Canadians mark 80th anniversary of D-Day

The sun shines on the beaches of Normandy on Thursday morning as Canada commemorates the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Courcelles-sur-Mer, France.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and Prince William were among the guests who visited Juno Beach, where flags emblazoned with maple leaves fluttered in the breeze.

Standing in the front row of thousands of people were 13 Canadian veterans in military uniforms, the oldest of whom was 104 years old. They had experienced the war on the same beach decades ago and still survived.

In his speech, Trudeau told them, noting Canada’s vital role in the Allied effort: “There are no words to describe the tremendous debt we owe you.”

Behind me, the English Channel was calm, a naval ship was anchored offshore, and the sand dunes were covered with wild roses and other flowers.

Against this calm backdrop, Trudeau sounded a warning.

“Our way of life did not come about by accident, and it will not continue to exist without effort,” he said.

“Democracy remains threatened today. It is threatened by aggressors who want to redraw borders. It is threatened by demagoguery, misinformation, disinformation and foreign interference.”

He said the world should be grateful to the veterans who made great sacrifices for our collective freedom and who continue to defend democracy every day.

In his own speech, the French prime minister warned that the world must not surrender.

On that fateful day 80 years ago, some 160,000 Allied troops landed on the beaches, beginning an operation still remembered as the end of World War II.

In total, 4,414 Allied soldiers died on the first day of the invasion, including 381 Canadians.

June 6th had just marked the beginning of the 77-day Normandy Campaign and the Allied liberation of France.

Prince William said in a speech at the ceremony that this was the most ambitious operation in military history.

“We paid a heavy price,” he said.

Ultimately, casualties were heavy: 73,000 Allied soldiers were killed and 153,000 wounded. About 20,000 French civilians also died, many of them in Allied bombings of French villages and cities.

Historians estimate that around 22,000 German soldiers are buried around Normandy, with between 4,000 and 9,000 killed, wounded or missing during the Normandy landings alone.

The area’s cemetery is also the final resting place of more than 5,000 Canadians, including 359 who died in the Normandy Landings.

After observing a minute’s silence for the fallen, Trudeau, Attal and Prince William walked to the sand dunes and laid wreaths of memorial.

The event featured performances by several Canadian artists, culminating with a performance by The Trews, with a Canadian veteran wiping away tears as they sang “Hero’s Road.”

After the ceremony, the two leaders and the prince spent several minutes talking to each Canadian veteran, crouching or bending over them and shaking their hands.

Charles Davis, a veteran living in Windsor, Ontario, asked to speak with William.

William asked him what role he played in the Normandy landings, but he didn’t hear clearly, so his family repeated the question.

“What did I do when I got to the beach? I left straight away,” said Davis. William and everyone around them had a good laugh on the solemn day, and Davis presented the prince with a coat of arms for the city of Windsor.

Veterans walked to the beach with their families and companions, allowing the crowd to enjoy a moment of silence on the shore.

In the afternoon, during a larger ceremony on Omaha Beach, French President Emmanuel Macron greeted Trudeau and other dignitaries as planes flew overhead.

As live footage of the veterans taking their seats was played on the big screen, thousands of spectators stood up several times to salute the veterans.

The audience applauded as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived. The Ukrainian leader embraced Trudeau and the two spoke briefly.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 6, 2024.

This is a corrected story. A previous version incorrectly referred to French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal as the president and incorrectly referred to the body of water as the Mediterranean Sea.