EvanL
06-06-2004, 01:41 PM
Sixty years ago today, Canadians like Tommy, Albert and George Westlake stormed the beaches of France, changing the course of history.
Tommy was a gifted athlete; Albert was known as something of a ladies' man; George, the youngest, was homesick for his bride back home in Canada. The three Westlake brothers, all in their 20s, and all born and raised in west-end Toronto, managed to survive D-Day, June 6, 1944.
But 1,074 Canadians were dead, injured or missing by the end of what has come to be known as "the longest day." Some drowned in the chest-high waters of the English Channel, others were mowed down as they stepped ashore on Juno Beach. In all, 340 died that terrible day. But Canada and its allies prevailed. It was the beginning of the end of a dark era.
The brothers' D-Day luck did not hold. George died on June 7, most likely in hand-to-hand combat in an orchard. Four days later, Tommy and Albert were killed in a wheat field by soldiers of an SS Panzer division.
It's people like the Westlakes world leaders will remember when they gather today in France to commemorate the 60th anniversary of D-Day. It will be the last big gathering of witnesses to that day.
The average age of Canada's World War II veterans is 82. We are losing our living links to this page of our history. As these brave soldiers pass on, it is important that we remember and honour the part they and other Canadians have played — and continue to play — in fiercely defending this nation and serving the world as peacekeepers.
Unlike other countries, we have been careless about our history, unenthusiastic about teaching it in our schools. Students should know about the role Canadians played in war, in part to honour veterans, and in part to understand that this country is capable of great things.
That's why it is gratifying that Canada at long last has a memorial in Normandy — the Juno Beach Centre, which opened only a year ago.
The museum, shaped as a maple leaf, is in Courseulles-sur-Mer, overlooking the beach stormed by the Canadians. It is hoped it will become a pilgrimage site for future generations, just as the Vimy Memorial built after World War I has become a sacred meeting spot for Canadians.
The Juno memorial grew from a grassroots effort: Veterans spearheaded the campaign, helped by pensioners sending in scarce dollars and schoolchildren collecting coins. Once again, as in World War II, ordinary Canadians rose to the occasion.
When the war began, this nation of fewer than 11 million people had no army or navy to speak of. But Canadians put more than a million men and women under arms, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with great powers like Britain and the United States.
Canadians were able to accomplish so much because we set aside our differences, thinking of ourselves not as Westerners or Easterners, or city and rural folk, or native-born or immigrants, but as Canadians.
The campaign for the Juno memorial came in 1994, after the 50th anniversary celebrations. How much the world has changed since. Ten years ago, security was tight, but not so overbearing as to prevent then prime minister Jean Chrétien from shrugging off his guards, to plunge into the crowd of veterans to shake hands.
This year, the D-Day event includes one of the biggest security exercises mounted in Europe since the war itself. Aircraft have patrolled the skies over France for months, and even aged veterans will face strict checks.
The world is once again haunted by evil men.
But like the Nazis, they will not prevail.
The young soldiers who survived on the Normandy beaches and returned home would return to a new and fast-changing Canada, where ancient hatreds had no place. Where people could speak different languages, worship in different ways yet live in peace.
Let us reflect, today, on the raw courage and self-sacrifice of those who fought tyranny so many years ago. Men like Tommy, Albert and George Westlake who lie beneath long rows of white crosses at the Canadian War Cemetery in Bény-sur-Mer.
And let us spare a thought for young Canadians who have followed them overseas, and who are serving their country today by keeping the peace, defending freedom and human rights, and battling terror.
Tommy was a gifted athlete; Albert was known as something of a ladies' man; George, the youngest, was homesick for his bride back home in Canada. The three Westlake brothers, all in their 20s, and all born and raised in west-end Toronto, managed to survive D-Day, June 6, 1944.
But 1,074 Canadians were dead, injured or missing by the end of what has come to be known as "the longest day." Some drowned in the chest-high waters of the English Channel, others were mowed down as they stepped ashore on Juno Beach. In all, 340 died that terrible day. But Canada and its allies prevailed. It was the beginning of the end of a dark era.
The brothers' D-Day luck did not hold. George died on June 7, most likely in hand-to-hand combat in an orchard. Four days later, Tommy and Albert were killed in a wheat field by soldiers of an SS Panzer division.
It's people like the Westlakes world leaders will remember when they gather today in France to commemorate the 60th anniversary of D-Day. It will be the last big gathering of witnesses to that day.
The average age of Canada's World War II veterans is 82. We are losing our living links to this page of our history. As these brave soldiers pass on, it is important that we remember and honour the part they and other Canadians have played — and continue to play — in fiercely defending this nation and serving the world as peacekeepers.
Unlike other countries, we have been careless about our history, unenthusiastic about teaching it in our schools. Students should know about the role Canadians played in war, in part to honour veterans, and in part to understand that this country is capable of great things.
That's why it is gratifying that Canada at long last has a memorial in Normandy — the Juno Beach Centre, which opened only a year ago.
The museum, shaped as a maple leaf, is in Courseulles-sur-Mer, overlooking the beach stormed by the Canadians. It is hoped it will become a pilgrimage site for future generations, just as the Vimy Memorial built after World War I has become a sacred meeting spot for Canadians.
The Juno memorial grew from a grassroots effort: Veterans spearheaded the campaign, helped by pensioners sending in scarce dollars and schoolchildren collecting coins. Once again, as in World War II, ordinary Canadians rose to the occasion.
When the war began, this nation of fewer than 11 million people had no army or navy to speak of. But Canadians put more than a million men and women under arms, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with great powers like Britain and the United States.
Canadians were able to accomplish so much because we set aside our differences, thinking of ourselves not as Westerners or Easterners, or city and rural folk, or native-born or immigrants, but as Canadians.
The campaign for the Juno memorial came in 1994, after the 50th anniversary celebrations. How much the world has changed since. Ten years ago, security was tight, but not so overbearing as to prevent then prime minister Jean Chrétien from shrugging off his guards, to plunge into the crowd of veterans to shake hands.
This year, the D-Day event includes one of the biggest security exercises mounted in Europe since the war itself. Aircraft have patrolled the skies over France for months, and even aged veterans will face strict checks.
The world is once again haunted by evil men.
But like the Nazis, they will not prevail.
The young soldiers who survived on the Normandy beaches and returned home would return to a new and fast-changing Canada, where ancient hatreds had no place. Where people could speak different languages, worship in different ways yet live in peace.
Let us reflect, today, on the raw courage and self-sacrifice of those who fought tyranny so many years ago. Men like Tommy, Albert and George Westlake who lie beneath long rows of white crosses at the Canadian War Cemetery in Bény-sur-Mer.
And let us spare a thought for young Canadians who have followed them overseas, and who are serving their country today by keeping the peace, defending freedom and human rights, and battling terror.