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75th Anniversary of D-Day

Rifleman62

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Does anyone have the tasking Order for this. What is the CF commitment? Is the Arty dedicating a new Memorial in Caen? Details?

The RWpgRif, an assaulting Bn in 1944, is only authorized one Rfn for the Guard of Honour (150 or less?)

VAC has not released any details re the Juno Beach events on 6 Jun.The International Ceremony is a separate event at 18:00. Timings subject to change for the two Cdn cemeteries are published.

Anyone else here going to Normandy?
 
hey. not going via military or cadets but going as a civvie in a pipe band. VAC had a area on their website to pre order E-tickets as you must order the tickets (free) in advance to attend the main ceremonies. They are realeasing more info via email for those going. Not sure if its too late to order e tickets. If you are going with VAC or the CF, you shouldn't have to worry about that, and the french authorities should be handling the background checks via your unit if you go with them. look forward to (potentially) seeing you there.
 
I know the yanks are big on honouring pairs of boots to commemorate their fallen, since when have we started doing the same?  Seems a bit.....hmmm.

https://globalnews.ca/news/5292352/d-day-75th-anniversary-ceremony-held-at-kingston-via-rail-station/

D-Day 75th anniversary ceremony held at Kingston VIA Rail station

June 6 will mark 75 years since the D-Day invasion was launched from Great Britain onto the shores of Normandy during the Second World War.  Canadian troops were responsible for capturing Juno beach and securing a foothold on continental Europe once again for the Allies. 

Veterans Affairs Canada, with the support of Via Rail, has started marking that day, and a ceremony was held at the Kingston Via Rail station Saturday.  Before Canadian soldiers landed on the shores of France, they first boarded trains across the country and rode them to Halifax to then sail across the Atlantic ocean.

In Kingston on Saturday, four soldiers carrying a pair of combat boots on a wooden platform were piped into the train station ceremony.  Veterans Affairs representative Robert Loken says the boots represent the transition from civilian life to military life.  “We’re somewhat re-enacting those departures at several train stations across the country,” Loken said.  In total, 14 pairs of boots will be transported to Halifax to be part of the D-Day ceremonies there in June.

Dr. Roly Armitage, 94, was one of thousands of men that made that voyage in preparation for the 1944 landing.  He arrived in Normandy 10 days after the initial D-Day attack.  “I was wounded on the Orn River, my officer was killed, Lt. Roy Pattenson, he’s buried in Beny- Sur-Mir,” said Armitage.  Armitage went on to help liberate the Netherlands and was involved in the final push into Germany.  He says the Kingston ceremony is emotional and an honour.

“All those things are a little choking,” he said. “I feel it was an honour being respected for what we did, I don’t like to dwell on that stuff.”

Several dozen residents, politicians, and military personnel from CFB Kingston attended the two-hour ceremony.  Base Commander Col. Kirk Gallinger was among them.  “It’s just that mark of respect to recognize their sacrifice and to learn from them their experiences and to just show the utmost respect we have for everything that they’ve done for their country,” Gallinger said.

Veterans Affairs Canada has also arranged for a fifteenth pair of combat boots to be sent to Juno for the commemoration ceremony in France.
 
Is it wrong that my first thought, upon reading this, was "where did VAC manage to find 15 pairs of boots?"
 
SeaKingTacco said:
Is it wrong that my first thought, upon reading this, was "where did VAC manage to find 15 pairs of boots?"

Is it wrong that it was my first thought as well? 
 
SeaKingTacco said:
Is it wrong that my first thought, upon reading this, was "where did VAC manage to find 15 pairs of boots?"
… of the same type, no less ...
 
I was wondering what the CF is doing.

I have been planning an Itinerary for a group of 12 for the last while. Leaving 27 May to 11 Jun. Up to date wrt VAC.

VAC e-registration to the three events have been closed for a couple of months. Once you get your confirmation of your registration you must wait for your e-ticket. This is the latest from VAC this morning:

This message is intended to provide you with important updates regarding the June 6th ceremony at the Juno Beach Centre including: 
• Accessing the ceremony site
• E-ticket distribution
• Restricted items on-site
• Ceremony details

ACCESSING THE CEREMONY SITE
The Normandy region is expecting more than 30,000 people at seven official ceremonies on June 6, 2019.  The safety and security of all ceremony participants is the top priority. For security reasons and to reduce traffic issues, the French government has announced a restricted traffic zone that will be in effect on June 6, 2019, from 06:00 until 23:00.  Late last week the French government released a map identifying this area of 800 km2, which affects 121 communities along the Normandy coast, from Bayeux and Caen, to Isigny-sur-Mer to Ouistreham. A copy of the map is attached for your information.

Due to these traffic restrictions, it will be impossible for ceremony participants to arrive at the Juno Beach Centre by private vehicle. There is absolutely no private parking available on the site.  Participants are required to access the site by one of the following options:

• Walk onto the site – This option is only available for those people who live within or who have secured accommodations within walking distance of the Juno Beach Centre.

• Public shuttle – This option is available for all those who do not live within walking distance of the site. The French government is providing shuttles to the ceremony site. The shuttles will leave from a hub in the city of Caen. While exact timings are still being confirmed with the French government, please plan to arrive at the shuttle hub in Caen as early as 05:00. The first wave of shuttles will be departing at 06:00. Details regarding the precise location of the shuttle hub and the exact timings will be sent to you with your e-ticket.

