A Normandy veterans’ flag is on display at the Museum of St Albans to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings during the Second World War.

On 6 June 1944, thousands of Allied troops landed in Normandy, France, marking the start of the invasion of German-occupied Europe. This Friday will mark 70 years since the landings.

To commemorate the landings, the Museum will display the standard of the St Albans branch of the Normandy Veterans’ Association until the end of June.

The Normandy Veterans’ Association was established to bring together men who fought during the Normandy invasion. The St Albans branch has been involved in many commemoration events over the past 30 years and has taken its standard to official occasions since 1985.

Last year the group retired from taking part in public ceremonies of commemoration and the group’s standard bearer, Harry Hopkins, passed the standard to the museum.

Mr Hopkins said: "It was a great honour to carry the standard for the St Albans branch of the Normandy Veterans’ Association for a period more than 25 years. I took the standard to commemoration ceremonies throughout Europe, from the time of its inauguration in 1985 to when it was handed to the museum last year."

The standard is being displayed alongside audio recordings of some members of the Normandy Veterans’ Association describing their experiences of the invasion. One of the men who contributed to the recordings was Ernie Brewer, secretary of the St Albans branch, who died last month. Mr Brewer was one of just ten British soldiers to be awarded the Legion d’Honneur, France’s highest order, in 2009 for his part in the Normandy landings.