From CBC:
“Postcards from Juno Beach dispatched
75 years later in memory of fallen Canadian soldiers”
On the morning of June 6, 1944,
Fred Barnard and one of his younger brothers, Donald, were together on the same
assault landing craft, bracing themselves for the attack on Juno Beach in
France. Both were members of the Queen's Own Rifles, a primary army reserve
infantry regiment based out of Toronto, with Fred holding the rank of corporal
and Donald a rifleman at the time. Moments before disembarking into the choppy
waters with their platoon, Fred said: "Give 'em hell, Don." It was
the last time Fred ever spoke with his little brother. Once Fred reached the
shore, he found Donald lying dead on his back. It seemed clear to him that his
brother had been killed instantly by enemy fire. But with a crucial objective
for the Allied forces at stake, Fred had to carry on with the mission. He
couldn't stop for anything. "I was his brother, and it was something to
see him," Fred said. "He never made it to the wall." Donald was
one of 359 Canadians killed on the first day of the invasion of Normandy, known
as D-Day — a military campaign that has gone down in history as the beginning
of the end of the Second World War. Another 544 Canadians were killed over the
next four days of intense fighting in France. To commemorate their sacrifice,
the Juno Beach Centre Association (JBCA), a charity based in Burlington. Ont.,
that operates a museum and cultural centre in Normandy devoted to Canada's
Second World War history, has sent postcards to the last known Canadian
addresses of the fallen soldiers.
Linking past to present
The postcards were mailed from
Toronto at the beginning of May. The front of each postcard shows a collage of
images from the landing. On the back is information about the soldier who used
to live at the address, including age, regiment, rank and a few details about
the soldier's death on the battlefield in France. The back of the postcard
lists information about the soldier who used to live at the address the
postcard is mailed to, including age, regiment, rank and details of his death
on the battlefield. (Laura Clementson/CBC) It's a way to link the past and
present and commemorate the soldiers, said Lisa Murray, a JBCA volunteer in
Toronto who organized the project. Her hope is that people will be inspired to
learn about the soldier who once lived at their address and to share their
thoughts about receiving the postcard with the JBCA and on social media. "We
thought this is a way to sort of have this as a living memory and to honour
them," she said. In a sense, the cards represent the postcards that the
soldiers never had an opportunity to send home, she said.
Hundreds of postcards across
Canada
With changing landscapes and
re-development over the past 75 years, not all 903 homes are still standing. A
total of 356 postcards found their way to homes across the country — with some
receiving more than one. A home on Sutherland Avenue in Toronto's east end
received Donald's postcard. The homeowner would have learned that Donald was a
rifleman and was 20 years old when he died. He was buried at Bény-sur-Mer, a
Canadian war cemetery in Reviers, France. The Barnard brothers lived at the
house on Sutherland Avenue before they enlisted. When shown a photo of what the
house looks like now, Fred noticed that it's much bigger, with the addition of
a second floor.
'We were one'
One of his fondest memories
growing up on the street was watching the 10:15 p.m. train at Victoria Park and
Danforth Ave. "That was our fun for the night." Fred said he and
Donald hung out with different groups of friends when they were kids. "But
when we got in the army, we were one." Shortly after returning to Canada
in 1945, Fred bought the property next to his parents on Sutherland and built a
home where he raised his family. Fred, who at 98 is the oldest surviving D-Day
veteran of the Queen's Own Rifles, now lives in Uxbridge Ont., about 70 km
northeast of Toronto, with his daughter, Donna, and two golden retrievers — one
fittingly named Juno. He also has a son, Donald. Both children were named in
honour of his late brother. When Fred saw the image on the front of the
postcard depicting lots of action on the beach, his first thought was that it
must have been taken after he and his platoon arrived. "There was nobody
... we were the first ones in as far as I'm concerned," he said. "The
first bunch."
'Dad never talked'
Donna Barnard says her father
didn't talk much about her uncle growing up. "We sort of were told that we
had another uncle who was killed in the war, but my dad never talked about
anything to do with the war," she said. It's only been in the past 15
years or so that she began to learn the odd detail about her family's
involvement in the war. Slowly, Fred started to open up not only to her but to
others, happy to share his story for the postcard project. "It gives me a
warm feeling that they're remembering them all in the hope that all Canadians
will learn this, and understand what really happened out there, how many young
men we really did lose," Donna said of the initiative.
D-Day vet 'walked the same
floorboards'
Susan Wilson of Toronto initially
thought she had received junk mail when a postcard arrived in the mail. But
when she realized that it was about Arthur Bray Barret, a 25-year-old private
with the North Nova Scotia Highlanders, she says she was "quite
stunned." "It was very moving that this young man was brought to my
attention," she said. Wilson, 71, says the postcard resonates with her
because she, too, had family members in the war. The Juno postcards are just
the beginning of the Juno Beach Centre Association's larger initiative to
commemorate soldiers who were killed in action during the Second World War. They'll
be sending out more postcards marking other Canadian milestones that occurred
between D-Day and the end of the war in May 1945. As for Fred Barnard, he's a
local hero in Uxbridge. To honour him and his brother, the community is hosting
a parade on June 6 that will start from Fred's front lawn.
^ This is an interesting and
informative way to both honor the men and women who fought (and died) for their
country as well as teaching people who never served about their local and
national history. ^
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.