On Saturday, March 23rd 2019, a group of lycéens from Caen arrived in Portsmouth to pay hommage to the fallen of both World War One and World War Two from Portsmouth.
These students usually come to Portsmouth each March in order to pay their respects to those who left Portsmouth for the D-Day Landings in Normandy that eventually led to the liberty of Caen between July 9th and 19th 1944.
Usually, they hold a memorial ceremony at the War Memorial in Guildhall Square at 11 am.
This time however, with the help of local volunteers, they read out the nales of all the fallen from Portsmouth in the two wars.
That was a list of over 8, 000 names.
This was no mean feat. They were at the Guildhall from 9 am to just after 3 pm.
Many thanks go to The Lord Mayor of Portsmouth Cllr. Lee Mason, Jo Baker in The Lord Mayor's Office and all the Lord Mayor's Office staff.
Also to the volunteers from the ECTC committee, the volunteers from Southsea Castle Rotary Club, Portsmouth City Council. The Guildhall and Tesco Extra Fratton for providing tea, coffee, fruit and biscuits.
Below a few of the Lycéens and some of their teachers visiting the Lord Mayor's Parlour.
