Well, I was going to spend this week, the week of the 75th anniversary of D-Day (June 6, 1944), researching what my relatives experienced on and around D-Day. It was a lofty goal for just a week of research restricted to evenings after work (while putting in a fairly large vegetable garden!). So, it didn't go quite as I expected - instead, I got pulled into the compelling story of D-Day.
I did some research into established facts about D-day, looked at timelines and picture, getting a more and more detailed picture of what happened and decisions that were made. These can and have filled books and scholarly papers about just every aspect of D-Day.
Then I read an article in the Globe and Mail that talked about the 5 best books/films about D-Day. Top of the list was the movie "The Longest Day". I found that my local library had Blue Ray copies so went out over my lunch break to pick up a copy. Not only is this a movie about "The Longest Day", but it also seemed as if this was "The Longest Movie":-).
I looked at the movie over 2 evenings, while also following the D-Day remembrance events on TV on Day-Day-1 (i.e. June 5th, the day that British, US, and Canadian troops left England to cross the channel to invade the beaches of Normandy). The Queen and our Canadian Prime Minister, Justine Trudeau, attended and spoke at this remembrance event.
The following day, June 6th, I watched the touching remembrance event at Juno Beach which was the beach that the Canadian troops landed and fought the Germans that were waiting for them at fortifications along the beach. In total, 359 Canadian troops died that day.
I felt a lot of emotions as I read the news articles, brief histories, and watched the movie and TV coverage of D-Day. But the most touching for me, and which brought tears to my eyes, was watching as Canadian veterans in their 90s who had been sitting in wheelchairs struggle to stand up and salute as the last post was hauntingly played in honour of their fallen comrades on the very beach that these men had died.
After 75 years, these old soldiers still remembered the horrors and heroism of that day and still remembered and paid tribute to their fallen comrades. Having just watched the fairly good depiction of the landings in "The Longest Day", I tried to imagine what these veterans were thinking as they looked out at the sea and sand where they had landed on d-day 75 years ago.
So, what next? Well, I still intend to see what my dad was doing at that time. I know that he was stationed in India and took part in the Battle of Kohima and Imphal. Back to researching!
I did some research into established facts about D-day, looked at timelines and picture, getting a more and more detailed picture of what happened and decisions that were made. These can and have filled books and scholarly papers about just every aspect of D-Day.
Then I read an article in the Globe and Mail that talked about the 5 best books/films about D-Day. Top of the list was the movie "The Longest Day". I found that my local library had Blue Ray copies so went out over my lunch break to pick up a copy. Not only is this a movie about "The Longest Day", but it also seemed as if this was "The Longest Movie":-).
I looked at the movie over 2 evenings, while also following the D-Day remembrance events on TV on Day-Day-1 (i.e. June 5th, the day that British, US, and Canadian troops left England to cross the channel to invade the beaches of Normandy). The Queen and our Canadian Prime Minister, Justine Trudeau, attended and spoke at this remembrance event.
The following day, June 6th, I watched the touching remembrance event at Juno Beach which was the beach that the Canadian troops landed and fought the Germans that were waiting for them at fortifications along the beach. In total, 359 Canadian troops died that day.
I felt a lot of emotions as I read the news articles, brief histories, and watched the movie and TV coverage of D-Day. But the most touching for me, and which brought tears to my eyes, was watching as Canadian veterans in their 90s who had been sitting in wheelchairs struggle to stand up and salute as the last post was hauntingly played in honour of their fallen comrades on the very beach that these men had died.
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From June 6, 2019 Globe and Mail) GUILLAUME SOUVANT/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
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After 75 years, these old soldiers still remembered the horrors and heroism of that day and still remembered and paid tribute to their fallen comrades. Having just watched the fairly good depiction of the landings in "The Longest Day", I tried to imagine what these veterans were thinking as they looked out at the sea and sand where they had landed on d-day 75 years ago.
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| Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press (From CBC June 6, 2019) |
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