#69 – June 2009
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WEB WATCH: D DAY: 65 TH ANNIVERSARY
The “day that turned the war” was June 6, 1944: D Day. On this day, 65 years ago, “Operation Overlord was launched. This was the Allied campaign to retake Nazi-occupied Europe, and it literally turned the tide of World War II.
D Day and the Battle of Normandy will be remembered this year with special 65th anniversary celebrations in Europe. Stratford’s Len Wilson, a WW II RCAF pilot serving in Normandy with Squadron 442, will be there.
Visit the web sites listed below for more information about Squadron 442, D Day, the Battle of Normandy and the Normandy Campaign, and the Italian Campaign (in which the Perth Regiment was engaged at the time of the Normandy Campaign).
The Royal Canadian Air Force: Squadron 442 and Mustang Fighter Planes
The history of the RCAF’s use of Mustang fighter planes and a brief history of Len Wilson’s squadron, Squadron 442, is included on the RCAF web site. Scroll down to “Enemy Aircraft destroyed by RCAF Mustangs”, where Mr. Wilson’s name is listed (as “L.H. Wilson”), along with that of R. Robillard. For more details about Squadron 442, please visit http://www.rcaf.com/squadrons/400series/442squadron.php.The History Channel: D Day
An excellent summary of D Day (“Operation Overlord”) – the planning, its operation by sea and land and in the air, and the results – is available on the History Channel web site. From May 31 to June 6, the History Channel will carry a special series of commemorative programs to mark the D Day anniversary, observing not only the glory and drama of the event, but also the “tragic reality of the immense loss of life”. Under “Related Links”, be sure to click on the Interactive D Day Map.
D Day and Operation Overlord
Created as a memorial web site to those who organized and participated in Operation Overlord, DDay-Overlord.com includes the many D Day commemorations and events happening in Normandy in 2009, information and pictures of D Day, and a virtual tour of Normandy today – showing the landing beaches, drop zones, German batteries and military cemeteries.
Juno Beach Centre
The Juno Beach Centre in Normandy is a Canadian museum and cultural centre. Opened in 2003, it commemorates the war efforts of Canadian men and women in the Second World War, both at the war and the home front. The location of the Juno Beach landing site has been designated as a site of national historic significance to Canada.
Animated Map of Operation Overlord
An animated map traces Operation Overlord, beginning with the landing of the Allied troops on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944, and progressing eastward and southward into France as the Allies were finally able to liberate Paris at the end of August. Operation Overlord involved almost 3 million troops and was probably the most difficult, complicated military operation ever launched; however, it marked the beginning of Western Europe’s liberation from Nazi Germany.
A Normandy Memoire
Watch a short video which traces the events of D Day and the savage, but decisive, 85-day Normandy Campaign, in which Canadian, American and British troops secured the liberation of Normandy, thus opening the route to Paris, France.
Movie: D Day
The preparations and events of D Day are captured here in BBC’s movie of that famous and eventful day.
From Juno Beach ....
This Historica “Minute” depicts musician Johnny Lombardi entertaining Canadian troops at Juno Beach with his version of a popular Canadian song (I’ll Never Smile Again”), on the eve of D Day. Lombardi was there to boost the soldiers’ morale. “Juno” was the code name given to one of the Normandy beaches to be invaded on D Day; the Canadians were given the responsibility for taking this beach.
The Canadians in Italy
Not all of the Canadian troops fighting in WWII were at D Day and the battles in Normandy. Some, such as the Perth Regiment (from Perth County, Ontario), were in Italy, where they had been engaged in some of the most bitter fighting of the war, especially in the mountains and valleys in the Moro River area, and in villages such as Ortona. The Veterans Affairs Canada web site offers an excellent summary of Canada ’s participation in the Italian Campaign.
HINT: Stafford Johnston’s 1964 book (reprinted in 1985), The Fighting Perths: The Story of the First Century in the Life of a Canadian County Regiment, offers a wealth of information about the history of the Perth Regiment, which was originally founded in 1866 as the 28th Perth Battalion of Infantry. The book recounts the Regiment’s participation in the WW II Italian Campaign as an infantry battalion in the 5th Canadian Armoured Division in Italy and in Northwestern Europe. (The Regiment moved to the Belgium war front in January 1945.)
Stan’s Page
WW2 infantryman Stanley Scislowski served in the Italian Campaign with the Perth Regiment and the 5th Canadian Armoured Division. Some of his memories of that campaign and of World War 2 have been recorded here, on “Stan’s Page”. (For more of Stan’s stories, read his book, Not All of Us Were Brave, found in the library at 940.54215 Sci.)