A day of celebration and remembrance has been held at Trebah, marking the date soldiers set off from the gardens to take part in the Normandy landings.

The annual event at the gardens near Mawnan Smith pays tribute to the bravery and sacrifice of the American 29th Infantry Division, as well as the parachute regiment in which Trebah resident Major Tony Hibbert served.

Trebah played a key role in the D-Day landings, with the combined ranks of over 7,000 servicemen from the 29th US Infantry Division leaving the beach at Trebah in June 1944 to join forces with others battling to land on the beaches of northern France.

The event, which sees veterans of the war alongside current serving forces personel lay wreaths in memory of lost comrades, started when the Trebah Trust was formed in 1990 and Major Hibbert set aside one day every year to pay tribute to the airborne forces.

Major Hibbert served with the First Parachute Brigade and was a founder member of the Parachute Regiment in 1940.

A World War Two reenactment society also brought along vehicles from the era helping ferry visitors up and down the step hill, and the Kernow Pipe and Drums led the parade of regemental standards to the garden’s war memorials.

The service at the War Memorials included the Last Post, exhortation, Revielle, and a lone piper playing a Lament followed by a blessing.

There was also an RNAS Culdrose helicopter fly past and salute, with a wreath lowered into the sea off the gardens, brought ashore by the RNLI inshore lifeboat.

The event was well supported, with a crowd gathering to pay their respects, and everyday visitors to the gardens looking on in wonder as heros of the war stepped up to pay tribute.

Attending this year, alongside representatives from the Merchant Navy, The Royal Air Force and the Royal British Legion was Vera Kotliar, a Russian soldier who fought in the Battle of Stalingrad.