BBC Radio 2 to mark 80th anniversary of D-Day Landings

Vernon Kay and Jeremy Vine are to host special outside broadcasts on BBC Radio 2 to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

This Thursday, 6 June it will be 80 years since allied forces entered France and set the clock ticking on the end of the Second World War. To mark the event Vernon Kay will be presenting his mid-morning show live from the Normandy coast and Jeremy Vine will broadcast live from Portsmouth.

From 9.30am in Normandy, Vernon will hear from families of the soldiers involved in the largest seaborne invasion in history about what they experienced as they headed ashore and speak to those who will give further context to what became the start of the liberation of France.

This will be followed at midday by Jeremy Vine in Portsmouth where he’ll hear the story of what happened from those who were there and those who have given their lives to studying the events of that day.

He’ll also hear listener’s stories of their links to D-Day, as well as discussing the crucial role Portsmouth played in the war effort, and there will be music from Portsmouth Military Wives Choir.

Then on Sunday 9 June, Vernon will host a Sunday Night Is Music Night concert from 8-10pm, recorded at Portsmouth Guildhall. It will feature the combined musical forces of the BBC Concert Orchestra and the BBC Big Band, plus special guests who will be performing some of the best loved and most enduring music of that era.

Vernon says: “It’s important we never forget and always honour the bravery and sacrifices made by those brave soldiers 80 years ago on D-Day, so I’m incredibly proud to be broadcasting my show from Normandy and presenting a commemorative Sunday Night Is Music Night concert on Radio 2 this weekend.”

Jeremy says: “I was born 21 years after D-Day, but somehow the impact and scale of that epic moment in British history just grows the more time elapses.

“I think it’s because, as you realise the value of your own life, you understand what others gave to save the country you live in. D-Day is the most remarkable story of our time.

“Having the Radio 2 listeners with us as we commemorate the anniversary will make for a unique broadcast, and I’m looking forward to hearing their stories and memories.”