REGINA – It’s been 82 years since our brave Canadian troops landed at Juno Beach in Normandy, taking part in the tough mission of pushing Hitler and his terrible regime out of Europe.
The late University of Victoria military history professor, Reginald H. Roy (Photo: Probably UVic).
On June 6, 1944, 156,000 soldiers from Canada, Britain, the U. S., and other Allied nations stormed the beaches of Normandy; this was the hammer that struck Germany.
Canadians should remember that the anvil-the first front against Hitler-was in the East. It was there that Adolf Hitler’s forces were ultimately defeated by the pressure created by the D-Day landings.
Almost fifty years ago, my military history professor-soldier, scholar, and author of 1944: The Canadians in Normandy, Reginald H. Roy-reminded us students that without the anvil of the Red Army in the East, the hammer of D-Day in the West would have had far less impact.
Professor Roy was born in New Glasgow, N. S., in 1922 and passed away in Victoria in 2013. He enlisted with the Cape Breton Highlanders at just 16 and was commissioned from within their ranks in 1943. He fought across Britain, Italy, France, Belgium, and Holland before World War II concluded.
“We’d still be in Normandy,” he said-not as tourists like some political figures from Canada who visit a French beach on June 6 each year.
Winston Churchill (Photo: Yousuf Karsh, Public Domain).
Speculative history is tricky; it’s hard to say for certain. But despite the Allied invasion of Italy back in September 1943-the move into “the soft underbelly of the Axis,” as Winston Churchill called it-without six million Red Army soldiers challenging Hitler’s Eastern front during 1944, Canadians might not even have made it to France beyond a few diplomats and fallen soldiers.
A fact that seems mostly forgotten today is that around 80 percent of German Army casualties were caused by the Red Army. After June 1944, they cleared Eastern Europe from Wehrmacht forces and decimated a whole German Army Group before heading towards Berlin.
Back in 2014 when then-prime minister Stephen Harper begrudgingly agreed to let Russian President Vladimir Putin attend Normandy’s anniversary ceremonies for its seventieth year; a writer from Postmedia pointed out that “only one Soviet soldier is known to have been buried in a war grave on the Western Front.”
As I mentioned back then-that’s fine as long as we don’t forget about approximately eleven million poor souls laid to rest on the Eastern Front instead. Without them we English Canadians might’ve had to learn German as our second language at school-regardless if we answered to Washington or Berlin.
Francois Hollande-the president of France back then-got it right when he told French TV: “We may have differences with Vladimir Putin but I have not forgotten and will never forget that the Russian people gave millions of lives. I told Vladimir Putin that as representative of the Russian people he is welcome to ceremonies.”
Former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau (Photo: Justin Trudeau/Flickr).
Since then-and particularly after Russia invaded Ukraine back in February 2022-our collective memory seems even more clouded. These days you might think we fought against Russia instead of Germany during ’44-a belief likely shared both here and abroad.
Last night hardly any news mentioned this significant anniversary. It seems D-Day has become almost as distant a memory for many media outlets here as battles like Agincourt or Hastings-which didn’t involve any Canadians like those who fought valiantly at Normandy.
The only stories related to D-Day with Canadian connections last night involved students from Yorkton cleaning gravesites for World War II veterans ahead of today’s anniversary; there was also notice about a service happening in Pickering Ontario along with an interview featuring vice-president from Kamloops’ Royal Canadian Legion branch. One wonders whether our prime minister or various provincial leaders will comment today-or if we’ll even get a timely movie review!
In his remarks back in 2019 while visiting France former prime minister Justin Trudeau-a figure now somewhat fading except perhaps here on Prairie lands-noted how “only those who threw themselves against walls Fortress Europe knew what unfolded here.. But it’s every Canadian’s duty to ensure their story-and sacrifice-will never fade away.”
This statement holds profound truth; it’s concerning how easily we forget these events. We need to honor D-Day while also recognizing that Fortress Europe’s defenses weren’t limited just to Normandy.
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Winston Churchill (Photo: Yousuf Karsh, Public Domain).
Speculative history is tricky; it’s hard to say for certain. But despite the Allied invasion of Italy back in September 1943-the move into “the soft underbelly of the Axis,” as Winston Churchill called it-without six million Red Army soldiers challenging Hitler’s Eastern front during 1944, Canadians might not even have made it to France beyond a few diplomats and fallen soldiers.
A fact that seems mostly forgotten today is that around 80 percent of German Army casualties were caused by the Red Army. After June 1944, they cleared Eastern Europe from Wehrmacht forces and decimated a whole German Army Group before heading towards Berlin.
Back in 2014 when then-prime minister Stephen Harper begrudgingly agreed to let Russian President Vladimir Putin attend Normandy’s anniversary ceremonies for its seventieth year; a writer from Postmedia pointed out that “only one Soviet soldier is known to have been buried in a war grave on the Western Front.”
As I mentioned back then-that’s fine as long as we don’t forget about approximately eleven million poor souls laid to rest on the Eastern Front instead. Without them we English Canadians might’ve had to learn German as our second language at school-regardless if we answered to Washington or Berlin.
Francois Hollande-the president of France back then-got it right when he told French TV: “We may have differences with Vladimir Putin but I have not forgotten and will never forget that the Russian people gave millions of lives. I told Vladimir Putin that as representative of the Russian people he is welcome to ceremonies.”
Former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau (Photo: Justin Trudeau/Flickr).
Since then-and particularly after Russia invaded Ukraine back in February 2022-our collective memory seems even more clouded. These days you might think we fought against Russia instead of Germany during ’44-a belief likely shared both here and abroad.
Last night hardly any news mentioned this significant anniversary. It seems D-Day has become almost as distant a memory for many media outlets here as battles like Agincourt or Hastings-which didn’t involve any Canadians like those who fought valiantly at Normandy.
The only stories related to D-Day with Canadian connections last night involved students from Yorkton cleaning gravesites for World War II veterans ahead of today’s anniversary; there was also notice about a service happening in Pickering Ontario along with an interview featuring vice-president from Kamloops’ Royal Canadian Legion branch. One wonders whether our prime minister or various provincial leaders will comment today-or if we’ll even get a timely movie review!
In his remarks back in 2019 while visiting France former prime minister Justin Trudeau-a figure now somewhat fading except perhaps here on Prairie lands-noted how “only those who threw themselves against walls Fortress Europe knew what unfolded here.. But it’s every Canadian’s duty to ensure their story-and sacrifice-will never fade away.”
This statement holds profound truth; it’s concerning how easily we forget these events. We need to honor D-Day while also recognizing that Fortress Europe’s defenses weren’t limited just to Normandy.
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