SENATORS’ STATEMENTS — D-Day and the Battle of Normandy
June 5, 2025
Honourable senators, on behalf of the Conservative caucus, I extend our condolences to the Honourable Marc Garneau’s family. He was a great Canadian and a gentleman among gentlemen when it came to this place.
Honourable senators, June 6 — tomorrow — is a date that is etched in our collective memory. It is the anniversary of D-Day and the beginning of Operation Overlord, which was 81 years ago. At dawn on June 6, 1944, the English Channel delivered thousands of soldiers to the shores of Normandy, united by a single mission: to defeat the Third Reich and restore freedom to Europe.
Among the 150,000 Allied troops who launched the assault, more than 14,000 were Canadians. Young men from across the country, many barely out of adolescence, answered the call of duty with extraordinary courage, and on that day, their names became forever engraved in history. They crossed the ocean to liberate a land they had never seen in the name of the values they held dear, which are liberty and democracy.
As they landed on the beaches of Normandy, they knew that every step forward would be a victory wrested under the deadly fire of MG42s and against the fortification of the Atlantic Wall. But they held the line. They advanced slowly and painfully, every metre gained at the cost of their blood, sweat and courage. In that hell of fire and steel, they lifted the wounded, carried the dying and picked up the weapons fallen from their brethren’s hands. Yet in the heart of that violence, the best of humanity rose up: courage, solidarity and brotherhood. What they endured is beyond our imagination, but their humanity still lights our path. Thousands never returned. Their sacrifice was the price of our freedom and the freedom of generations to come.
In Normandy, the silence of the graves still echoes with the roar of battle. Each headstone reminds us of what Canada gave so that the world could be free again. Today, war once again knocks at Europe’s doors. As Russia prepares a new offensive against Ukraine, we stand with the Ukrainian people who embody the same spirit of resistance as our soldiers did during Operation Overlord.
The memory of D-Day is more than a commemoration. It is a reminder that peace and democracy are never guaranteed and they must be defended at any cost, including blood. That memory compels us to support those who defend their sovereignty and to honour — here in this chamber — the Canadian soldiers who gave their lives so that we can speak freely today and every day. To those who serve and those who never returned, we honour your sacrifice with eternal gratitude. Lest we forget.
Honourable senators, tomorrow marks the eighty-first anniversary of D-Day, a turning point in the Second World War and a day when Canadian courage bent the arc of history.
On June 6, 1944, more than 14,000 Canadians landed on Juno Beach in Normandy. Among the first ashore were the young men of Saskatchewan’s The Regina Rifle Regiment, now The Royal Regina Rifles. Because so many of them were farmers, they were affectionately nicknamed “Farmer Johns,” later shortened to “The Johns.” As they fought through one fierce engagement after another, their proud battle cry “Up the Johns!” became one of the most famous rallying calls in the Canadian Army. Today, “Up the Johns!” is also a ritual of raising glasses to acknowledge those who served in The Royal Regina Rifles and to celebrate their bravery, spirit and camaraderie.
Landing at Nan Green, the western sector of Juno Beach, they encountered fierce German resistance. Under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel F.M. Matheson, some 520 soldiers pressed forward under fire, destroying fortified enemy positions and fighting their way through the town of Courseulles-sur-Mer.
And they didn’t stop. With unbreakable will, they advanced inland through Reviers, reaching Bretteville-l’Orgueilleuse — their final D-Day goal — by the next day. In doing so, The Royal Regina Rifles became the only Allied unit on D-Day to reach and hold its designated objective.
On June 7, in this small Norman village, they repelled a brutal counterattack by the 12th SS Panzer Division, a battle that helped secure the Allied beachhead and the future of Operation Overlord. But success came at a heavy cost. The Rifles suffered 44 killed and 64 wounded on D-Day alone. Over the next 55 days of continuous combat, hundreds more were killed, wounded or declared missing in action.
Senators, the legacy of The Royal Regina Rifles lives on — in the history books, in a free Europe, in the Canadian Armed Forces and in our hearts. So too does the courage and sacrifice of all Canadians who served in the Second World War.
The bravery of our soldiers, sailors and flyers shaped the world today, throwing back the Nazi scourge and preserving the freedoms that we hold sacred. But the price they paid reminds us that war is never without terrible cost in blood, grief and lives forever changed.
Tomorrow — and always — we remember them. Lest we forget. Up the Johns!
