D-Day: These are the faces of the men and women who risked everything for freedom on D-Day

Moving portraits of blind and vision-impaired D-Day veterans will go on show to mark the 80th anniversary of the landings.

The portraits capture 16 veterans who served in Normandy and are beneficiaries of Blind Veterans UK, the national charity for vision-impaired ex-servicemen and women.

Seven of the portraits are featured in a special exhibition at the National Army Museum in London until June 9.

Six of the portraits will also be displayed at the new Winston Churchill Centre in Normandy, which will open on Thursday June 6, the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

The veterans’ portraits have been overlaid on to photographs, taken on D-Day or during the Second World War, to provide a “glimpse of what they would have experienced”.

One of the veterans is Harry Howorth, of the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, who landed on Sword Beach during the first wave of D-Day, aged just 22.

Mr Howorth nearly drowned when his landing craft’s ramp dug into the seabed, pulling him underwater until someone rescued him.

His battalion destroyed a German gun battery, which helped secure the beach.

In a brochure produced by the charity for the anniversary, he said: “You never forget. You can even see some of the faces of your comrades who didn’t make it.”

The background of his portrait shows Allied troops landing on Sword beach at about 8.45am on D-Day. nMr Howorth died on April 17 this year, aged 102.