TODAY marks the 80th anniversary of the Normandy Landings.

Ceremonies are being held across the UK and France to commemorate the historic operation, also known as D-Day.

The operation saw the Allied Forces mount a large-scale invasion of Nazi-occupied France that ultimately tipped the course of the Second World War in their favour.

Pauline Allen, who was born in October 1932, has written a poem to commemorate the anniversary about her Uncle Joe, who died between Bayeux and Caen.

Uncle Joe

I was sitting at my desk in school

When my friend came up and said

Your family has had bad news

Your Uncle Joe is dead.

Now he was such a lovely man

And would help you if he could

Never saw wrong in anyone

Only saw the good.

He was in The D Day Landings

In Normandy in France

And like a million others

He had to take his chance.

It was going through a cornfield

Between Bayeux and Caen

That a sniper's bullet hit him

And killed that gentle man.

I made myself a promise

If that way one day I did go

I would try and find the resting place

Of my Uncle Joe.

The years went by and just by chance

I took a holiday to France

From Cherbourg on to Bayeux

From Bayeux on to Caen

But nowhere could I find the resting place of that English man.

I returned once more to Bayeux to the war cemetery I did go

And there I saw a gardener.

I'll ask him, maybe he will know.

I showed him Joe's name rank and number

But he sadly shook his head.

"Wait, I'll get my superior", the gardener softly said

His superior was very helpful

"Please telephone here madam they will tell you what they know and help you if they can."

They found his name, rank, and number

And there's a journey not too far

He's buried in a village

By the name of St Manvieu.

The journey through the countryside was getting out of hand.

So, I went up to a farmhouse And said: "Pardon me Madame

"I'm looking for the war cemetery

"I can't see it in sight"

She said: "One hundred metres down the road

"Then take the turning right."

As I turned the corner

Its walls came into view

Was I really here at last

To pay my respects to you?

I wandered through the headstones

And found your resting place

It's kept as it should be, with dignity and grace.

I stood a while in memory

In that foreign silent space

And I couldn't stop the tears I shed

From running down my face.

I remember all the happy days

When I sat upon your knee

And all the funny stories

You used to tell me.

And so at last I found you

And to complete my quest

I sprinkled soil I brought from home

On the place you're laid to rest.

You'll live on in my memory

Wherever I may go

To me you were someone special

You were my Uncle Joe.