D-DAY veterans in the New Forest will hang up their standard for good after a ceremony today.

The Normandy Veterans Association’s New Forest branch will officially disband after a ceremony at Ringwood Parish Church.

Its standard will be preserved in the church as a memorial to those who took part in the Allied invasion of occupied France in June 1944.

The national association disbanded last year following the 70th anniversary of the Normandy landings, with membership declining.

The chairman of the New Forest branch is Highcliffe’s Ted Thurston, who landed at Juno Beach with the Highland Light Infantry in the first week of the invasion. He was given the Legion d’Honneur by former French president Jacques Chirac for his work chairing organising pilgrimages to the Normandy beaches.

Mr Thurston said: “I’m sure that for years and years to come, people will be paying their respects and then eventually we’ll slide into history like the Crimea War and what have you. But while descendants of soldiers who died and airmen and naval personnel are still alive I think that it will still continue.”