Old service uniforms, berets and waistcoats constituted the main costume for some 5,000 persons who marched Saturday morning in wind and drizzle in downtown Dunkirk to commemorate the 60th anniversary of liberation in World War II.
On their way, flags of Canada, France, Great Britain and Czechoslovakia fly on the roadsides, where citizens waved to the procession of people and some 30 British military vehicles, which hurried to Dunkirk Friday evening, and cried "Vive the liberation! " "Vive the liberty!"
The third biggest seaport in North France and the last French town to be liberated on May 9, 1945 from nazism, Dunkirk is famous for the "Dynamo Operation", the biggest rescue mission in the military history, a "miracle" that allowed 338,226 allied soldiers to return to Great Britain, a nation that had become the spearhead of the fight against nazism.
Maurice Lemiere, 71, born in the city, said after the battles of World War II, 95 percent of the city was destroyed and everybody cried at the day of its liberation. Despite the bitter they experienced during the war, he has no hatred against the Germans. "Hate and war are not solutions, but the commemoration yes. We should always commemorate the memory," he said.
Many British, Canadian, French and Czech veterans participated in the parade. A 93 year-old Czech named Polivka was so moved that he marched gallantly into the Czech military band.
Jean Becaert of France, an 88 year-old participant of the " Dynamo Operation", was moved too. The sound of fireworks reminded him of the battle of rescue and the day of Dunkirk's liberation. Everyone danced and sang French national anthem "Marseille" on that day, he recalled.
His wife said they attended the ceremony organized by the Dunkirk municipality every year. The activities are more ceremonious every five years and every 10 years. These ceremonies are very important to her. "We should let it known. Things repeat in the history, the future is not rose. To remember the history is very important, it is for the future generations not to repeat the same things," she said.