70th Anniversary of D-Day and Battle of Normandy

The Governor General also took the time to review the first rank of the veterans guard of honour.

The Governor General participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the addition of a Hawker Typhoon aircraft to the Museum’s Second World War exhibition. This artifact is the last remaining original and complete Typhoon in the world and is on loan from the Royal Air Force Museum in London, England. He was joined by the Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada (left), and 14 former pilots of the Hawker Typhoon.

As commander-in-chief of Canada, His Excellency received military honours and inspected the guard of honour.

"I feel a great surge of pride when I think of the Canadian and Allied achievements on D-Day. It was a massive, complex operation, one that required a great deal of planning, collaboration and determination. Canadian soldiers landing on Juno Beach faced some of the toughest resistance of any of the Allied troops. The whole nation was inspired by Canada’s D-Day contribution—and we still feel that pride today," said the Governor General.

Their Excellencies the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada, and Mrs. Sharon Johnston attended a ceremony to mark the 70th Anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, in Ottawa, on June 6, 2014.

On behalf of the people of Canada, Their Excellencies laid a wreath in memory of the more than 5 000 Canadians who sacrificed their lives in the name of freedom.

The events commemorating D-Day and the Battle of Normandy in the nation’s capital were coordinated by the Department of Veterans Affairs, in collaboration with other federal departments and veterans groups.

D-Day and the Battle of Normandy was a pivotal campaign in the Second World War. The Canadians who came ashore at Juno Beach on June 6, 1944 and fought in France through that long hot summer played an important role in the Allied efforts to liberate Western Europe.

Photo of His Excellency, the Honourable Peter MacKay and the veterans who took part in D-Day and the Battle of Normandy.