D-Day June 6, 1944

In the early morning hours of June 6th, 1944 more than three hundred thousand soldiers, sailors, and airmen from several nations began the liberation of Europe, which for more than four long years had been crushed under the tyranny of Nazi occupation.

Among them were the 21,400 fighting men of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, who on Juno Beach would forever leave their mark on the pages of history. Despite serious delays and fearsome resistance, Canadian troops ended the day having advanced further than any other allied force and having inflicted a serious toll on their enemy.

Among them were the men of Amherst’s own North Nova Scotia Highlanders.

340 Canadians were killed storming Juno, and more than six hundred were either wounded or captured. We must pay heed to their sacrifice on this day, as it was because of their efforts, and the efforts of many others like them, that the monstrous evil of Nazism was finally made extinct.