SOLDIERS from the 1st Battalion the Staffordshire Regiment based at Mooltan Barracks, Tidworth, will be providing a Royal Guard of Honour and a Colour Party in Normandy this weekend, during the official commemoration ceremonies of the D-Day landings during World War II.

It will be a particularly poignant time for the soldiers from Tidworth.

The Staffordshire Yeomanry landed on the Normandy beaches on D-Day itself, as part of the 3rd British Division, while the 59th (Staffordshire) Division was in the forefront of the breakout of the beachhead and the capture of Caen - the first French town to be liberated.

The Staffordshire Regiment proudly carries the Battle Honour 'Caen' on its colours.

The 59th Division had a short, but glorious existence.

It sailed from England on June 17, 1944, and spent a week at sea before landing in France.

The division was disbanded, after suffering heavy casualties, six weeks later, on August 8, and its men dispersed throughout Montgomery's army as replacements and reinforcements.

The Royal Guard and the Colour Party are being found from Dragon Company commanded by Major Tony Casey.

Their normal role is as the support weapons company.

In Normandy tomorrow, the Tidworth soldiers will parade before Prince Charles at the Caen Memorial Gardens and on Saturday at the Bayeux Cemetery before the Queen, and Presidents Bush and Cherac.

On Saturday, they will also be at the Hermanville cemetery, where many of those killed serving with the 3rd British Division are remembered.

On Sunday, they will attend a special memorial at Cambes en Plaine, where 224 men from the Staffordshire Division are buried.

Currently in an armoured infantry role and equipped with Warrior armoured fighting vehicles, the battalion is in the process of converting to the new Bowman secure digital communications system.

The battalion is scheduled to serve in Iraq for six months from April next year.