This week world leaders will travel to France for a memorial service 60 years after a military operation that led to the eventual liberation of Europe. More than 150,000 Allied troops took part in D-Day, including 14,000 Canadians who landed on Juno Beach.
By Kieron Lang, CTV.ca Staff
Barely a generation after losing more than 60,000 young men and women in the four-year war to end all wars, Canada was again drawn into a global war against Germany in September, 1939.
With the sting of those losses still fresh in Depression-ravaged Canada, the government decided to enter the war under a policy of "limited liability." By focusing on the supply of crucial economic assistance -- such as food and raw material -- Ottawa hoped to avoid repeating the tragic losses suffered in the First World War.
But when Germany overran western Europe in the spring of 1940, the lightning conquest defeated the Allies and forced France to surrender.
With the remaining Allied forces based in Britain, Canada was left as a reluctant, but strong component of the war effort.
The 1st Canadian Infantry Division training in Britain in the summer of 1940 played a critical role defending Britain from the looming German advance.
But the role was largely passive, consisting of what has been described as an endless cycle of training, garrisoning and coastal defense.
Then, in 1942, that changed.
Keen to tip the war, the Allies figured a ground offensive was needed to drive the occupying Nazis from western Europe.
The decision was made that Canadian troops should lead an assault on the French port of Dieppe.
But the operation was a disaster. Largely deprived of the benefit of surprise, and without an adequate bombardment on defenses raining covering fire onto pebble-strewn beach from the surrounding cliffs, the landing forces were overwhelmed.
Of the almost 5,000 Canadians who formed the Dieppe assault force, more than 900 were killed almost 2,000 made prisoners of war.
Even though the catastrophe in Dieppe strengthened the perception Adolf Hitler's 'Fortress Europe' was in fact impregnable, the defeat proved useful in the lessons it taught to the planners of the next big invasion.
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CTV's Tom Kennedy travels to France to dig up new information about the crash of a Canadian plane, almost 60 years ago during the D-Day Invasion. more.
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More than 15,000 Canadians participated in the D-Day landing force
1,017 Canadians died during the first six days of the Normandy campaign, and by the end, about 5,020 Canadians were dead
For the first time since 1940, three RCAF squadrons flew from French soil as they fought Luftwaffe and bombed key ground targets
The Royal Canadian Navy provided 109 vessels, and 10,000 sailors to the 7,000-strong Allied armada
By the end of D-Day, the Allies had landed as many as 155,000 troops in France by sea and air, 6,000 vehicles including 900 tanks, 600 guns and about 4,000 tons of supplies
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