Touching tributes were paid to Ulverston’s war heroes at a special D-Day memorial service.

Many Ulverstonians lost their lives on Normandy’s beaches and behind enemy lines on June 7, 1944.

More than 50 people gathered at Market Place last Friday to pay their respects to those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Coun Norman Bishop-Rowe, who helped organise the event, said: “A lot of people from Ulverston had family members who were involved in the war even before D-Day.

“One man was in the group of soldiers who took Pegasus Bridge after crossing enemy lines in Waco Gliders, nicknamed ‘the flying coffins’.

“Many men were also involved on the ground and some didn’t come back.”

On what proved to be an emotional day, one Ulverstonian recalled her late father-in-law, Cyril Spibey.

Cyril, who died in 2013 at the age of 100, was in Bomber Command and made many daring raids into Germany.

Linda Spibey said: “The memorial service made us very proud of him. To be a navigator in a Lancaster Bomber and live to be 100 is some going considering they lost about 50,000 men.”

Cyril’s World War II legacy lives on through his son, Gale, who is named after an Australian soldier he fought alongside in the conflict.

The Rev Brian Jones, a former Warrant Officer in the Navy who spent time on Polaris submarines, was in charge of the rememberance ceremony.