COURSEULLES-SUR-MER, FRANCE—Thousands of Canadians will gather on a stretch of beach on the coast of Normandy in France on Thursday to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day, one of the most pivotal days of the Second World War. In the pre-dawn hours before the invasion and after crossing the English Channel under cover of night, the Canadians, as well as their British and American counterparts, loaded into landing craft to prepare for the assault. The Germans had long prepared for an attack and now opened up with machine-gun and artillery, while some of the Canadian landing craft hit underwater mines. Jim Parks was on one such landing craft and was forced to dive off into four metres of water and swim for shore. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOWBut the carefully planned invasion was a success and would mark a turning point in the Second World War.

Source: thestar June 06, 2019 08:03 UTC