I watched the D-Day anniversary on TV. It was very moving to see all those now-old soldiers make it back to the ceremony in France.

As a child in the Second World War, I was in a building that was machine-gunned and bombed by a German aircraft. The fact that I am alive to see this wonderful ceremony makes it all the more meaningful.

We remember the American and Canadian troops based in the UK before the 1944 Normandy invasion. They would give us chocolate and organise children's parties.

Many of them never saw home again as they were killed as they landed in France or fought their way through the German lines.

At the 60th D-Day service, due respect was shown to all who fell.

Later, I visited the cemetery at Victoria Road, Portslade, to tend my mother's grave. I then walked to a corner of the cemetery where a number of fallen from the Second World War are buried. The average age of those buried there is 21 years.

I was shocked and upset to see many weeds and the untended look of the graves. I cleared away a space and left a token mark of respect.

Young people tend the beautifully kept graves in the war cemeteries of France and in Holland. These countries were occupied by the Germans while ours, thankfully, was not.

Surely whoever is responsible for the maintenance of local cemeteries should show the young soldiers buried in the quiet corner of Victoria Road cemetery more respect?

-Joy Linford, Hove