A crowd turned up at the Collingwood Cenotaph this morning to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day, a deadly day during the Second World War involving a concerted amphibious attack by allied troops on the shores of Normandy, France.
The ceremony, hosted by the Collingwood Legion, was similar to Remembrance Day cenotaph services, including the Last Post played on the trumpet by Rob Chambers, two minutes of silence, and bagpipe performances of Flowers of the Forest and Amazing Grace played by Al Wallace.
Lt. (N) Rev. Dr. Lesley Fox gave a blessing and reminded the crowd that D-Day and the whole Normandy campaign involved the work of millions of men and women from all the allied countries and from all Forces.
Lt. (Ret.) Gerard Buckley, who served in the Canadian Army in the 1970s and continues to be a member of the local Legion, shared some of the facts about Operation Overlord, which was the name given to the months-long invasion of Normandy by the Allied forces to liberate France from German occupation.
D-Day remains the largest amphibious landing in history involving more than 155,000 Allied soldiers. Canadian troops landed on Juno Beach, British troops landed at Gold Beach and Sword Beach with France, and US troops landed at Utah Beach and Omaha Beach.
On June 6, 1944, 450 members of the First Canadian Parachute Battalion jumped inland to begin engaging enemy troops. A few hours later, 14,000 Canadian troops came ashore Juno Beach with the mission to establish a foothold along the eight-kilometre coastline.
The battle left many thousands of people dead. On just the first day, 359 Canadian soldiers were killed. More than 5,000 Canadians died and 13,000 more were wounded during the two-and-a-half months of fighting in Normandy. Victory was declared in Europe on May 8, 1945.
In Collingwood this morning at 7:30 a.m. the service wrapped up the reciting of In Flanders Fields and the singing of O Canada.
In Normandy this morning, national leaders including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gathered at Juno Beach to mark the anniversary of D-Day. Russia was excluded from the invitation this year.
Trudeau was joined by France's Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales, as well as 13 Canadian veterans of the Second World War, including Collingwood resident Lt.-Gen (honourary) Richard Rohmer, a D-Day veteran.
