Over 40 residents from County Armagh recently travelled to France to visit the sites of battles from D-Day and pay tribute to service personnel who perished at the locations.

The trip, organised by Brownlow House in Lurgan, saw 43 people travel to Normandy and the D-Day beaches.

The group, made up of members of local Orange Lodges, including Lurgan District LOL No 6, Lower Iveagh West District LOL No 8 and Lurgan District WLOL No 1, visited a number of iconic sites such as Pegasus Bridge, Sword Beach, Merville Battery, Juno Beach, Gold Beach, Omaha Beach, the Standing with Giants exhibition at The British Normandy Memorial where 1,475 silhouettes reflect the number of servicemen who died serving under British command on D-Day itself, the Royal Ulster Rifles Memorial at Cambes-en-Plaine, Utah Beach and Église Saint-Côme.

Police vehicle unavailable for emergency calls after being damaged in Lurgan

The group visited the Cross of Sacrifice at Cambes-en-Plaine War Cemetery. (Pic: Contributed).

placeholder image — The group visited the Cross of Sacrifice at Cambes-en-Plaine War Cemetery. (Pic: Contributed).

Members of the group laid poppy wreaths on July 1 at the Royal Ulster Rifles Memorial in remembrance of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in both World Wars.

A spokesperson for the organisers stated: “Respects were paid at Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries at Ranville, Bayeux (the largest Commonwealth cemetery of the Second World War in France) and Cambes-en-Plaine, and the Last Post was sounded at several gravesides.

"This was a very poignant yet worthwhile trip. Guide Jim Aitchison brought the trip to life with personal stories of individuals and military tactics used during the invasion.

"It was spine-tingling to stand on the original Pegasus Bridge, which is now the centrepiece of the Memorial Pegasus Museum at Ranville and witness the battle scars on the bridge from June 6 1944. The Standing with Giants exhibition was breathtaking.”