Intimate commemoration in Normandy remembers North Shore Regiment's D-Day contributions

Marc Milnerhad visited the battlefields in Normandy, France, on the 60th and 70th anniversaries of D-Day, but he said the feeling is just as special as he returned for commemoration ceremoniesthis week marking 75 years since the Allied invasion.

"Every trip is just as moving as the one before. It just builds on it," said Milner, aprofessor with the University of New Brunswick's Gregg Centre for the Study of War and Society.

"It's been a marvelous opportunity for me as an academic and a teacher to be able to do."

Milner has been leading a group of students from across Canada taking part in the Canadian Battlefields Foundation, which promotes public awareness of the country's role in the world wars.The studentshave been visitingsites of past battles and graveyards where Canadian soldiers are buried.

Students researched and wrote biographies onsome of soldiers buried in theCanadian cemeteries. Milnersaid many have an emotionalreactionduring their presentations.

"We've had students break down and cry when they finally visit the grave of an ancestor, someone in their family who died long before they were born but whose memory has shaped that particular family," said Milner.

"Quite often they are the first from the family to visit the grave of a lost loved one thousands of miles away, so the reaction is really quite profound and quite moving."

Canadian connections

Milnersaidhe gets emotional about it as well. His father fought in the Battle of Normandy and he has a great uncle buried atYpres.

"I've been doing this for long enough to see the connections over generations," he said.

Milner said there isa lot of Canadian history in the Normandy regionthat students are exposed to.

On Thursday, Milner's group joined the contingent of 150 students from Anglophone North School District who have been celebrating and commemorating the North Shore Regiment and their contributions to D-Day during their visit.

"They're tied in with Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer, Taillevilleand the local community so we've been deeply engaged in a very, very nice and very intimate community commemoration with all the touching moments," he said.

He continued: "For most people that resonates, it has a nice flavour. There's no governor-general here, the prefect is not here, there's no general here. There's just a bunch of school kids, some local people and few guys from the north shore and us and it's really nice."

The group was also going to take part in a dedication ceremony inTaillevillewhereMaj.Archie MacNaughtonof New Brunswick and two others were killed onD-Day. Milner said members of the community were going to speak on the impact of what liberation meant to them.

Then, avisit was planned to the cemetery inBny-sur-Mer where many of the soldiers from the North Shore Regiment were buried.

Sacrifice not forgotten

Milner said Canada's contribution to the First and Second World Wars has created a strong bond with the people in Europe.

"The French still remember the Canadians'contribution inCanadian zone and the people in Netherlands and Belgium still remember what Canada did and they're always amazed people from a safe country thousands of miles away would actually come over and help them," he said

"And that is still true today. People come out and shake your hand and say, 'Thank you.'"