Prime Minister Tony Abbott is to mark the 70th anniversary of D-Day in France next week while on the first leg of three-country 10-day northern hemisphere trade and investment tour that also takes in Canada and the US.
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Mr Abbott will attend official D-Day and Normandy campaign ceremonies on June 6 with world leaders including French President Francois Hollande, British Prime Minister David Cameron and US President Barack Obama.
More than 3000 Australians - mostly aviators - were involved directly in the D-Day landings and 18 died in the heroic effort that turned the Allies' fortunes in World War II.
Mr Abbott will then travel to the Western Front of World War I, where a staggering 46,000 Australians were killed among the 295,000 who served there between 1916 and 1918.
That will be followed by a visit to Ottawa and Washington for formal talks with the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mr Obama.
Mark Kenny
