Canada Remembers: D-Day and the Battle of Normandy
Many Canadian soldiers were young and
new to battle, but our infantry and armoured troops would be thrown into action
against some of the best of the German forces in Normandy. The Canadians
successfully captured their shoreline positions at Juno Beach and penetrated
the farthest inland of any of the 155,000 Allied troops who had landed on June
6, 1944, but D-Day was only the beginning of the struggle to liberate France.
Clashes in the days that followed badly bloodied our soldiers ... the first month of fighting was an exercise in grim endurance for the Canadians as the combat intensified and capturing Caen remained elusive.
The Canadians would bend but not break; however, the memory of the bitter fighting they encountered in villages like Authie, Buron and Carpiquet would haunt our Veterans for years to come. Our navy and air force ... kept the sea lanes clear of enemy shipping and swept German warplanes from the skies over Normandy, while also pounding countless ground targets.
... the fighting would continue through the choking dust and intense summertime heat in the countryside south of the city of Caen. Canadian troops battled forward despite desperate struggles at places like Verrières Ridge, which our soldiers helped capture only after multiple bloody attempts had cost many hundreds of lives, with even more being wounded.
The thoughts of one Canadian veteran:
The Mayor and Citizens of Berniere-sur-Mere are saddened by the fact that Veteran Affairs Canada (VAC) has cancelled the trip for 40 Canadian Veterans to attend the 75th Anniversary of D-Day.
The (VAC) rationale was that because the veterans were staying in accommodations more than 90-minutes away, it would be too long a day for these old gentlemen.
These are Veterans of D-Day -- NO day is too long for Remembrance.
Clashes in the days that followed badly bloodied our soldiers ... the first month of fighting was an exercise in grim endurance for the Canadians as the combat intensified and capturing Caen remained elusive.
The Canadians would bend but not break; however, the memory of the bitter fighting they encountered in villages like Authie, Buron and Carpiquet would haunt our Veterans for years to come. Our navy and air force ... kept the sea lanes clear of enemy shipping and swept German warplanes from the skies over Normandy, while also pounding countless ground targets.
... the fighting would continue through the choking dust and intense summertime heat in the countryside south of the city of Caen. Canadian troops battled forward despite desperate struggles at places like Verrières Ridge, which our soldiers helped capture only after multiple bloody attempts had cost many hundreds of lives, with even more being wounded.
The thoughts of one Canadian veteran:
The Mayor and Citizens of Berniere-sur-Mere are saddened by the fact that Veteran Affairs Canada (VAC) has cancelled the trip for 40 Canadian Veterans to attend the 75th Anniversary of D-Day.
The (VAC) rationale was that because the veterans were staying in accommodations more than 90-minutes away, it would be too long a day for these old gentlemen.
These are Veterans of D-Day -- NO day is too long for Remembrance.
It’s stunning that Canadian Veterans, of this historic event in Canadian
History, are being denied participation because of poor planning by Veterans
Affairs Canada.
This seems to be a sad trend, that’s been happening recently. From hiding the Afghanistan memorial away from the families of the fallen, and now to this.
It’s like our government has become indifferent to Remembrance, and the service of Canada’s war veterans.
This seems to be a sad trend, that’s been happening recently. From hiding the Afghanistan memorial away from the families of the fallen, and now to this.
It’s like our government has become indifferent to Remembrance, and the service of Canada’s war veterans.
Condensed from the Cities of Normandy
during the 1944 battles -- Bernières-sur-Mer
The village of Bernières-sur-Mer was
defended by a large anti-tank wall and by the strongpoint coded Wn 28 armed by
soldiers of the 5th company including a 50 mm anti-tank gun ... the assault on
Bernières-sur-Mer was preceded by an aerial bombardment and then by a naval
bombardment, two hours before disembarkation in front of an extremely rough
Juno Beach ... the bombardments were ineffective, and both the anti-tank wall,
and the German defenses, were still in place.
The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada landed and Company B was immediately in front of Wn 28, suffering very high losses. The amphibious tanks were also late and are sorely lacking on the beach.
