WAR AND PEACE - REMEMBRANCE DAY 2014....

LEST WE FORGET!

An early REMEMBRANCE DAY POST - This past June 6th 2014 was the 70th anniversary of the Normandy D-Day invasion of Europe, WWII.  

It was the largest amphibious invasion in history which changed the course of the second world war.

Allied troops numbering nearlly 200,000 boarded 7,000 ships and more than 3.000 aircraft and headed towards Normandy.  About 156,000 troops landed on the French beaches, 24,000 by air and the rest by sea.

They met stiff resistance from heavily defended German positions across more than 50 miles of French coastline.

The credits to these photos(starting the second one down) belong to Getty photographer Peter Macdiarmid and Reuters photographer Chris Helgren.  

They gathered archive pictures from the 1944 invasion, tracked down the actual locations and photographed them as they appear today.

It is incredible to see the transition from "then" til "now", and to see the difference 70 years can make.  Click on each pair or group of photos once or twice - scroll around to see the similarities and the differences.

June 1944 - American Craft of all styles pictured at Omaha Beach, Normandy during the first stages of the Allied Invasion - A view of the beach near Coleville-sur-mer, France.

US troops stand by with stores on Omaha Beach after the D-Day landings - the new photo taken May 2014 as the same spot near Vierville-sur-mer, France.

June 1944 - German prisoners guarded by British Soldiers from the Second Army on Juno Beach - The May 2014 photo shows a view of the beach in Bernieres-sur-mer in Normandy today....note building in the centre background.

June 6, 1944 - A Canadian soldier directs traffic in Bernieres-sur-mer.  14,000 Canadian soldiers had landed at nearby Juno Beach.  The May 2014 photo is a view of Notre-Dame Nativity Church as it looks today.

June 6, 1944 - Troops of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division land at Juno Beach on the outskirts of Bernieres-sur-mer on D-Day - The current photo taken May 2014 is a seafront view of that Normandy Beach today where 340 Canadian Soldiers lost their lives in the battle for the beachhead.

June 6/44 Royal Marine Commandos of Headquarters, 4th Special Service Brigade make their way from the Landing Craft Infantry (small) LCI(S) onto "Nan Red" beach at Saint-Aubin-sur-mer - The May 2014 photo is a view at Juno Beach today.

June/44 - Boats with US troops wait to leave Weymouth to take part in Operation Overlord - The April 2014 photo shows the harbour of the English town today.  This was the location used as a launching place for Allied Troops participating in the invasion of Nazi Occupied France on D-Day.

July/44 - US Army trucks and jeeps drive through the ruins at Saint-Lo - The current May 2014 photo is of the roadway there.  Saint-Lo was almost totally destroyed by 2,000 Allied bombers when they attacked German troops stationed there during Operation Overlord.

Strong contrasts of WAR & PEACE is shown here with the body of a dead German Soldier who lies in the main square of Place Du Marche after the town was taken by U.S. troops who landed nearby at Omaha Beach in Treveires, France on June 15, 1944.  The current photo from Aug 2013 is taken in the exact location.

Incredible contrasts shown here as well - A crashed US fighter plane on the waterfront sometime after Canadian Forces came ashore at Juno Beach on D-Day - The old and new photos were taken at Saint-Aubin-Sur-Mer, France in June of 1944 and August of 2013.

 There are many more photos similar to these but just wanted to post a few to establish the contrast between WARTIME and PEACETIME.

Our own families......I was born right after D-Day begun.

My Mother and Father, My Father and Mother-in-law - Thank you for coming home safely.....but remember the ones who did not !

"ALL GAVE SOME, BUT SOME GAVE ALL"....Remembrance Day in Thunder Bay, Ontario - Monday Nov. 11 2013....

We only have a few veterans left from the second world war and none from the first world war so if you encounter a veteran be sure to thank him or her for their sacrifice so that we may enjoy the freedom we have today.  "All gave some, but some gave all!"

The first world war, "A WAR TO END ALL WARS" was sadly not enough of an impact on Canada and its allies to actually make it such, as on Sept 11, 1939, Canada again declares war.















Below are two articles firstly from the Port Arthur daily news and another article from a Fort William newspaper both printed in August of 1914.  If you click once or twice on these and all the other pictures, they can be read and seen in better resolution.

Canadian Soldiers in the trenches....would you want to be there?

"THEY DIED THAT WE MAY LIVE"

"A different 9-11 back in 1939"

     This is an incredible photo of the Algonquin Regiment leaving Port Arthur, Ontario on June 4th 1941.  In the background is a steam engine at the Port Arthur Canadian Pacific Railroad station torn down many years ago and today, Water Street near Marina Park runs right through this property.  Off to the left in a gold square is the Hydro sub-station which still exists today as seen in the next photo.  Look hard and you may recognize someone you love....also look at those young faces heading off to fight for our freedom.  Click on photo for a closer look!

The Hydro sub-station as seen today.

The following picture is an unknown regiment.  They are gathered to march in McKellar Park.  McKellar Park's present location is where McKellar Park school is today, just to the north of the Fort William Curling Club...be sure to look at the rest of the photos below.  These soldiers are marching with Lee-Enfield British rifles (a closer photo of one is below). 

When I was in sea cadets back in the 1950's we would shoot these in rifle range at the old Fort William Armory which would be located to the right and behind in the following photo. 

These rifles weighed 8.8 lbs...so imagine carrying one of these around on parade or in the battle field with all the other gear a soldier would have to wear.  I could barely lift it to take one shot!

