D-Day 80 Commemoration

Published: 07 June 2024

On 6 June 2024 the Town Council lit the beacon to honour those whose bravery and sacrifice on D-Day 80 years ago gave us our freedom today.

The commemoration began with a parade by RAFAC 2393 (Billericay) Squadron, the Billericay Detachment ACF and local scouts and guide groups. Our Chairman Cllr Mark Thomas gave a speech welcoming everyone to the event then our Vice Chairman Councillor Devlin gave a history of D-Day where he spoke about Trooper Leonard Kemp from Billericay who was killed during the landings. He was only 20 years old when he was killed.

Our Youth Town Councillors George Wood and Alex Tomov read out an international tribute and we were honoured to have both the Citizen of the Year, Dave Sweet and the young Citizen of the Year Sophie Vaidya light the beacon together.

A bugler played the last post, followed by a 2-minute silence and then reveille.

The Town Council would like to thank everyone that took part including the uniformed organisations, and all those who helped with the equipment and preparation for the event. We would also like to thank all the residents that came along to join us in this very poignant commemoration.