"I've made several trips to Normandy, but this was the pinnacle for me and probably the last time I'll go. To do it with fellow veterans and at such an important time made it so memorable."
He added: "What was very moving was visiting the grave of Captain Pring. Because he was in the same Army corps as me and from Havant, it meant that much more to pay my respects to a fallen brother."
Another veteran on the trip was Lt-Cdr (Retd) Philip Barber from Havant, who was Flight Commander of HMS Arrow when it rescued surviving crew from HMS Sheffield following a missile strike during the Falklands War in 1982.
He said: "I found it very interesting and moving to look at the gravestones and read the words on them. There was a real sense of loss.
"On the British Normandy Memorial I found the name Major Robert Barber, who was just 28 when he was killed on Sword Beach on D-Day. A mortar shell exploded next to him.
"I discovered he was my father's second cousin, and his only daughter was born after he died so never got to meet him. It really brought home to me the impact on families."
Mr Mak, who is Vice President of Havant RBL and each year helps to sell poppies on Hayling Island and in Havant, said: "I was proud to lead the delegation. I believe it's very important that we remember those who bravely fought to defend our country and liberate Europe, protecting the precious freedoms we continue to enjoy today."
He added: "Visiting the grave of Havant soldier Captain Pring to pay our respects was particularly poignant, as was standing on Gold Beach. It was very peaceful, in complete contrast to D-Day when it was the scene of fierce fighting.
"Meanwhile all the names inscribed in stone at the British Normandy Memorial and the Standing With Giants silhouettes really brought home the human cost of war. Every one of those men were someone's son, brother, husband or boyfriend and never came home.
"As the Kohima Epitaph says, for your tomorrow they gave their today. That is why we must never forget."
