There are so many stories of heroism involved in the massive Operation Overlord, among them the extraordinary story of the little known first Canadian parachute battalion. The lightly armed Canadians were among the first allied soldiers to hit the ground in France on D-Day.
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This is original content based on research by The History Guy. Images in the Public Domain are carefully selected and provide illustration. As very few images of the actual event are available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.
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Juno Beach (Mark Zuelke) is a great book dedicated to the Canadian effort on D-Day focusing mostly on the 3rd Can Inf Div. but with detailed chapters on the 1st C Par. Bat. and the naval effort included. I took a copy of its map in 2007, and my family let me spend the better part of a Saturday afternoon driving around the French country side reliving history: the ferocious fight for the pillboxes on the beaches; the battle for a walled town; a young junior officer throwing AT mines off a small bridge while under point-blank machine gun fire. The Canadian museum is quite moving. Flying back to San Diego through Phoenix I sat beside a young Quebecois woman whose grandfather had served in Le Régiment de la Chaudière during the invasion—I pulled out a picture and showed her the church in Bernière-sur-Mer that her grandpa had marched by that momentous day. It’s a small world.
I spent some time at old fort Benning Georgia back in the early 80’s. Infantry, airborne, and Ranger school.
The construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway was started in 1954 and completed in1959.
Brilliant and yet heartbreaking
Bob
England
Happy Canada Day! Sincerly, a Northern Ontarian. Also: FUCK TRUDEAU.
Confused: A battalion made up of three regiments? Map indicates the Southern flank not Eastern?
Thanks for this. As an American, I've always been aware of the Martial Power and guts of the Canadians. I'd like to read and learn more.
I'll be 25 in barely a month, and I'm sitting here enjoying life. No words can express the gratitude I feel for these strangers who fought for my country.
Interesting fact, RAF Ringway became Manchester Airport then the now massive Manchester International Airport. My first visit there was in 1956 when the departure terminal was nothing more than a large, rather ramshackle wooden hut with an adjacent Nissan Hut housing a pleasure flight company offering flights at 10 shillings a time (50p). The jump training was done from static barrage balloons in Tatton Park a few miles away. BTW what you showed as a Whitworth was actually Hampden Bomber and never used to drop paratroops.
Sounds like the paratroopers were trained and ready for the mission, but were badly let down by the RAF?
Thank you again for your insight and history lessons.
Always well prepared. Always well delivered. Thank you, History Guy !
My great grandfather was one of the Paratroopers from Canada. He went through all of it and lived. In his elder years he lived in the Military Hospital of Vancouver where he passed.
These guys did Sir Arthur Currie proud he laid the foundations and they built on them, God bless all Canadian fighting men from both WW1 and WW2 kind regards from Blighty, oh and I mustn`t forget the women who cared for all allied soldiers during both wars.
really enjoyed this episode. Thanks History guy!
One thing I will say I learn from my time in the US military. When attached to Canadians they are very disciplined very hard-working professionals so I'm not surprised that they've done this.
There is a D-Day-sized Invasion of America by Mexico every month now thanks to Democrats who refuse to enforce any Immigration Laws…
A great video showing the bravery of the Canadian Paratroopers. Amazing that with the limited weapons they had due to the speed st which they jumped. They still managed to complete all the objectives that day. That shows the tenacity and bravery of the men. 💪🏻
I’m curious how we Canadians did during operation Market Garden. I recall a video I had once seen where a German soldier was being interviewed on his war time experience. He commented upon the realities of war by mentioning how the Germans knew who they were fighting against at any particular battle. When we fought the Americans they would fall back and allow their artillery’s tear into our attacking formations. When we attacked the British they would fall back and allow their tank support to thin our lines. When we reinforced our lines and attacked Caen, we knew we were fighting Canadians when they saw us attacking and jumped out of their positions and attacked us directly… seeing a well armed group of men heading towards us made many a fierce Waffen SS turn and run out of fear and shock… kinda makes me proud how we thought then as now… “Fuck this shit and and fought head on with a Claus disregard to the life of an enemy…
All heroes.
Grea TV video! Thanks!
Thank you for producing and posting this video. One misstep that is worth mentioning; Canadian Forces Base Shilo is located east of the City of Brandon, in the Province of Manitoba. Not "near" Manitoba as you stated. A small point to be sure, but worth mentioning nonetheless. The town of Shilo is adjacent to the Spirit Sands desert, the second largest desert in North America, making it an ideal training site for infantry and heavy artillery battalions.
love ya man
James Doohan, the actor who played Scotty in Star Trek was a Canadian soldier on D Day in Normandy. He was wounded and also lost a finger.
Most of the photos of paras were British, not Canadian.
😢
"Ops normal, sir. Absolute Chaos" !!!!
So much bullshit in this story. By far one of your worst researched. Canadian sdoilders were an utter joke at all points during the war. They didn't want to be there, but the Brits forced them to be.
You should do a video on Sergeant Léo Major. Who among his many fears was capturing a German held village solo. One of the greatest Canadian soldiers to ever fight. Not many even in Canada know about him
My father was a British-American who served in the Canadian army in WWII. Born in England but raised mostly in the U.S., in Springfield, Ill, he "deserted" the U.S. Army in July 1940 and enlisted in the Essex Scottish regiment of the Canadian army, which was sending soldiers to England to help repel the anticipated German invasion. While stationed in England, he fell in love with and married an English girl – just as his father, an American serving in the British Army in WWI, had done a few decades earlier. My father was captured during the disastrous raid on Dieppe in Aug 1942. His English wife gave birth to his child in Feb 1943 while he was a POW. Dieppe was a British operation that used primarily Canadian soldiers, but it was also where U.S. special forces were born. The newly formed Army Rangers sent 50 of its men on the Dieppe Raid to assist and learn from the British commandos, on whom the Rangers were modeled.
I thought American troops did everything on D-Day. Has Hollywood been lying to me?
Another well presented piece of history. My father landed on D Day and fought through to Germany and held the Canadians in great respect.
Kind, courteous, and hard as a coffin nail.
God Bless the courage of Allied soldiers that opened the second front that sealed the death of the Nazi ideal for the world.