Prime Minister Stephen Harper Lays Wreath At Grave Of Unknown Soldier: D-Day Ceremony

Prime Minister Stephen Harper paid tribute Saturday to the Canadian soldiers who 65 years ago charged into the teeth of withering German fire on Juno Beach.

They took on “the most dangerous task imaginable,” the prime minister said during an event where veterans told their personal stories.

In the midst of it, the soldiers changed the course of history and gave us the foundations of the peaceful and prosperous society we have today, Harper said.

“We should always remember that, acknowledge that and be prepared ourselves to defend those things and those values in the future.”

Earlier Saturday, Harper laid a wreath at the grave of the unknown soldier at the pastoral Canadian war cemetery at nearby Beny-Sur-Mer, where the only sound was of chirping birds.

He was accompanied by Phil LeBreton, a D-Day veteran of the Queen’s Own Rifles.

As he saluted, LeBreton’s eyes filled with tears.

Ceremonies are taking place all over northern France – as well as in Canada – to mark the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy.

Later in the day, the Allies who took part in the historic Second World War battle will mark the anniversary with a major service at Colleville-Sur-Mer, the American war cemetery where over 14,000 soldiers are buried.

The Canadian delegation will join U.S. President Barack Obama, Britain’s Gordon Brown and French President Nicholas Sarkozy.

A French presidential official confirmed Friday that Sarkozy had initially tried to limit the main ceremony to just himself and Obama, but both Canada and Britain insisted on being included.

Harper’s whirlwind visit – just over 24 hours on the ground – was planned at the last minute because Ottawa had been waiting for an official French invitation, government officials said Saturday

Saturday evening, there will be a ceremony at Juno Beach, an eight-kilometre-wide stretch of sand and bucolic fishing villages where 14,000 soldiers of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division battled their way ashore against fierce resistance from 7,100 Germans of the 716th Infantry Division.

The Canadians overran the port of Courseulles-sur-Mer, France and two smaller villages to the east – Bernieres and St. Aubin. By nightfall on June 6, 1944, they penetrated further inland than either the Americans – or the British.

Okill Stuart was a lieutenant with the 14th Field Artillery Regiment which was tucked in behind the Queen’s Own Rifles Regiment when it landed at St. Aubin.

His regiment’s 105 mm self-propelled guns started lobbing shells at the fortified coastline, which bristled with guns and fields of barb wire, even before they rolled off the landing craft.

“It was a tricky job, bobbing up and down and sideways,” said Stuart, who’s fondest memory of D-Day was that he had $3,000 in poker winnings stuffed in his pocket from the night before.

His landing craft struck a mine just before it grounded on the beach.

“When I looked out I saw floating tanks that had capsized and ships with rockets that went swish-swish-swish,” Stuart said in an interview.

“Now and again you heard a sound like a freight train going over head; the shells from battleships so far to the rear you couldn’t see it. “

As the officer directing the big guns, Stuart drove around in a Sherman tank. His vehicle rolled on the beach and became stuck in a traffic jam.

As they waited, a French couple came out of their house with bottles and glasses. They offered Stuart and his crew sips of Calvados, a Norman liquor made of fermented apples.

He insisted they were too busy to feel fear but it hit them afterward and “lasted 11 months until the war was over.”