... the Queen’s Own Rifles lost 65 of its own on the beach. Company A, less affected than Company B on the beach, entered west of Bernières and began a slow progression under mortars and snipers.
The La Chaudière regiment (8th Brigade) ... landed in front of Bernières-sur-Mer at 8:30 am reinforcing comrades hard hit by the shock of the battle. Fort Gary Horse’s squadron B squadron then arrived on the beach and supported the actions of La Chaudière.
By the end of the morning, Bernières-sur-Mer was entirely under Canadian control.
The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada landed and Company B was immediately in front of Wn 28, suffering very high losses. The amphibious tanks were also late and are sorely lacking on the beach.
... the Queen’s Own Rifles lost 65 of its own on the beach. Company A, less affected than Company B on the beach, entered west of Bernières and began a slow progression under mortars and snipers.
The La Chaudière regiment (8th Brigade) ... landed in front of Bernières-sur-Mer at 8:30 am reinforcing comrades hard hit by the shock of the battle. Fort Gary Horse’s squadron B squadron then arrived on the beach and supported the actions of La Chaudière.
By the end of the morning, Bernières-sur-Mer was entirely under Canadian control.
The Veterans Affairs website, under Remembrance, states:
Veterans
know the price paid for our freedom and they want all Canadians to share in
this understanding. They are passing the
torch of remembrance to us, the people of Canada, to ensure the memory of their
effort and sacrifices will not die with them, and that an appreciation of the
values they fought for will live on in all Canadians.
At least one Canadian Veteran would not completely agree
with, at a minimum,
these words from above ... the
memory of their efforts and sacrifices will not die
with them.
The veteran, I spoke with, concluded by stating:
This is especially important to me.
While my Grandfather didn’t cross the beach until D+13, my father got to know
the Hoffer’s back in 1973, before Canada House was even a thing. The Hoffer’s
are the owners of Canada House, and have been friends of our family these past
46 years.
George Hoffer and his family were the occupants of the House when the Nazi’s
took it over and made it Officers Quarters. Herve was the son whom my father
got to know, along with his wife, Nicole. Herve passed away suddenly in 2017,
but Nicole is still very active with the House. It was she and her Husband that
ensured the ownership of the Queens Own Rifles of Canada, upon their passing.
I am hoping that I get a chance to make the pilgrimage to finally meet her, in
person, before she too passes on.
The veteran, I spoke with, concluded by stating:
This is especially important to me.
While my Grandfather didn’t cross the beach until D+13, my father got to know
the Hoffer’s back in 1973, before Canada House was even a thing. The Hoffer’s
are the owners of Canada House, and have been friends of our family these past
46 years.
George Hoffer and his family were the occupants of the House when the Nazi’s
took it over and made it Officers Quarters. Herve was the son whom my father
got to know, along with his wife, Nicole. Herve passed away suddenly in 2017,
but Nicole is still very active with the House. It was she and her Husband that
ensured the ownership of the Queens Own Rifles of Canada, upon their passing.
I am hoping that I get a chance to make the pilgrimage to finally meet her, in
person, before she too passes on.
NOTE ... from a June 6th, 2014 Global News
story:
... there is so much generosity and hospitality towards Canadians in Normandy, it’s hard not to be swept away by the affection of the locals.
... there is so much generosity and hospitality towards Canadians in Normandy, it’s hard not to be swept away by the affection of the locals.
Nowhere is this gratitude greater
than at the summer home of Herve and Nicole Hoffer in Bernières-sur-Mer ... the
couple has kept a shrine to the Canadian soldiers who liberated their family
home, the first building on the Normandy coast taken by the Allies on D-Day ... Ted tells me how he piloted a landing craft carrying the first wave of Canadians onto Juno Beach just in front of the Hoffer house. They were soldiers from the Toronto regiment, The Queens Own Rifles, which suffered 100 casualties in the first few minutes of the invasion ...
“Two yards up the beach and they were shot. And you think, that guy is never going to go home,” he said quietly ... there’s no sense of heroism ... just the understanding that ... it was a damn shame to see so many people die. “A waste of life, so many young guys”.
Normandy is hallowed ground. But for those who survived it’s personal ... it’s human ... it’s tender.
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