Remembrance Day: A time to honour and remember Canada's war dead

[Ropey]

Remembrance Day: A time to honour and remember Canada's war dead

- From big cities to small villages, Canadians of all ages gather today amid the mournful skirl of bagpipes and tears to honour the country's war dead.

Ottawa will be home to the most elaborate Remembrance Day ceremony, where Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Governor-General David Johnston will lay wreaths at the National War Memorial.

One ceremony was held early today at Kandahar Airfield — the first such service there since the end of Canada's combat mission in Afghanistan.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay read aloud the names of the Canadian casualties as poppies were placed on each black marble plaque on the cenotaph. Flags were lowered and wreaths were laid in honour of the 158 Canadian military personnel who died during the Afghan mission.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGVmOS9yM6M]Original WW1 Battle Footage Passchendaele 1917 Pont des Arts[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYh4US7lwJ8]Brothers in Arms[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ty0vUYduxAc]D-Day Canadians[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l6KhHROT_s]Canadians Liberate Holland[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1H-t24uy4Q]Canada In The Netherlands[/ame]



[/CENTER]

 

[Ropey]

In Flanders Fields, the First World War poem penned by Canadian field surgeon Lt.-Col. John McCrae, remains this country's literary standard for Remembrance ...

 

[Ropey]

Remembrance Day, 1944

Broadcast Date: Nov. 11, 1944
“Some must die so that others may live.” Winston Churchill.
By 2002, about 116,780 Canadians have died in war and peacekeeping missions around the world. Remembrance Day honours the men and women who have given the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
In this 1944 CBC Radio clip, war correspondent Matthew Halton evokes the “dead and the damned battalions,” reflects that “there'll be mad dogs again in the future,” and urges listeners “this time, let's not break faith.”

Remembrance Day, 1944 - CBC Archives

The battle for Carpiquet

Broadcast Date: July 5, 1944
It's two minutes to five in Normandy. Sitting with a company of Western Canadian machine gunners in a stone barn, the CBC's Matthew Halton begins his countdown. At five o'clock, the Canadians will attack the German-occupied industrial suburb of Carpiquet — a key piece of territory needed to win the Normandy invasion. It will be, Halton describes, the most enormous concentration of fire ever put down on a small object.

Halton reports on the attack in what has become his trademark poetic style, vividly describing the barrage of bullets and bursting shells. With his engineer, he captures every sound in the spectacular and successful battle. "This is the morning we waited for," Halton describes to Canadian listeners back home. "A morning in France, a morning in which the fair fields in Normandy are torn and ripped and split apart."

The battle for Carpiquet - CBC Archives

 

[Ropey]

Omens in the sky

Broadcast Date: June 4, 1944
They don't know where and they don't know when, but Britons know something big is coming. The Second World War has been raging across Europe for almost five years as the Allied forces battle to repel Adolf Hitler's invading German troops. Now, in early June of 1944, rumours in England hint that a concentrated Allied attack is looming. The "mind-filling roar" of warplanes overhead is such that CBC war reporter A.E. Powley wonders: has it started?

In his dispatch from London, Powley notes the "acute sense of imminence" about the coming operations in western Europe. Nobody seems keen to talk about the impending invasion, and it's not clear whether that's due to nervousness or nonchalance. But everyone is aware they're on the "extreme edge of tremendous events," and the only question is just when "it" is going to happen.

D-Day: Canadians Target Juno Beach | CBC Archives

 

[Ropey]

'All right boys, we'll go'

Broadcast Date: May 24, 1964
The Canadians were all but annihilated at Dieppe in August 1942. Of an attacking force of 4,963, 907 men were killed, 586 wounded and 1,946 taken prisoner. But Canadian General H.D.G. Crerar says D-Day would have been a disaster were it not for the lessons of Dieppe. Among those lessons: don't assault a fortified fort; rather, attack on the beaches, give infantry support and plan it all down to the last hand grenade.

For all the planning, the weather nearly scuppered everything. Originally set for June 5 when tide conditions were ideal, D-Day was postponed a day due to rough weather. Things weren't much better 24 hours later, but the Supreme Allied Commander, U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, pushed ahead. In this 20th anniversary CBC TV documentary, English General Sir Bernard Montgomery, commander of the land invasion, remembers Eisenhower's words: "All right boys, we'll go."

Dieppe

 

[Ropey]

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Storming the enemy beaches

Broadcast Date: June 6, 1944
"The dagger pointed at the heart of Berlin has been driven into the side of Nazi Europe." It's a dramatic start for CBC newsreader Earl Cameron, but this isn't an everyday war report. D-Day has arrived, and British, American and Canadian forces have wrought their full military might on the French coast. By sea, from the air, and across the beaches, the Allies have attacked enemy positions to gain a foothold in Europe.

As the landing starts, it's not known which Canadian troops are involved, or how many. There's word beach landings were purely Canadian in some sections, and that Canadians have reached the city of Caen and are fighting there. The report repeats Canadian General H.D.G. Crerar's charge to his troops: "As Canadians we inherit military characteristics which were feared by the enemy in the last Great War. They will be still more feared before this war terminates."

Cameron reports that news of the successful invasion met with jubilation in Parliament. Members of the House of Commons thumped their desks, clapped, and later sang a round of the French national anthem followed by God Save the King. The update wraps by paraphrasing the day's broadcast by King George VI himself: "This time the challenge was not to fight to survive, but to fight to win the final victory for the good cause."

Storming the Beaches

 

[syrenn]

 

[arash010]

thanks for sharing i really like your post

 

[strollingbones]

the us should never forget or downplay the role canada has had and has played in the defense of this country.....

for always having our backs...i thank you....

 

[MaryL]

Americans secretly love Canadians. We might sound like cynical asses sometimes. We are glad you are there. A heartfelt thank you to Canadian Veterans out there. God Bless!

 

[Ringel05]

Our first Special Forces was a combined US, Canadian Brigade commonly known as the Devil's Brigade.

Canada at War

 

[Sunni Man]

Fact

Canada has never fought or won a war on her own.

 

[The Infidel]

Fact

Canada has never fought or won a war on her own.

Dumb post....


Has America done it alone?
I think we have always needed allies as well



Thanks for the reminder Ropey

 

[BruSan]

Fact

Canada has never fought or won a war on her own.

Well there was that one little fracas of 1812 but Canada wasn't technicly Canda yet.