Tag Archives: Second World War
An Anniversary Somewhat Forgotten
It ended seventy-nine years ago today, though they probably didn’t know it was the last day. They expected the bombers back to continue the Battle of Britain. As they had every day since July 10, 1940, Nazi Germany’s air force, the Luftwaffe, had bombed British targets. Unprepared for war, the few fighter pilots of the […]
Remembering The Battle
It has been 75 years since D-Day, and the generation that fought that battle is almost gone. This week though, we have been remembering a pivotal moment in world history with a series of posts I write five years ago. When we visited the Juno Beach Centre I came away with a feeling of not […]
Still Politically Incorrect
This week, to share in the observance of the 75th anniversary of D-Day and the Allied invasion or Normandy, I am repeating some posts from my visit there five years ago, The words jumped out from the printed page in the display case at the Juno Beach Centre, the Canadian D-Day Museum in Courseilles sur […]
Walking Along Juno Beach
With the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings tomorrow, we continue our reflections with a post from 2014. It’s peaceful on Juno Beach on a sunny July afternoon. A few tourists, a few locals getting some sun; if I had been thinking I would have taken off my shoes and socks and dipped my toes […]
Facing The Storm
I just realized that the 75th anniversary of D-Day and the Normandy landings is this week. I found visiting the landing sites, which I did in 2014, to be an incredibly moving experience. It was on that trip that I decided to share my thoughts regularly in this space. For the next couple of days, […]
Fighting For Colmar – III
One aspect of the military cemetery in the hills above Colmar and Sigolsheim that I hadn’t considered before was just who fought in the Second World War battles to liberate France. I guess that is a bit of Canadian blindness on my part. Canadian war cemeteries, or at least the ones I have visited, have […]
He Who Must Not Be Named
It’s been 20 years or so since the first of the Harry Potter novels was published, sparking a reading craze and transforming author J.K. Rowling from impoverished single mother into the world’s richest woman. A generation has grown up with the books (and the subsequent movie adaptations). They are a powerful marketing force, and Rowling […]
Remembrance Day 2017
A hundred years ago today the First World War was dragging on with no end in sight. The troops were mired in the mud of the trenches of France and Belgium. It was not a pretty war. My grandfather fought in that conflict. To honour his memory, each November 11, for as long as I […]
Uncomfortable Remembrance
Somehow it doesn’t seem right to be a tourist in a place of unspeakable evil. But remembrance is important, so I visited the Dachau concentration camp, the place where the Nazis refined their “final solution” for the Jewish people. These days it is in a Munich suburb. I would think it was more isolated 75 […]
Le Grand Charlie
There were a few mentions in the newspaper this past week about it being the 50th anniversary of Charles de Gaulle’s infamous proclamation of “Vive le Quebec libre!” (That’s long live a free Quebec for those of you who don’t speak French.) I didn’t read the articles – I remember 1967 and the furor over […]
random thoughts from lorne 
Recent Comments