On June 6 1944, Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy (France) to open the way to Germany from the West. Victory in the Normandy campaign would come at a terrible cost. The Canadians suffered the most casualties of any division in the British Army Group.

The Canadian Army’s 3rd Infantry Division and 2nd Armoured Brigade seized the beach and its seaside villages while under intense fire from German defenders — an extraordinary example of military skill, reinforced by countless acts of personal courage. The 3rd Infantry Division took heavy casualties in its first wave of attack but took control of the beach by the end of the day. More than 14,000 Canadian soldiers landed or parachuted into France on D-Day. The Royal Canadian Navy contributed 110 warships and 10,000 sailors and the RCAF contributed 15 fighter and fighter-bomber squadrons to the assault. There were 1,074 Canadian casualties, including 359 killed.

June 6, 2019 marked the 75th anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy.

“The site was fantastic: Guns firing from the naval destroyers and ships, landing right over where we were flying at 500 feet,” said Rohmer, who later rose to the rank of major-general in the Canadian Forces.

“It was fantastic to see the incoming ships, the incoming landing craft and the explosions of the battleships that were firing right where we were flying. It was quite a day.”