TOWNS across Teignbridge are gearing up to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
In Dawlish, a day long pack programme of events is planned, starting a 7.25am with a bagpiper playing on the Lawn followed by new town crier Bob Graham making the D-Day proclamation at 8am.
Events will centre on a marquee on the Lawn which will include a display by Dawlish Museum and craft activities organised by Dawlish Library.
Other activities include poetry on D-Day heroes, a D-Day Remembered by various contributors and afternoon tea served by Dawlish WI.
Singer Sandy Sparkle will entertain with songs from the 1940s and 1950s.
At 6.30 the bells at St. Gregory’s Church will be ‘ringing out for peace’.
Exmouth Town Band will be performing between 7pm and 9pm after which there will be bagpipes on the Lawn before the tribute and Beacon lighting on the Lawn.
At Newton Abbot, the Flag of Peace will be flown at St Leonard’s Clock Tower at 9am followed by the town crier’s proclamations.
Events during the day will feature the laying of a wreath at the War Memorial at 11am following by
bell ringing at St Leonard’s Clock Tower and Highweek Church.
Beacons will be lit at Highweek, Wolborough and Buckland in the evening.
The ceremony at Highweek will be led by new Mayor Cllr Alex Hall.
He said: ‘Newton Abbot is a town that means so much to me and one I will be very privileged to serve as its Mayor.
‘It’s also a community that has, largely, known nothing but peace for a number of generations and that isn’t something we should take for granted.
‘The sacrifices made, not only on D-Day but throughout the Second World War and other conflicts, has allowed us and our town to grow and prosper.
‘Whatever the challenges we face today, they pale into insignificance compared with how life could have been had our forebears not fought to preserve our independence.’
Newton Abbot’s three beacons will be near All Saints’ Church at Highweek, the junction of Firestone Lane and Stoneman’s Hill in Wolborough and Shaldon Road in Buckland.