The Battle of the Atlantic commemorations began today with a Royal visit.
The campaign was the longest and arguably the most decisive campaign of WWII and ran throughout the entire six-year conflict. One of the most important factors of the Battle of the Atlantic was logistics and, more importantly, Britain's ability to maintain vital supply lines through its North Atlantic shipping routes.
This year will mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Atlantic and Liverpool will be hosting a series of events to commemorate the commitment and resilience of the brave men and women who ensured Britain and its allies overcame the malignant threat of Nazi Germany.
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Today, Princess Anne, Princess Royal unveiled a national memorial and Garden of Reflection at Our Lady and St Nicholas’s Church near the Pier Head. She is a patron of the Battle of the Atlantic Memorial Charity.
Local veterans were also in attendance, including Denis Rose, John Dennett BEM, Ken Benbow and John Davies. Speaking to the ECHO, John, aged 100, spoke about what today meant to him.
He said: "It's been a great day. Surprised, actually, because I never knew this was going to happen. My granddaughter sprung it on me at seven o'clock last night. It all came out of the blue. So I'm very pleased to be here.
"I started off as a boy seaman at the age of 17 in 1940. And I finished at the end of the war."
On Princess Anne, John added: "She was great. She's a very knowledgeable person. She spoke to me [...] merchants service. She says, 'Oh, you were in different ships going to different places?' I said yes."
Take a look at our gallery below of today's service:
A royal guard greeted Princess Anne before she made a speech about the importance on telling the story of the Battle of the Atlantic "properly". Among the dignitaries in attendance were Mark Blundell, Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside; the Rt. Hon. Ben Wallace MP, Secretary of State for Defence; the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Mayors of Wirral and Sefton, as well as the Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, Steve Rotheram.
Other special guests included the First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Ben Key, representatives from the Merchant Navy, Royal Navy, and international naval forces, as well as civic dignitaries, cadet groups, and family members of Battle of Atlantic veterans.
The service concluded with a spectacular flypast by historic aircraft, including Swordfish, Poseidon, and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.
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