Juno Beach and Beyond

In 1959 author Cornelius Ryan began research for his book “The Longest Day”. In doing so he put out advertisements to countries of the Allied nations of the Second World War, looking for first-hand accounts of D-Day. More than 100 Canadians responded, as well as soldiers from Allied nations serving on the Canadian sector at...

New Brunswick is one of Canada’s smallest provinces, yet it has always played a prominent role in Canadian military history. Many will be aware of the North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment’s efforts on D-Day. Less well known is the story of Ripples Internment Camp (Camp B), located about 30 kilometres from Fredericton, the provincial capital....

New Brunswick is one of Canada’s smallest provinces, yet it has always played a prominent role in Canadian military history. Many will be aware of the North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment’s efforts on D-Day. Less well known is the story of Ripples Internment Camp (Camp B), located about 30 kilometres from Fredericton, the provincial capital....

It’s a familiar scene in old newsreel footage and modern recreations of the Second World War like ‘Band of Brothers’: Allied troops in Europe advance through a town that just moments before was occupied and abandoned by fleeing German troops. The English-speaking soldiers are met by throngs of civilians waving flags and celebrating their newly...

The Canadian Army in Northwest Europe was the largest field force ever assembled by Canada. Between late summer 1944 and spring 1945, Canadian troops liberated great swaths of France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. They also joined with other Allied troops in the invasion of Nazi Germany from the west. Casualties were heavy, and the military...

The road to the Second World War in Europe is well documented. Adolf Hitler and the Nazis came to power in 1933 and proceeded to rearm Germany. These actions challenged the Treaty of Versailles that concluded the First World War. On March 7, 1936 German troops occupied the Rhineland, a demilitarized sector in western Germany....

Dieppe is a fishing port on the Normandy coast built along a long cliff overlooking the English Channel. On 19 August 1942, Canadian, British, American, and Free French troops staged a raid against the German-occupied town and nearby seaside villages. The result was a disaster. In one morning, 3,367 Canadian soldiers were killed, wounded, or...

Remembrance doesn’t stop for a pandemic. We can still wear poppies and visit cenotaphs or war memorials on our own time. We can watch the national ceremony on TV or by live steam and we can still observe two minutes of silence at 11am. Remembrance is personal. We can all stop to reflect and remember...

2020 has been a challenging year. Amid the pandemic, the deaths of African-Americans like Breonna Taylor and George Floyd at the hands of law enforcement led to the rise of the #BlackLivesMatter movement across the world. In Canada, these events have forced our society to reflect inwardly on our treatment of Black Canadians, both in...

Anyone who has visited the Juno Beach Centre has likely had an encounter with one of our Canadian student guides. Our founding veterans wanted to ensure that all visitors receive a friendly Canadian greeting when they walk into the museum. These veterans were mainly in their late teens or early 20s when they stepped onto...