British forces are set to march in France’s Bastille Day celebrations for the first time in over 20 years.
Soldiers, sailors and aviators from Britain will march and fly in Paris alongside French forces and troops tomorrow.
Outgoing Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will be at the parade, while he visits other leaders in the French capital for a Coalition of the Willing meeting, as part of his last week at No10.
Marching in the parade will be soldiers from the Grenadier Guards – one of the British Army’s oldest and most celebrated regiments.
They will be paired with France’s 1er Régiment de la Garde Républicaine, under the Bonds of Friendship initiative.
The initiative is a bilateral military programme between the UK and France, pairing specific regiments together to conduct cross-Channel training, operations and ceremonial events, in an effort to form cultural ties between the two forces.
They will be joined by forces from nearly 30 countries, making it one of the most international Bastille Day celebrations in memory.
The participation from the British military is the most prominent contribution to France’s Bastille Day celebrations since 2004, when UK forces led the march to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale.
Rehearsals for tomorrow’s military parade have been conducted across the French capital over the past week
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Bastille Day is the anniversary of the Storming of the French prison, the Bastille, a significant event in the French Revolution in 1789.
It is celebrated throughout France, but the military parade is the capital is considered the “oldest and largest” in Europe.
The parade is held at the Champs Élysées, in front of the President of France as well as officials and foreign guests.
Royal Navy officer cadets from Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth will march alongside their French counterparts from Écoles Navale near Brest.
World leaders from Coalition of the Willing met in Paris today
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This is a visual representation of the twinning agreement recently established between the two naval colleges.
Such agreements sit within a broader initiative called the Royal Navy Personnel Exchange Programme, which now sees 13 UK personnel embedded across the French Navy.
A single RAF F-35 will fly alongside French Rafales in the Bastille Day flypast.
They will be accompanied by a British A400M flying in formation with two French A400Ms and a German A400M.
The Coalition of the Willing was created in Paris by the French Government, in joint collaboration with the UK, bringing together over 30 nations pledging to strengthen their support for Ukraine as the Russian invasion continues.
The ambition of the group is to help Ukraine bolster its armed forces and rebuild its economy as it continues to endure Putin’s invasion.
In today’s meeting, Sir Keir announced the UK will join the EU’s €90billion (£78million) loan to Ukraine to cover the most urgent defence costs in their efforts to push back Russian forces.
British firms will now be able to bid for contracts funded by the EU’s loan to Ukraine, the outgoing Prime Minister said, as he held talks with the Coalition of the Willing.
“This agreement will help ensure Ukraine gets the support it needs to defend itself against Russian aggression, while backing British defence companies, supporting skilled jobs and strengthening our national security,” he said.
The coalition also agreed to jointly developing a new anti-ballistic missile system as a cheaper alternative to the US Patriot system.
“We believe that the protection of Europe requires a global solution of integrated missile defence architecture to deter and defeat future missile threats – developed through collective effort, technological openness, and trusted industrial cooperation,” the leaders of Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and Britain said in a statement.
“It will complement existing ballistic missile defence systems, including sovereign European solutions already acquired, or to be acquired by participating countries.”