As part of its activities to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of D-Day, in 2014 the Juno Beach Center released a “Tributes” feature to recognize each Canadian Soldier who died on 6 June 1944 during the Normandy Invasion.
The details in the Tributes were initially incomplete, however, and the CMEA undertook to ensure that an appropriate tribute was published for each of our 18 D-Day Fallen Sappers. Our work is now completed. Our start point has been the work of the "Lest We Forget" project led by Blake Seward, a teacher at Smiths Falls Collegiate in Smiths Falls, ON. His students undertook the research on several of our Sappers. Vince Larocque from the 6th Field Engineer Squadron Museum Association greatly assisted with the Tributes for the 6th Field personnel and Stanley Fields of the 5th Field Company Veterans Association assisted with the narratives of the sappers from 'The Fighting Fifth'.
Most of the Sappers supporting the landing of the 3rd Canadian Division that day landed ahead of the assaulting infantry. Sapper casualties were proportionately among the highest of all branches.
Tributes
Take a moment to view the tributes to our D-Day sappers who sacrificed their lives. Scroll through the complete set to appreciate the many ‘Average Canadians” who responded to the call during WW II and how each one contributed to the successful D-Day invasion. Clicking on each name will take you to a personalised page for each.
