As you head out towards your duties for this Thursday, June 6th, take a moment to think of the events that took place on five beaches along the French coast 75 years ago this very day.
Invasion sites marked those beaches on maps, pointing to where thousands of Canadian, British and American soldiers, along with a large assembly of sailors and airmen set out to bring to life a battle plan that no one knew what the fates would hold for.
Along with them, numbers from many other countries of the Allied forces took to their assigned tasks, all arriving at a pivotal moment for history to bring upon the end of tyranny on the European continent, a victory that came with a very heavy price,
For the Canadians that cost was 359 killed in action on Juno beach in the first day alone, 5,000 more as part of the Battle for Normandy, with many, many more to follow in the way of sacrifice in the year that would follow before the war would end.
Above those beaches flew the assembled squadrons of the multi-national air forces, pushing inland to offer cover for the troops, or to deliver them behind enemy lines, their constant drone from above serving notice for the German army that June 6th would be a day of reckoning.
From the sea, a flotilla of ships from a number of nations including Canada, which at the time hosted the third largest Navy of the Allied fleets, were bombarding the coast and delivering the troops to their assigned landing zones.
Today, along those beaches, ceremonies have already taken place to pay honour to those who landed on Gold, Juno, Sword, Omaha and Utah beaches.
The Canadian story was told on Juno Beach this morning, where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, accompanied by French Prime Minister Philippe, amongst many others, participated in the ceremonies of remembrance.
In the ranks of those in attendance, were those who fought and came home, an ever dwindling number, as age takes its toll on a generation never to be forgotten.
Prime Ministers' Statement on the 75th Anniversary of D Day
This 75th anniversary observance has been a two day process, with Wednesday finding the dignitaries and aging veterans arriving at the British port city of Portsmouth, the place where the flotilla of naval vessels and merchant marine ships began the transit towards across the English Channel towards the beaches of France.
Ahead of them a destiny that left many dead not far from their landing crafts, while others through sheer will of spirit would find their way further inland. Eventually the forces from all five beaches were able to push the German lines back in an operation that signalled that the beginning of the end of the barbarity of the Second World War was at hand, the final sounds of the conflict to finally arrive one year later.
Among those participating in today's remembrance at Juno Beach was Premier John Horgan, who makes his second journey to the battle fields of France, though his first as Premier of British Columbia.
Last week, as one of the final notes from the Spring session of the Legislature, Mr. Horgan paid tribute to that generation with a remembrance for the House on Thursday morning, one well worth reviewing.
I rise today to recognize the upcoming 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion and the Battle of Normandy. I rise to pay tribute to the Canadians who put their life and their liberty at risk to land on Juno Beach on June 6, 1944. I know all of us will want to remember the sacrifices that were made by the veterans that put their lives on the line and those that we will never forget.
We need to remind ourselves of the horrors of war. Too many times, the passage of time allows us to forget. Too much social media, too much television, too many horrific movies, too many dragons on our television sets make us oblivious and immune to the horrors of war, the battles that were fought by Canadians and Allied forces from 1939 to 1945.
I visited Juno Beach and Dieppe with my young children many years ago. My kids couldn't understand why I was so emotional about being in a place where Canadians and British forces and Americans and other Allies landed to liberate Europe from the tyranny of Nazism. And 359 Canadians died on D-Day; 5,000 more in the months that followed.
Over the course of the Second World War, 45,000 Canadians gave up their lives, and many returned home with scars visible and invisible. It's fundamental to our future that we remember our past, and we need to do so with deep gratitude and respect for the veterans that served in the past and those in the Armed Forces that serve us today.
They served us ably in the European theatre and in the Pacific. Earlier this week I had the opportunity to be with the Lieutenant-Governor at Government House to pay tribute to 15 veterans and to talk to one, George Chow — not that one — who landed on Juno Beach and will be with me next week to revisit the place he was at 75 years ago.
Before that, a week earlier, I was at Fort Rodd Hill with the Lieutenant-Governor and Rear-Adm. Bob Auchterlonie to pay tribute to our hometown heroes: Alice Adams, who was a communication specialist here on Vancouver Island, and Trevor Shuckburgh, who was in the English Channel on a supply vessel during that week in June when the world changed.
When Trevor came back to Canada, came back to Victoria, he served as the aide-de-camp to Lt.-Gov. George Pearkes — again, a recognition that service did not just happen during the war; it happens every single day.
I'm reminded of all of us in this place who come with the best of intentions to do good deeds, to do the things that our citizens want us to do. And I'm reminded that we would not be able to do that were it not for the sacrifices of those who landed on Juno Beach 75 years ago.
My mom and dad served in the armed forces here in Victoria. When I met Alice Adams, a communication specialist like my mom Alice, at Pat Bay here in Victoria, it reminded me of what she instilled in me as a young boy and as a young man: that we should never forget the absolute blessing of being Canadians and those who lost their lives so that we could proudly say that we are the best people on the planet.
If your travels take you past the Court House today, perhaps take a moment out to stop and reflect on just how different our world may have looked today, had the sacrifices and call to duty of June 6, 1944 not taken place.
There are many resources to explore this day to learn more of the turning point of the Second World War and Canada's pivotal place in the history of the conflict.
Some of them can be found below:
Veterans Affairs Canada
Canadian War Museum
Juno Beach Centre
Historica Canada
Legion Magazine
The Canadian Encyclopedia
Library and Archives Canada
Books of Remembrance
As well, we have compiled some of the notes of the day for review below, offering just a glimpse of the remembrances from France and how events of 75 years ago are still remembered to this day.
D-Day confidential: How four Canadian soldiers made it through their longest day
Jacques Raymond recounts his experience on D-Day
'I don't know how I survived': D-Day veterans join world leaders in Portsmouth on invasion's 75th Anniversary
Canadian D Day film footage among the best known invasion images
'Those who lost their lives will never be forgotten': World leaders commemorate D-Day
75 years after D-Day, has the old alliance fallen apart?
Trudeau takes part in elaborate D-Day commemoration in Portsmouth UK
Remember the warriors among us
D-Day alliances still strong, leaders say on eve of anniversary
D-Day: Here's what Operation Overlord, the battle for the beaches of Normandy looked like, through Canadian eyes .
When the tide turned: Canadians hold massive D-Day event at Juno Beach
Thousands of Canadians gather at Juno Beach for D-Day ceremony
How D-Day unfolded: A step by step visual guide
D-Day: Here's what Operation Overlord, the battle for the beaches of Normandy, looked like through Canadian eyes
D-Day by the hour: A timeline of Operation Overlord in Normandy
Cross posted from the North Coast Review.
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