Canadian veteran Charles Davis plans to visit the grave of his army buddy when he commemorates the anniversary of D-Day.David Godichaud/The Globe and Mail
Charles Davis has been to Juno Beach five times to commemorate the anniversary of D-Day, and on each visit he has made a point of stopping by the grave of his buddy William Pike.
They met during army training in 1944 and were among the thousands of soldiers who landed on the beach at Normandy four days after the initial assault on June 6, 1944. Mr. Davis and Mr. Pike, both in their early 20s, were responsible for hauling ammunition to support the Allied advance and spent much of the first few days taking cover from relentless German shelling.
“I was with him in the morning, and in the afternoon he got killed,” Mr. Davis, 101, recalled Tuesday as tears welled up in his eyes. “He was just one hell of a fine man.”
He plans to visit the grave again this week and will do what he always does. “I just meditate a bit and say, ‘I hope you are in a better life.’”
He’s among about a dozen Canadian veterans who have come to France for a series of events to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day and the ensuing Battle of Normandy.
On Thursday, leaders from more than a dozen countries – including U.S. President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – will gather at Omaha Beach to honour the men who landed there and at other points along the Normandy coast eight decades ago to start the liberation of Europe. King Charles is also expected to attend the ceremony along with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The D-Day landing was the largest amphibious military operation ever undertaken at the time. It involved nearly 160,000 troops from Britain, the United States and Canada, as well as 10,000 trucks and 7,000 ships. The Allied forces landed on five beaches code-named Utah, Omaha, Gold, Sword and Juno, where the Canadian contingent of some 14,000 soldiers was concentrated.
Almost 400 Canadian soldiers died on June 6, and another 5,000 were killed as the Allies pushed toward Paris, which was liberated on Aug. 24, 1944.
Among those who witnessed the devastation was William Seifried, then just 19 years old.
William Seifried trained as an artilleryman to operate heavy guns to provide cover to advancing troops. He arrived in England to be told he would be in the infantry.David Godichaud/The Globe and Mail
Mr. Seifried, 99, who has travelled to France as part of the veterans delegation, enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces in 1943, the month after he became eligible.
“When we got to England, a major told us, ‘I’ve got news for you, boys. As of right now, you’re all infantry.’ We were shocked,” said Mr. Seifried, who had trained as an artilleryman to operate heavy guns to provide cover to advancing troops; as infantry, he would be much closer to combat than expected.
Soon after, he was sent to France with the Royal Regina Rifles as part of the Allies’ push to make up for the major casualties on D-Day.
He became tearful Tuesday when he recalled being asked by a lieutenant to count how many Canadians had been killed during a day of hard fighting. Under the cover of darkness, he searched the battle area for the bodies of fallen Canadians.
“By the time I got back, I had counted 25,” Mr. Seifried said. He took a shaky breath and looked at his hands, gripping his cane. “Twenty-five, just from our small group.”
But he said he knows those sacrifices are still being remembered. Last year, he received a letter from an 11-year-old girl from the Netherlands who lives in an area he helped liberate in 1945 from German occupation.
“It shows you how much they appreciate it,” he said. “They still remember us.”
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Mr. Trudeau and the Prince of Wales will attend a special ceremony on the morning of June 6 to honour Canada’s war dead. The event will take place at the Juno Beach Centre at Courseulles-sur-Mer, and the delegation is also expected to visit a nearby war cemetery for Canadian soldiers.
There are about 20,000 Canadian veterans of the Second World War, and most are well into their 90s. “It’s a passing of a generation, and the passing of the time that I think we all need to mark and honour,” said Bruce Julian, dominion president of the Royal Canadian Legion.
This week’s commemorations are “tremendously emotional for these guys,” Mr. Julian added. “It’s your family away from home. And when you lose members of your regiment, you’re losing your family.”
Toronto-born John Preece enlisted just as the Canadian army was reeling at the losses from D-Day.David Godichaud/The Globe and Mail
Among the veterans is Toronto-born John Preece, 97, who fought in Northern Europe in 1945.
Eighty years ago, Mr. Preece enlisted just as the Canadian army was reeling at the losses from D-Day. He was sent to war with the Royal Regiment of Canada.
In early 1945, when he first encountered enemy combat, he was given a gun and told to run.
“People told me, ‘Just keep your head down. Don’t look up,’” he said. “I was very scared.”
That April, while under fire, the 18-year-old ran across a road and jumped into a trench formerly held by German soldiers. He started firing toward a nearby field and was hit by a sniper, suffering a serious wound to the arm. He still has pieces of shrapnel embedded under his skin.
To him, they’re a reminder of the sacrifices made by young people all those years ago – and of those who continue to fight around the world today.
Mr. Zelensky’s presence at the ceremonies will be a stark reminder that war is raging in Europe once again. For veterans such as Mr. Davis, who will turn 102 in September, Russia’s invasion is another sad chapter in human history.
“It’s absolutely terrible,” he said Tuesday, shaking his head. “Man hasn’t learned to get along with one another.”
Tombstones at the Commonwealth war cemetery of Banneville-La-Campagne, in Normandy, France, were lit up on June 4 during a ceremony as part of the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Each grave was lit in tribute to the fallen, while 'Amazing Grace' was sung and musicians from the Pegasus Memorial Band performed.
The Associated Press