The significance of June 6 is not locked into the minds of all Canadians. But as of Tuesday, about 150 Guelph high school students will understand better the significance of the day.
June 6, 1944 was D-Day, the day Allied forces landed on the shores of Normandy, an invasion of a colossal scope and deadly outcome. Canadian forces landed on Juno, a beach in a vacation area of France that has become synonymous with Canadian sacrifice and valour.
The students assembled at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch on Watson Parkway, where they learned about the significance of the Juno landing, the toll it took on lives, and the impact it had on the outcome of World War II. Without the landing on the shores of Normandy, the war would not have ended in 1945.
Songs played an important part in the Remembering Juno commemoration. One song was mentioned in a story told by Pam Calvert of the Juno Beach Centre Association.
She said an amphibious troop carrier was filled with Canadians who were sea sick, heavily laden with backpacks, and scared. The seas were heavy, the weather terrible. One among them started belting out the Beer Barrel Polka (also known as Roll Out the Barrel), a song that was popular at the time. All the soldiers joined in with their biggest voices. By the time they neared the landing point their fear was lifted.
Local singer-songwriter Don Sawchuk played his original song My Home. It is based on the real-life story of a group of missionaries taken hostage in a foreign land. Some did not come home. In the song, the narrator, like a soldiers fighting abroad, longs to return to the simple pleasures and peace of home. Many were moved to tears.
D-Day, June 6, 1944 is one of the most significant days in the history of war, marking the beginning of the end of a war that destroyed most of Europe and killed tens of millions.
And while the Canadian involvement on Juno Beach may not be part of the daily consciousness of all Canadians, it most definitely is central to the lives of the people of Normandy and all of France, said people like Leslie Jamieson, who served as a youth guide at Juno Beach Centre in Normandy.
For the French, the D-Day landing means freedom from oppression, and its importance is never forgotten.
Jamieson gave a of lesson on Juno. The object of the landing and assault on German fortifications on the beach, she said, was to get as many soldiers on French soil as possible, and as quickly as possible. Planning was intense, she said. And the numbers were staggering: 150,000 soldiers were involved in the Normandy landing. A total of 359 Canadians died at Juno Beach on June 6, 1944.
“Just imagine that if you can,” Jamieson said. “Try to imagine it.”
The landing was fraught with difficulties. The weather was bad, the seas choppy. Only 15 percent of the fortifications on the beach were destroyed by aerial and naval bombing. Movement up the beaches was very slow and many soldiers died as a result.
“But somehow these brave Canadian men fought on and gained their positions,” she said.
Her time as a guide at Juno Beach Centre, she said, was extraordinary. She served there when she was just a bit younger than her grandfather when he landed on Juno.
“I was able to get this true sense of just how young they were, and that they had their whole lives before them,” she said, adding that the average age of the Canadian soldiers was about 21.
The significance of June 6 is fading from living memory, Jamieson said, as veterans of the war pass away. It is vital that the younger generation become inspired by the history of that time, and become inspired to make history themselves.
We live in scary and discouraging times, she added. But fear and oppression can be overcome if young people are united in an effort to confront the world’s problems and demand a better world.
Again, she asked the students to imagine a future time when they would look back on their lives and ask, “What did I do, what did I make sacrifices for, and did I make the world a better place?”
She encouraged the students to apply to serve at the centre in France, saying the wages are good, the food is cheap and superb, and the culture is outstanding.
Veteran Moe Ferris asked the students how many had shaken a veteran’s hand and thanked them for the sacrifices they made. Only a few raised their hands.
He said many veterans of war don’t talk about their experiences because they fear the horrors they have seen would not be believed. Nevertheless, he encouraged the students to ask a veteran what they have seen, and to learn from them. Knowing the realities of war is one step to preventing it, he suggested.
