Canadians at D-Day
 

So.. 60 year aniversary of D-Day, the beginning of the liberation of Normandy and beyond..

First a history lesson

On June 6th 1944 Canadian troops under Canadian command landed as a part of the co ordinated assault on Nazi strongholds across the coast. The force was fourteen thousand strong and consisted of the pride of the Canadian military. Members of The Toronto Queen's own Rifles, the First Hussars, the Camerons, the Airborne, the Winnipeg Rifles and many others landed. Three hundred and forty never left the beach and five hundred and seventy four were wounded. It was said that "At the end of the day, its forward elements stood deeper into France than those of any other division. The opposition the Canadians faced was stronger than that of any other beach save Omaha. That was an accomplishment in which the whole nation could take considerable pride." link

Now.. As Canadians, I'd love to hear your thoughts.. Everyone should know what happened there, everyone should remember it..

I agree with you. The say Canada officially became a nation at WW1 and therefore you could say Canada became an adult or matured during WW2.

I have read translated reports from German officers that stated that they thought Canadians were the toughest soldiers out of all the allies. The U.S. had such large numbers, they could afford to lose a lot while Canada had to be a little smarter, tougher, better to survive.

I am always proud to be a Canadian, especially when I travel to Europe. (Especially in Holland...holy moly they love us there)

I hope we never forget what our grandfathers and even our grandmothers did for us.

Last night Don Cherry mentioned that every single Canadian at Juno beach (not to mention the rest of the war) was a volunteer. I'd heard that before but I think it's important to remember, no one was drafted, those young Canadians were the real heros.

---Salute---

That is important to remember.. As well, our position put us up against the 12th SS, Germany's best armed and most experienced units. Led by a bastard named Kurt Meyer, they struck and struck and struck at the Canadian regiment to no avail. He made the mistake of executing a large group of Canadian POWs.. We knew it was death if we failed, with no quarter..

Canada and Canadians rule, even with all the politics the scandles the beef crisis and so on that have caused Canada problems I continue to be proud and grateful that I live here. Actions by many brave Canadians of which the men at D Day are a shineing example have built our country into a place that I consider the best in the world. It is a country I would be proud and honered to fight and die for.... but im insane so the military wont accept me ahahahaha o well.

I'm very proud to be canadian... Especially when I hear about Americans sewing canadian flags to their packs so they are treated better :D it makes me beam

D-Day... what can I say, besides I cannot even imagine what they went through, and if I stop to think about it, I am very grateful for the sacrifices they made so we can enjoy the freedom and prosperity we have today.

Excuse my ignorance, but I don't remember the 50th anniversery being celebrated as much as the 60th anniversery. Why is that? Or maybe it was, let me know.

Then again, 10 years ago I was 15 and my only concern back then was trying to get to the next level of what ever Nintendo game I had back then.

I so burned an American friend of mine how said he did that.

"Man, that's so dishonest, it reminds me of Bush."

;)

(he's a left-wing American, so I hit him where it hurts. For a right-wing American, use Clinton.)

Every one of those kids are Heroes. I hope we never let ourselves forget the sacrifice they made.

Every WWII memorial service, I am reminded how proud I really am to be Canadian, and to know our countryman fought so strongly, bravely and seflessly fo r our freedom.

Thank you so much...

I wouldn't say that they fought for our freedom. But I am proud that they were willing to lay their life on the line to liberate others from oppression. It is one thing to defend your own interests, it is entirely another to go out and defend someone else in need.

Although it's true they were fighting to liberate others, they ultimately fought for our freedom as well -- if the Allies had not won that war, who knows what would have happened? The world definitely wouldn't be the same, and we probably wouldn't be enjoying our freedom today...

It's pretty easy to imagine what the world would be like if the Allies had lost Europe.. Britain would have fallen, and with the Atlantic filled with U-Boat Wolf Packs.. we would have been hard pressed to ever push the Nazi's back..

thankfully there were brave people at the time willing to step up

First world war:
The battle of vimy ridge.

In the Battle of Vimy ridge, Canadians changed a war of yards to one of miles.

At Ypres, Canadians faced the first ever use of Chlorine gas in warfare.

It was also the first time colonial troops pushed back continental troops on European soil.

Vimy Ridge and Ypres are two of the reasons that Canada started the war as a Dominion in the British Empire, and ended the war as a signatory to the peace treaty.

Another description of Juno Beach.

(and more under link)

I'm so much more aware of how proud I am to be Canadian when I'm reminded of the amazing contributions this great nation has made to the world.

I was up at 3am to watch the ceremony live but I think it was the least I could do to give my many thanks to all those brave souls who willingly gave their lives for freedom.

We should hope that we never have to face such brutality again, let their lives not be in vain, learn from the mistakes of the past and let them remain just that.