Sailors and Royal Marines mark D-Day anniversary with tribute run

Sailors and Royal Marines on-board HMS Albion marked the 77th anniversary of the D-Day landings by running 5km round the ship.

The run was completed on the eve of the D-Day anniversary with each kilometre marking one of the five beaches landed on during the landings on June 6, 1944. 

The event also took place the day before the start of a busy time for HMS Albion as they head on large-scale operations alongside NATO allies and partners on the 50th iteration of Baltops.

The run involved 16 laps of the upper deck, with the fastest time being 19 minutes 10 seconds, achieved by Lieutenant Thomas Brophy, Assistant Marine Engineer in HMS Albion.

Lieutenant Paddy Richardson, Aviation Task Force Staff Officer in HMS Albion and joint organiser of the event, said: “It was a great opportunity on the eve of Baltops, to commemorate the eve of D-Day on a vessel designed for amphibious operations and raise some money for worthwhile causes in the process.”

43 sailors and marines signed up to take part in the event, and £460 was raised for both the ship’s charity Claire House Children Hospice and The Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity.