VETERANS gathered in York to remember the bravery of Britain's D-Day heroes.

Sixty years on from the historic day when the Allies stormed the Normandy beaches, young and old gathered to remember the fallen.

At York Minster, a service was held yesterday afternoon to commemorate the Normandy Campaign.

The emotion of the occasion overcame many in the congregation as the Rt Rev Noel Jones, the Bishop of Sodor and Man and former Chaplain of the Fleet and Archbishop for the Royal Navy, gave his sermon, thanking those who had fought on D-Day.

He spoke of the planning and ingenuity involved in the campaign - and also the troops' bravery, comradeship and agony.

"Those in the landings paid with their lives. You can't avoid the agony. There is no glory in war," he said.

"Standing on various areas of Normandy today, veterans will recall the devastation, but now all is in order. Beauty has been restored and wounds can be healed."

The service was attended by the Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire, Lord Crathorne; the Lord Mayor of York, Coun Janet Looker; and Selby MP John Grogan.

At the Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington, veterans recorded their memories of D-Day for the BBC's People At War series.

Around 200 people attended the remembrance service at the museum yesterday morning, and Peter Jackson, from Whitby, flew his Tiger Moth in a display for the crowds who gathered to commemorate the anniversary.

Among those present was Robert Tailford, an 85-year-old flight engineer, who flew a Halifax from Elvington during the war. Sixty years on, he is still at Elvington, only now he is a volunteer steward at the museum.

York-born Major Jim Malcolm, a former Archbishop Holgate school pupil, was an 18-year-old glider pilot who flew heavy equipment to the scene of the landings in a Hamilcar.

"Sitting in the pilot's cockpit of a Hamilcar was like sitting on the top outside of a double-decker bus. On D-Day, I just remember getting on with what had to be done," he said.

"We were all very young. We had to grow up quickly."

Tens of thousands of courageous D-Day servicemen were returning to Britain today after their final voyage to northern France to join emotional 60th anniversary tributes to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice to liberate Europe.

The veterans, who had arrived on a flotilla of warships and ferries, heard poignant tributes to their courage from a host of world leaders at a series of ceremonies across the historic front. During her address yesterday, the Queen confirmed that the parade, which involved around 900 old soldiers, would be the last mass march in France organised by the Normandy Veterans Association.

Updated: 10:47 Monday, June 07, 2004