On the 81st Anniversary of the Normandy Landings, to honour the bravery and sacrifice of the D-Day Generation and to raise funds for RMA-The Royal Marine Charity, students form Duchy College MaPS (Military and Protective Services) will be invited to accompany me on a yomp (march) from Gold Beach, where the 47 Cdo RM landed on D-Day near Asnelles, to the Normandy fishing village of Port-en-Bessin – the same journey the men of 1944 made on that fateful day.

After a difficult landing in which 76 men were killed, wounded or missing, followed by a 12-mile yomp behind enemy lines and then spending D-Day night about two miles outside Port-en-Bessin, the remaining men of 47 Commando penetrated the outer defences on the afternoon of June 7 1944. In one action, two German flak ships in the harbour opened fire, killing eleven and wounding a further 17.

The evening of June 7 was desperate: the commandos were outnumbered and outgunned, but heroic actions saw Port-en-Bessin captured. It cost the lives of 46 men, while another 65 were wounded, 6 captured and 28 missing – a casualty rate of 35 per cent.

The port played a pivotal role in the liberation of western Europe, allowing the allies to supply huge amounts of fuel as a key terminal for the Pipe Line Under The Ocean (PLUTO), which ran under the Channel to France.