The short clip of film below was shot by Sgt. Bill Grant of the Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit. It shows infantrymen of the North Shore Regiment from New Brunswick landing at Juno Beach, and is some of the only surviving film footage of the Normandy beach landings.
Today is the 70th anniversary of D-Day. On June 6, 1944, an allied force of British, American, and Canadian troops landed on five beaches of Normandy, and embarked upon the invasion which was the beginning of the end for the war in Europe. The beach assigned to the Canadian divisions was Juno, and it was a tough one. Bad weather and rough seas made landing difficult, and when the soldiers did disembark, they encountered some of the heaviest German resistance of the day. Only on Omaha Beach, where the Americans landed, was the German resistance fiercer. Of the Commonwealth forces, the Canadians sustained the highest ratio of casualties that day. Despite this, their training and preparation prevailed: they took the beach, and ended the day having pushed further inland than any other Allied divisions. The short clip of film below was shot by Sgt. Bill Grant of the Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit. It shows infantrymen of the North Shore Regiment from New Brunswick landing at Juno Beach, and is some of the only surviving film footage of the Normandy beach landings. Today, many of the ever-dwindling number of men who fought on the beaches that day have returned to the shores of Normandy on a pilgrimage of remembrance. No words uttered by the dignitaries at the commemorative events- and certainly nothing written by me- can express the magnitude of the debt we owe them and their fallen comrades. Below is a picture of a cemetery where many of the Canadians killed on Juno Beach are buried. Take some time today to recall the cost of our freedom.
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