• Tour operator bus – This option is available for those individuals who are part of a bus tour group. You will not take a public shuttle. We are working with the French government to finalize a plan for tour operator buses to arrive at the ceremony site. Your tour operator will be contacted directly with the transportation plan and will provide tour participants with the required information.

Important note for those individuals living or staying in accommodations within the restricted traffic zone but not within walking distance to the Juno Beach Centre:
If you are driving to the shuttle hub in Caen, you will require a sticker for your vehicle to re-enter the restricted traffic zone following the ceremony. You must request the sticker at the local town hall.

E-TICKETS
The Government of Canada will be issuing tickets electronically for this event. As required by the French government, all participants must be security cleared to access the ceremony. As these clearances are still being completed by the French government, tickets have not yet been issued. Along with your individual e-ticket, you will also be provided with important information and instructions for June 6. Please take the time to read this information closely.

E-tickets can be printed or displayed on a smart phone. The Government of Canada will have a location in Caen, Normandy, between June 2 and 5 where you can print your e-ticket if you so choose. Details of this location will be provided to you when the e-tickets are issued.
 
While not Canadian, I though this would be interesting:

Rare Color Footage Brings D-Day Memories Alive, 75 Years On

WASHINGTON (AP) — Seventy-five years ago, Hollywood director George Stevens stood on the deck of the HMS Belfast to film the start of the D-Day invasion.

The resulting black-and-white films — following Allied troops through Normandy, the liberation of Paris, Battle of the Bulge, the horror of the Dachau concentration camp — form the basis of Americans’ historical memory of World War II, and were even used as evidence in Nazi war crimes trials.

But the director was also shooting 16-millimeter color film for himself of the same events, creating a kind of personal video journal of his experiences.

As veterans and world leaders prepare to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day next week, Stevens’ surprising color images bring an immediacy to wartime memories, a powerful reminder of the war’s impact and its heros as those who witnessed the war are dying out .

“You’ve seen it in black and white. And when you see it in color, all of a sudden it feels like today,” his son George Stevens Jr. said in an interview. “It doesn’t seem like yesterday. And it has a much more modern and authentic feeling to it.”

Follow the link and see the images.
 
Rifleman62 said:
I was wondering what the CF is doing.

I have been planning an Itinerary for a group of 12 for the last while. Leaving 27 May to 11 Jun. Up to date wrt VAC.

VAC e-registration to the three events have been closed for a couple of months. Once you get your confirmation of your registration you must wait for your e-ticket. This is the latest from VAC this morning:

Why not rent a landing craft and arrive like they did on the big day? It would be the (crazy) Canadian thing to do, of course :)
 
D-Day’s landscape in 1944, and today
Warships, bombers, rubble, refugees. That was the Normandy landscape of 1944, as Allied forces fought to wrest France from Nazi control.

Today, the region’s towns and beaches are startingly calm, as still-grateful residents prepare to welcome veterans commemorating 75 years since D-Day.

The Associated Press’ Thibault Camus revisited the beaches and damaged villages that symbolize the Allied struggle.
...
Pics of then and now at link.
 
Colin P said:
borrowed them from the Cadets.

On a related note, the local surplus store was closing and had an unused pair of Mk IIIs (Grebs) for $85, before the 20% discount.  They were my size (not a common one) but were E width vice my D width.  I very nearly still bought them  :'(
 
75 years ago on this day, at about 23h00 local time England, a few hundred small vessels left England./ They would toil in obscurity, literally and figuratively, for the next feverish 9 hours. They would end up experiencing the highest casualty rate of all naval units involved in Operation Neptune (the naval part of Overlord), even including the landing crafts.

What else could you expect when your very orders include a clear statement that "under no circumstances are you to allow your ship to sink in the swept channel".

So, yes, do reflect on and celebrate the accomplishment of the Armies that landed in France on the 6th of June of that critical year, but spare a thought for the unsung heroes of the Mine Sweeping fleet that opened the way - with no cover or protection - under the guns of Germany, and without whom, the landing could likely not even have been attempted.
 
Oldgateboatdriver said:
75 years ago on this day, at about 23h00 local time England, a few hundred small vessels left England./ They would toil in obscurity, literally and figuratively, for the next feverish 9 hours. They would end up experiencing the highest casualty rate of all naval units involved in Operation Neptune (the naval part of Overlord), even including the landing crafts.

What else could you expect when your very orders include a clear statement that "under no circumstances are you to allow your ship to sink in the swept channel".

So, yes, do reflect on and celebrate the accomplishment of the Armies that landed in France on the 6th of June of that critical year, but spare a thought for the unsung heroes of the Mine Sweeping fleet that opened the way - with no cover or protection - under the guns of Germany, and without whom, the landing could likely not even have been attempted.
:ditto:
 
Oldgateboatdriver said:
75 years ago on this day, at about 23h00 local time England, a few hundred small vessels left England./ They would toil in obscurity, literally and figuratively, for the next feverish 9 hours. They would end up experiencing the highest casualty rate of all naval units involved in Operation Neptune (the naval part of Overlord), even including the landing crafts.

What else could you expect when your very orders include a clear statement that "under no circumstances are you to allow your ship to sink in the swept channel".

So, yes, do reflect on and celebrate the accomplishment of the Armies that landed in France on the 6th of June of that critical year, but spare a thought for the unsung heroes of the Mine Sweeping fleet that opened the way - with no cover or protection - under the guns of Germany, and without whom, the landing could likely not even have been attempted.

Mind if I share this on social media?
 
Be my guest. I don't claim any ownership to my posts and people are free to repeat them as they see fit.
 
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