Planes that breach D-Day air space 'will be shot down'
By Ben Fenton in Arromanches
(Filed: 31/05/2004)
Private pilots who stray into Normandy air space during the 60th anniversary of D-Day next weekend will be shot down, French officials said yesterday.
With at least 16 heads of state, including the Queen and President George W Bush, attending the ceremonies, organisers are guarding particularly against an al-Qa'eda attack from the air.
It is one of the biggest security exercises in Europe since the war. An enormous network of radar equipment has been stretched between Deauville and Cherbourg, with Awacs early warning aircraft already in the skies.
The aircraft will be joined this week by small, remote-controlled drones. Advanced Crotale anti-aircraft missiles have been primed and two squadrons of Mirage 2000 fighters are stationed nearby.
The French ministry of defence has spared no expense. It has established a temporary air base at Carpiquet, outside the city of Caen, as the hub of its defences.
There, more than 800 soldiers will maintain round-the-clock surveillance, backed by more than 50 military helicopters.
A spokesman for the 120-acre camp said: "The dangers are multiple, from a hijacked airliner being crashed into the stands at the main international ceremony at Arromanches to a tiny bomb being detonated remotely. But we are stretching an impenetrable fabric of protection above Normandy."
At sea, fishermen and pleasure craft have been banned from the Seine Bay that stretches along the beaches which were codenamed Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword on June 6, 1944.
A French carrier, Charles de Gaulle, and an American carrier, George Washington, will be patrolling the bay, which will also be swept for mines. There are unconfirmed reports that submarines will be used in the security precautions.
On land, more than 9,000 French troops are arriving this week, supplementing the 6,300 gendarmes and 2,300 police officers already on duty.
The focus of all this protection will be a series of events marking the contribution of the allied nations to the Normandy landings, a theme that will be brought together at an international ceremony on cliffs above the small seaside town of Arromanches next Sunday.
There the heads of state will watch President Jacques Chirac symbolically award the French Legion d'Honneur to 10 veterans of each of the 14 countries that took part. For the first time, Germany will be represented - by Chancellor Gerhard Schroder.
Most people believe that this will be the last big commemoration of D-Day. The security operation will be twice the size of that for the last major ceremony in 1994 and is graphically illustrated at Arromanches.
The town's residents have been told that they must either stay indoors throughout next Sunday or leave the area. Even Patrick Jardin, the mayor, one of the few local people invited to the international ceremony, will have to travel by bus to Caen, 45 minutes' drive away, and board a special bus to return to Arromanches that afternoon.
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By Ben Fenton in Arromanches
(Filed: 31/05/2004)
Private pilots who stray into Normandy air space during the 60th anniversary of D-Day next weekend will be shot down, French officials said yesterday.
With at least 16 heads of state, including the Queen and President George W Bush, attending the ceremonies, organisers are guarding particularly against an al-Qa'eda attack from the air.
It is one of the biggest security exercises in Europe since the war. An enormous network of radar equipment has been stretched between Deauville and Cherbourg, with Awacs early warning aircraft already in the skies.
The aircraft will be joined this week by small, remote-controlled drones. Advanced Crotale anti-aircraft missiles have been primed and two squadrons of Mirage 2000 fighters are stationed nearby.
The French ministry of defence has spared no expense. It has established a temporary air base at Carpiquet, outside the city of Caen, as the hub of its defences.
There, more than 800 soldiers will maintain round-the-clock surveillance, backed by more than 50 military helicopters.
A spokesman for the 120-acre camp said: "The dangers are multiple, from a hijacked airliner being crashed into the stands at the main international ceremony at Arromanches to a tiny bomb being detonated remotely. But we are stretching an impenetrable fabric of protection above Normandy."
At sea, fishermen and pleasure craft have been banned from the Seine Bay that stretches along the beaches which were codenamed Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword on June 6, 1944.
A French carrier, Charles de Gaulle, and an American carrier, George Washington, will be patrolling the bay, which will also be swept for mines. There are unconfirmed reports that submarines will be used in the security precautions.
On land, more than 9,000 French troops are arriving this week, supplementing the 6,300 gendarmes and 2,300 police officers already on duty.
The focus of all this protection will be a series of events marking the contribution of the allied nations to the Normandy landings, a theme that will be brought together at an international ceremony on cliffs above the small seaside town of Arromanches next Sunday.
There the heads of state will watch President Jacques Chirac symbolically award the French Legion d'Honneur to 10 veterans of each of the 14 countries that took part. For the first time, Germany will be represented - by Chancellor Gerhard Schroder.
Most people believe that this will be the last big commemoration of D-Day. The security operation will be twice the size of that for the last major ceremony in 1994 and is graphically illustrated at Arromanches.
The town's residents have been told that they must either stay indoors throughout next Sunday or leave the area. Even Patrick Jardin, the mayor, one of the few local people invited to the international ceremony, will have to travel by bus to Caen, 45 minutes' drive away, and board a special bus to return to Arromanches that afternoon.
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