AS remarkable as the retreat from France was the return. The Prince of
Wales flew from Dunkirk to Normandy yesterday afternoon to the spot
where the invasion began almost exactly four years after the flight from the
beaches.
He went to Pegasus Bridge, the unlovely canal
crossing at Benouville which, for millions,
symbolises Allied victory in Europe. The bridge no
longer spans the canal, though, and has been
replaced by a new structure. The old one is now
the centrepiece of a new museum, Memorial
Pegasus, dedicated to the heroics of the 6th
Airborne Division, which was the first Allied force
on to French soil in 1944 at the start of Operation
Overlord.
With Dunkirk so prominent in the nation's mind,
yesterday seemed a fitting occasion to open the
new museum (named after the Parachute
Regiment's cap badge) and thus remind people
what the success of Dunkirk went on to achieve.
"In these fields around us, we started to turn full cycle the events of Dunkirk
four years earlier," the Prince told a large crowd of veterans, residents and
tourists.
He recalled the events of that first night before the dawn of D-Day, saying:
"The daring pinpoint raid by Major John Howard's company of the Ox and
Bucks is one of the most remarkable episodes of the war. Operation
Overlord was more than just a morning's work. It was a hard, unglamorous
action that cost thousands of lives. It was a team effort - glider pilots,
parachutists, commandos, sappers, gunners, infanteers. If I may say so, it is a
great privilege to be with you."
Next to the old bridge, now spruced up and surrounded by a well-kept lawn,
the Prince laid a wreath at a memorial to Lt Den Brotheridge, the first Allied
soldier to die at the hands of the enemy during the invasion. He was shot
through the neck shortly after landing. His daughter, Margaret, 55, was there
to meet the Prince.
Afterwards, 400 members of the 16 Air Assault Brigade, many of them from
the Parachute Regiment, performed a drop over the fields of Ranville on to
the same soil where their predecessors had landed on that historic night.
There was momentary concern when two parachutes became entwined, but
the soldiers managed to land without serious harm. As they gathered up their
chutes amid the crops, many were a little surprised to find themselves
suddenly shaking hands with royalty.
The Prince, dressed in his uniform of Colonel-in-Chief of the Parachute
Regiment and accompanied by General Sir Mike Jackson, the regiment's
Colonel, also met a group of new recruits before attending a regimental
reception at a nearby chateau.
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Princess Anne 'wrong' to back GM food(Electronic Telegraph)
ENVIRONMENTAL campaigners criticised the Princess Royal yesterday
after she spoke in favour of genetically modified foods. They said the Princess
was "absolutely wrong" in some of the opinions she expressed in an interview.
The Princess - whose brother, the Prince of Wales, has voiced concern about
GM foods - told the Grocer: "It is a huge over-simplification to say all farming
ought to be organic or there should be no GM foods. Man has been tinkering
with food production and plant development for such a long time that it's a bit
cheeky to suddenly get nervous about it when, fundamentally, you are doing
much the same thing."
Adrian Bebb, of Friends of the Earth, said: "Everyone's views are welcome,
but to say that it is the same as we have always done before is simply not
true." But Prof Jim Dunwell, a plant biotechnology expert based at the
University of Reading, said the Princess was right.
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Monarchists lose face over Australian money(Electronic Telegraph)
AUSTRALIAN republicans received a morale boost yesterday with news
that the Queen's image is to disappear from the country's banknotes. From
next year, the Queen's head will no longer grace Australia's $5 note, the
lowest denomination of paper money.
She will be replaced by Sir Henry Parkes, a former premier of New South
Wales. From then on, according to the Reserve Bank, the monarch's head
will appear only on the country's coins, not on banknotes. Eight months ago
Australians voted in a referendum to retain the Queen as the head of state
despite a passionate campaign for a republic. Mark Chipperfield, Sydney