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Chapter One

Baptism of Fire

Juno Beach, Normandy – June 6, 1944

In June 1944, many parts of Europe had been occupied by Germany for four or five years, following German invasions of other countries several years earlier. Soviet forces in Eastern Europe had been steadily pushing the Germans back. In the West, Canadian, American, and British forces had made advances against German armies in Italy, but they wanted to open a second front in the West, in France. The invasion of Normandy in Northwest France was given the codename Overlord and was also known as D-Day.

Canadian, American, and British armies were each assigned beaches in Normandy where they would invade. The Canadian one was given the codename Juno. Just like the British and American forces, the Canadian troops undertook months of training before the invasion. Canadian soldiers Ted and Frank, along with their comrades, engaged in military training with tactics and weapons, but were also provided with information that would be invaluable once they landed on the French coastline, which was known to be heavily defended by German forces.

At camps in Southern England, Ted and Frank familiarized themselves with maps and photographs, as well as models that the military planners had built of the areas of Normandy that the Canadian soldiers would be attacking. In the months leading up to D-Day, Ted and Frank both studied details of cliffs near the invasion beaches, hills near the coast or further inland, rivers and other natural obstacles that they’d encounter as they progressed, maps of the roads in the area, as well as photographs of the Normandy villages and towns that they’d be attempting to secure, once they’d dealt with the enemy forces at the coast. This would help them to recognize landmarks such as churches or other large buildings that really stood out, ensuring that they’d become familiar with the area as quickly as possible.

Ted and Frank were from the same part of Canada, living quite close to each other near Toronto, although they’d never met before the war. The first time they’d encountered each other was in training, not long after each of them had joined the Canadian army serving in England and in mainland Europe. They’d enlisted back home around the same time back at the beginning of 1944 then had been serving in the same part of Southern England once their training started, in preparation for the upcoming invasion of mainland Europe.

However, at that moment there was no time to think of such things. The two men remained silent, as the landing craft made its final approach to the beach. They knew that many of their comrades would be killed as soon as the front end of the craft dropped onto the sand on the beach. They also knew that so many more would die or be horribly wounded well before they reached any of their objectives, located well away from the beach. And of course, they acknowledged that they could lose their young lives or be terribly injured themselves during the operation, for which they’d trained so hard and for so long. Then it happened. At eight o’clock in the morning on June 6, 1944, the landing craft thumped onto the sand, the front door fell open, and the battle began at Juno Beach.