This McKellar Park field was used for local baseball, football, and was the starting point for many a Fort William Parade.  Off in the distance with a gold square is the Sweet Caporal score board for the sports field...more data on that below. 

 

Below is an old Sweet Caporal cigarette package which actually displayed WWII planes so as to help identify what you may see flying overhead.  My father(still living today at 94 years) was a Sergeant in the Canadian Army then and stationed in Victoria, BC. where they were guarding the west coast after Pearl Harbor was bombed.  They thought the Japanese were going to do the same to Canadian Naval bases along the coast.  While there, he also taught an aircraft recognition course.


McKellar Park and school as it looks today.

Sweet Cap aircraft recognition package WWII.

Here is a colored picture of a Sweet Caporal Cigarettes scoreboard.

THE LEE-ENFIELD BRITISH BOLD ACTION RIFLE.

If you want more data on the Lee-Enfield, you can go to Wikipedia here then come back to view the rest- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee-Enfield

 

You can also view other years of Remembrance Day posts with some incredible local photos on this blog as follows -

2009 - http://hotrodsandjalopies.blogspot.ca/2009/11/lest-we-forgetremembrance-day-november.html

 

2010 - http://hotrodsandjalopies.blogspot.ca/2010/11/lest-we-forgetremembrance-day-november.html

 

2011 - http://hotrodsandjalopies.blogspot.ca/2011/11/lest-we-forget-remembrance-day-2011-20.html

 

2012 - http://hotrodsandjalopies.blogspot.ca/2012/11/remembrance-day-in-thunder-bay-ontario.html

 

A HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL OUR VETERANS OF ALL WARS

LEST WE FORGET, Remembrance Day 2011 - 20 photos of then and now here in Fort William and Port Arthur.....

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

The picture to the right is taken on the corner of Red River Road(formerly Arthur Street before amalgamation), and Cumberland Street facing north.  A little faded out but on the right is the Prince Arthur Hotel.  This picture was taken on VJ day (Victory in Japan day) in 1945 during the ticker tape parade.

This photo was taken about 1918 welcoming home WWI soldiers to Fort William Ontario.  This picture was taken on the corner of Victoria Ave and May Street facing west. 

This is how the corner looked in 2009....the changes are incredible but there are still 2 rows of 7 windows across the upper floors of the Scotia Bank building.

This is a 1917 photo of the 141st Battalion coming down Simpson Street heading south/west around the corner onto Victoria Ave. 

This corner as it looked in 2009 on Google images barely looks like the same spot, as most all the historic structures on Simpson St have burned to the ground in recent years.

This is a photo of the arrival back in Port Arthur of the 52nd Battalion on March 29, 1919, only 5 months before my father was born.  The battery of soldiers are moving off on parade.  This old Port Arthur CPR station would be right in the middle of what is now Water Street just east of the Prince Arthur Hotel.

The Next few photos are taken on Oct 10th 1940.  Local soldiers of the 52nd Battalion are marching down Red River Road to the CPR station where they will head by train to the east coast and then overseas.

This is how this corner looked in 2009 on Google images.

The Pagota in this picture as you can see was moved west up the hill somewhat towards the Prince Arthur Hotel.  Water street was quite narrow and the time and was west of the old CPR station as shown in the older photo.  This old station would actually be right in the centre of the present day Water Street.

This is a 1940 Colour Guard parade on the corner of Victoria Ave and Brodie Street in Fort William showing soldiers heading off to war.  Thank you to Roger Rickards for this great photo.  All the old Victoria Ave landmarks are clearly visible in this photo.

This is how the same spot looked in 2009 on Google Images.  It's nice to see most of these Victoria Ave building are still in use today.

 Canada Car and Foundary(CC&F) built 1,441 Hurricanes and Sea Hurricanes during the war effort.

This is how the inside of the Fort William plant looked in 1944.  My father was stationed on the west coast near Victoria BC after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour.  There was concern that there would be more bombings of naval bases in the US and in Canada in the early 1940's.  My parents were married just before my Dad was sent to Victoria and I would be born there when this photo was taken in 1944.

Thanks to all those who donated or loaned photos for this and many other posts.  Be sure to click on all the photos for enlargement and also go to this link to see more photos from last years Remembrance Day post http://hotrodsandjalopies.blogspot.com/2010/11/lest-we-forgetremembrance-day-november.html

Lest We Forget.....Remembrance Day, November 11, 2009....

These three black and white photos show the Lake Superior Regiment leaving Port Arthur(now Thunder Bay) Ontario on Oct. 10, 1940 from the Canadian Pacific Railway station on Water Street.

The Canadian Pacific Railway station was on the west side of the tracks and long gone by the 1970's. It is shown on the far left of the first photo. In the second photo here, the Mariaggi(Marina Inn) can be seen in the distance on the right of the photo. All the people here would be standing right in the middle of the Water Street thoroughfare today.

The left photo shows a calmer day at the CP station in about the same era. The photo on the right shows the same station(the very long narrow building along the tracks and water front). You can imagine how much fill was added to the marina area to build marina park as it is today. The Canadian National Railway station building that still exists today is at the far left of the downtown Port Arthur photo and the luggage depot(I believe that's what it is called) can still be seen today. It was used for many years for displaying local art. It is the small building at the bottom left, and today it is right beside the blue bridge where you can walk over Water Street. Hope that's not too confusing. Try to pick out buildings in the city photo that are still here today.
Remembrance Day...a time to reflect and to honour the sacrifices others have made for our country, and yours!
Click on pictures to enlarge.