Canada’s Juno Beach Centre and museum is at Courseulles-sur-mer right behind a section of the 8-kilometre stretch of beach assigned to Canadians for the invasion. This was the centre of the Allied forces with British and American armies assigned landings to their left and right.
Today on the 75th anniversary of June 6, 1944, Canadian vets, and literally thousands of family members, local residents and visitors assembled just behind the beach on the Juno Centre grounds to remember the sacrifice of the hundreds of Canadians killed, the hundreds more wounded, and the remaining few veterans, all in the 90’s, who were able to make the trip.
The few dozen Canadian veterans able to make the trip were clearly the stars of the ceremony being honoured as they and the crowd honoured the sacrifices of the many thousands of Canadians who fought on the beach and in the following deadly year-long battle to end the war. (via CBC)
Brigadier-General (ret’d) Ernest Beno was in attendance at the major ceremonial event today at Courseulles-sur-mer along with Major Richard Gratton of Montreal with HQ 2 Div. Support Group.
Listen
Maj. Richard Gratton (R) with D-Day veteran Bell Anderson, originally of Saint John New Brunswick, a D-Day veteran with the artillery for the Normandy campaign.campain
The ceremony today was well-organised by Veterans Affairs, and carried out with great dignity.
After the ceremony, the veterans all made their way to the beach to be once again, where they once ran to face an entrenched enemy and where many comrades fell never to rise again.
After the ceremony many of the veterans walked or asked to be taken in wheelchairs down to the beach where there are many lifelong memories (Andy Clark-Reuters)
Many young students had been brought from Canada to also take part in the event where they had the chance to meet these veterans and hear their stories, to learn about Canada’s history, and to take back that memory to share with others of their generation.
Aerial view of the emotional Canadian ceremony at Juno Beach. The black dots on the stage are pairs of soldier’s boots to represent the fallen The beach that Canadians stormed across 75 years ago is just out of the photo at the bottom directly behind the stage (CBC)
This will also be the case for the group of artillery soldiers with Brig-Gen. Beno. He is leading a group of 60 Canadian military personnel, several of whom are on their first trip to the battle sites of Canada’s two world wars.
BGen. (ret’d) Ernest Beno (right) with the Hon. Romeo Dallaire (centre)- former LGen. and retired Senator. along with members of the artillery group on tour, shown at the ceremony at Juno Beach, Courseulles, June 6, 2019
Their trip has been financed in part with their own funds and through private donations.
Though the main Canadian event for this anniversary is over along with the international ceremony which was held at the same location a few hours later, the group has smaller commemoration events to attend to in the coming days
On the 8th, the group will take part in a dedication ceremony of a Canadian 25pdr field piece at Point 67 overlooking the outskirts of Caen where Canadians fought a series of bitterly contested battles at heavy cost. The gun placement was an initiative of Gen. Beno who raised funds from private donations, including Britton Smith of Kingston Ontario, a veteran of the Normandy campaign and still an active 99 year old businessman.
The Canadian made QF 25pdr field piece marked to the 4th Field Regiment, “C” Troop, gun, now in
position overlooking Troteval Farm on Point 67. Found in Ireland it was purchased and restored thanks to generous private donations. it will be dedicated on June 8th
The veterans who were able to make the trip to France have expressed gratitude that their efforts have not been forgotten after 75 years.
Across Canada today similar memorial events will be held to remember and honour the sacrifice of the veterans still with us, and those young men who left but never returned.
Additional information
For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.