Cunard’s flagship, Queen Mary 2, arrived in New York today carrying the Eternal Flame after a seven-day North Atlantic crossing. Upon the ship’s arrival, a commemorative ceremony was held onboard by the Consulate General of France, La Flamme de la Liberté, and Cunard to honor the WWII Normandy Landings of 1944 and mark the 80th Anniversary of D-Day.
A group of 12 young French ambassadors carried the flame from Paris to Cherbourg, where it crossed the English Channel to Portsmouth, a key embarkation port for the Normandy Invasion. The flame then proceeded a short distance to Southampton, where it boarded Queen Mary 2 to cross the Atlantic and arrive in New York.
The Eternal Flame, which has been burning since November 11, 1923, on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier under the Arc de Triomphe, was collected on May 8. The ambassadors will escort the flame to Arlington Cemetery for an official ceremony on May 24, allowing it to burn until June 6, 2024.
Notable attendees included Mr. Laurent Bili, Ambassador of France to the United States; Mr. Damien Laban, Acting Consul General of France in New York; Mr. Edward Mermelstein, Commissioner for International Affairs, City of New York; Queen Mary 2 Captain Andrew Hall; Helen Ayer-Patton, granddaughter of General Patton; and WWII veterans from The Greatest Generations Foundation.
Queen Mary 2 Captain Andrew Hall said: “We are honored that our flagship Queen Mary 2 was part of this historic occasion honoring the men and women who served in D-Day, and the many hundreds of thousands of whom were brought over the Atlantic on Cunard ships. Today will truly be remembered as an important part of Cunard’s long and storied history.”
