Posts in Tag: WWII
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Bark West Beach – The Canadians Invade Sicily
This is my second post on a 2016 tour of Canadian WWII sites in Italy led by my friends at Liberation Tours. In the last post I described the lead up to Operation Husky, the WWII invasion of Italy by the Allies and the various Canadian regiments that were about to take part. In this […]
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Operation Husky – Introducing the Players
In the last post I explained why Alison and I would forsake what is often the nicest time of year in Nova Scotia to join thirty three other Canadians on a journey to retrace the steps of the Canadian army in Italy during WWII. In the next three posts I will describe the Canadian campaign […]
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Liberation Tour 2016 – The Italian Campaign
It’s October 2016 and Alison, I and my sister Anne are headed to Italy to join a group of fellow Canadians on Liberation Tour 2016 which will retrace the route of the Canadian forces in Italy during WWII from Sicily to Venice. The tour has been organized by Liberation Tours, a small Canadian company that […]
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Wageningen – The 70th Anniversary Liberation Parade
In the last post I described an idyllic day in Arnhem, Holland enjoying the Netherlands Outdoor Museum, while the rest of the group was hobnobbing with Prime Minister Harper. Today we’ll all enjoy the 70th Anniversary of the liberation of Holland parade in Wageningen. Please join us. Wageningen, a small city in northern Holland might seem […]
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Arnhem- A Walk Through Sonsbeek Park to the Open Air Museum
Alison and I are setting out this morning to walk to some of the top attractions in the city of Arnhem, Holland. Here’s why. Liberation Tour 2105 Liberation Tour 2015 is winding down with the second of three days of events commemorating the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Holland by forces made up of many […]
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The Liberation of Holland is Celebrated at Groesbeek
Liberation Tour 2015 wrapped up our tour of WWI sites with the Last Post Ceremony at Menin Gate in Ypres. After that Alison and I made a detour to visit the grave of her uncle John Weir at Calais Canadian War Cemetery. In the morning we head northeast, passing by Ghent, Antwerp and into Holland. Our […]
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Calais Canadian War Cemetery – A Visit To An Uncle Never Met
In my last post we visited the largest Commonwealth War Cemetery, Tyne Cot and I contemplated the senseless slaughter that took place in the Ypres area over the entirety of WWI. From there we are headed into Holland for events related to its liberation by Canadian troops in 1944-45, however, Alison and I are […]
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The Dieppe Operation Part II – Visiting the Sites at Puys and Pourville
In the last post I described the planning and failure of the Dieppe Raid from the perspective of the assault on the beach that fronts the small city of Dieppe. If that were the only attack on Dieppe then it might fairly be called a raid, but in fact the there were attempted landings at […]
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The Dieppe Raid- A Canadian Tragedy – Understanding What Went Wrong
In the last post we visited the site of Abbeye d’Ardenne which was the scene of a particularly despicable war crime, the execution of Nova Scotian prisoners of war under the orders of Kurt Meyer. We are now headed to the scene of what some also consider a war crime, but one perpetrated by our […]