D-Day 80 and our Enduring Commitment to the United Kingdom

Next week, the UK and its allies will commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Events will be held on the South Coast of England and in Normandy, France to remember the courage of the servicepeople and citizens of all our nations who played a role in preparing for and delivering Operation Overlord, the beginning of the end of World War Two.

More than ever, this D-Day80 commemoration reminds us of the importance of working with allies to deter tyranny, whether in Europe or elsewhere in the world, and also of the special relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States.

It also reminds me and my colleagues of the enduring role Lockheed Martin has played in the UK over the last 86 years.

In 1938, our legacy company Lockheed, then a small but innovative aircraft maker in Burbank, California, was honoured to be approached by the British Purchasing Commission to build the Hudson maritime reconnaissance and patrol bomber for the RAF, a plane with special significance for me as my Uncle Steven Livingston flew as a Bomber / Navigator on these very aircraft.

Working in partnership with the RAF, Lockheed produced the first prototype Hudson in just 24 hours and by 1939 had delivered 250 Hudsons to Britain – the largest international airplane contract received by an American company to date and arguably the start of Lockheed Martin as it exists today.

This partnership went beyond simply making the Hudson. It saw Lockheed set up manufacturing and maintenance facilities all over the UK, from Liverpool to Leamington Spa, from Renfrew to Belfast in support of the war effort.

It also saw iconic aircraft from numerous legacy Lockheed Martin companies supplied to and flown by the RAF, and ultimately by other allies, throughout that war and in the run up to and during D-Day.

Aircraft such as the Consolidated Liberator that served numerous successful roles for the RAF from transport to bomber as well as AL504 Commando - Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s personal transport for much of the war. 

The Martin B-26 Marauder medium bomber which the RAF used to destroy rail lines and road intersections behind the Normandy beaches to prevent enemy reinforcements from reaching the fight.

And arguably the spiritual ancestor of today’s F-35 Lightning II flown by today’s RAF – the Lockheed P-38 Lightning. As the Lockheed F-5B reconnaissance plane, the P-38 captured 90 percent of aerial reconnaissance film over Europe in the lead up to D-Day and during the invasion itself. In P-38 fighter-bomber format, several squadrons bearing the hastily hand-painted black and white D-Day invasion stripes, supported the assault on the Normandy beaches.

While at commemoration events over the next week, my colleagues and I will reflect with pride on what our predecessors did to contribute to the war effort and to D-Day, how we as a company have supported the UK since and remember that it is through partnership with our allies that we will protect those we love from aggression and tyranny.