英国国王查尔斯三世 | 2024年诺曼底登陆80周年纪念日致辞

Ladies and gentlemen, eighty years ago today Field Marshal Montgomery – Commander in Chief of the Allied Ground Forces – wrote in his message to all soldiers on the eve of D-Day:‘To us is given the honour of striking a blow for freedom which will live in history; and, in the better days that lie ahead, men will speak with pride of our doings’.

女士们、先生们，八十年前的今天，盟军地面部队总司令蒙哥马利元帅在“登陆日”前夕给全体士兵的致辞中写道：“我们有幸为自由而战，这将载入史册；在未来更美好的日子里，人们会自豪地谈论我们的所作所为。”

Today we come together to honour those nearly one hundred and sixty thousand British, Commonwealth and Allied troops who, on 5th June 1944, assembled here and along these shores to embark on the mission which would strike that blow for freedom and be recorded as the greatest amphibious operation in history.

今天，我们齐聚于此向他们缅怀致敬。1944年6月5日，近16万英国、英联邦和盟军部队在此集结，沿着这片海岸为自由的使命而战，他们的行动被载入史册，成为历史上最伟大的两栖作战行动。

Those who gathered here in Portsmouth would never forget the sight. It was by far the largest military fleet the world has ever known. Yet all knew that both victory and failure were possible, and none could know their fate.

聚集在朴茨茅斯的人们永远不会忘记当时的情景。这是迄今为止世界上规模最大的军事舰队。然而所有人都知道，胜利和失败都有可能，没有人知道自己的命运。

Aircrew flying overhead, sailors manning warships; or troops in assault craft battering their way through the stormy swell to the shore; whether dropping by parachute, landing in a wooden glider, or taking that terrible leap of faith onto the beaches... all must have questioned whether they would survive and how they would respond when faced with such mortal danger. The poet Keith Douglas, who was killed in action three days later, wrote of the embarkation:

空中飞行的机组人员、操纵战舰的海军、乘坐冲锋艇在狂风暴雨中冲向海岸的部队；无论是跳伞降落、乘坐木制滑翔机着陆，还是勇敢地跳上海滩......所有人都无法预知自己能否幸存，面对如此致命的危险，该将如何应对。三天后阵亡的诗人基思·道格拉斯在谈到登船时写道：

Actors waiting in the wings of Europe

在欧洲之翼等待的演员们

we already watch the lights on the stage

我们已经看见舞台上的灯光

and listen to the colossal overture begin.

听见震耳的序曲已经开始。

For us entering at the height of the din

在最喧闹的时候进来的我们

it will be hard to hear our thoughts, hard to gauge

很难听到自己的心绪，很难衡量

how much our conduct owes to fear or fury.

我们的行为有多少是出于愤怒或是恐惧。

At this remove, eight decades later, it is a near impossible task to imagine the emotion of that day: the pride of being part of so great an enterprise, the anxiety of in some way not coming up to scratch, and the fear of that day being their last.

八十年后的今天，我们几乎无法想象当时他们的心情：为参与如此伟大的事业而自豪，为在某些方面未能达到要求而焦虑，以及对那天可能会成为他们生命最后一天的恐惧。

I recently myself spoke to veterans who, to this day, remember with such heartbreaking clarity the sight of those many soldiers lying on the beach, who drowned before they could even engage in combat.

我最近曾与退伍老兵交谈，他们至今仍清楚地记得许多士兵躺在海滩上的情景，他们甚至还没来得及参加战斗就被淹死了，那情景真的令人心碎。

The stories of courage, resilience and solidarity which we have heard today, and throughout our lives, cannot fail to move us, to inspire us, and to remind us of what we owe to that great wartime generation – now, tragically, dwindling to so few.

我们今天以及在我们一生中听到的关于勇气、坚韧和团结的故事，无不感动着我们，激励着我们，并提醒着我们，我们对战时伟大一代人的感激——不幸的是，现在幸存的老兵已寥寥无几。

It is our privilege to hear their testimony, but our role is not purely passive: it is our duty to ensure that we, and future generations, do not forget their service and their sacrifice in replacing tyranny with freedom.

聆听他们的证言是我们的荣幸，但我们的角色并非完全被动：我们有责任确保我们和子孙后代，铭记他们反对暴政争取自由所作出的贡献和牺牲。

Our rights, and the liberty won at such terrible cost, bring with them responsibilities to others in the exercise of that liberty. The Allied actions of that day ensured the forces of freedom secured, first, a toehold in Normandy, then liberated France, and ultimately, the whole of Europe from the stranglehold of a brutal totalitarianism.

我们的权利和以如此惨重的代价赢得的自由，也带来了在行使自由时对他人的责任。盟军当天的行动确保了自由力量首先在诺曼底站稳脚跟，然后解放了法国，并最终将整个欧洲从残暴的极权主义的桎梏中解放出来。

And as we remember, with humility, pride and gratitude, let us never forget that the soldiers who fought in the campaign launched from this place came from thirty nations, from across the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth and Allied countries.

当我们怀着谦卑、自豪和感激的心情缅怀他们的时候，我们永远不要忘记，从这里出发参战的士兵来自英国、英联邦和盟国的三十个国家。

While elsewhere in Europe Allied forces continued to make vital progress in their successful Italian campaign; and while halfway around the world, at that same moment, the critical battles of Imphal and Kohima raged on in what was then Burma.

在欧洲其他地方，盟军继续在意大利战役中取得重大进展；而在地球另一端的缅甸，英帕尔和科希玛的关键战役也在同一时刻打响。

The 1944 Victoria Cross roll of honour includes Sikh, Muslim and Hindu soldiers – a reminder that events that year shaped our world then, and the society we share today.

1944年的维多利亚十字勋章荣誉名册包括锡克教、穆斯林和印度教士兵——这提醒我们，当年的事件塑造了我们当时的世界和今天的社会。

While it was the frontline troops who faced the greatest personal dangers, the privations and sacrifices of war were endured by so many more. The Allied victory was a truly collective effort, born of the fortitude and hard work of those who remained on the Home Front, toiling in factories, under our land in the mines, out in the fields, or working in secret – men and women alike. Their collective industry, ingenuity and commitment helped our soldiers, sailors and airmen to prevail.

虽然前线部队面临着最大的个人危险，但有更多的人忍受着战争的痛苦和牺牲。盟军的胜利是真正的集体努力的结果，源于那些留在大后方坚韧不拔和辛勤工作的人们。这些人不论男女，他们在工厂里、在我们的土地下、在矿山里、在田野里或在秘密地工作。他们集体的勤劳、智慧和奉献帮助我们的陆海空三军取得了最终胜利。

So, as we give thanks for all those who gave so much to win the victory, whose fruits we still enjoy to this day, let us, once again, commit ourselves always to remember, cherish and honour those who served that day and to live up to the freedom they died for by balancing rights with civic responsibilities to our country. For we are all, eternally, in their debt.

因此，当我们感谢那些为赢得胜利付出了巨大心血的人们，其成果至今仍为我们享受的同时，让我们再次承诺，永远铭记、珍视和纪念在那一天服役的人们，在权利与对国家的公民责任之间取得的平衡，不辜负他们用生命换来的自由。因为我们永远都受其恩惠。