Almost the entire population of a Normandy village yesterday remembered 22 American soldiers who died in the early hours of D-Day.
Residents of the tiny hamlet of Magneville on the Cherbourg peninsula, with a population of 270, walked down a small narrow lane to stand in the drizzle at a memorial to the men of the 101st Airborne Division who were in a C-47 transport on a mission to drop them at Tarentan in the early hours of June 6th, 1944, when it was shot down by German anti-aircraft fire.
Eighteen paratroopers and four crew were killed instantly when the aircraft, which had taken off from Exeter, crash-landed just outside the village.
The local village band, children from the infants' school and older village members, some of whom had rescued the bodies from the wreckage and buried them in their churchyard, stood beside the immaculately kept memorial to pay their respects.
The memorial was surrounded by people dressed in US second World War uniforms.
The assistant mayor of Magneville, Mr Gerrard Scaillet, told the crowd: "This is the town that does not forget. We must show our respect and gratitude for those from the greatest generation who made the utmost sacrifice.
"The Allies did not fight for material gain, they fought for freedom and we thank them."
Then children read out the names of the dead men and laid flowers at the memorial.
Recently six other names have been added because just four days after the first tragedy to strike the village, a US Army Air Force B26 Marauder medium bomber was also shot down by German anti-aircraft fire on June 10th, killing its six crew.
As the ceremony came to a close, the village band played both the American and French national anthems, and a one-minute silence was observed.
Speaking afterwards, Mr Scaillet said: "This ceremony is very important to our village. There are people here today who helped bury the bodies of these Americans in our churchyard before they were exhumed and reburied at an American military cemetery.
"We only have a population of 270, but even though today is not a holiday, many of them are here to pay their respects."