Sarah Mills: Teachers deserve gratitude as school year wraps up
There's a collective sigh coming from Saskatchewan's teachers as the school year ends. Sarah Mills says teachers are ask...
One year ago, Lt.-Col. Stacy Grubb was standing on Juno Beach in Normandy, remembering the sacrifices made by Saskatchewan soldiers on June 6, 1944.
French citizens surrounded Grubb as he walked the same path members of the Regina Rifle Regiment crawled and staggered along in their fight to secure the beach under enemy fire, with bombs exploding around them and bullets flying through the air.
“There were bunkers all over the place targeting them as they came in,” said Grubb, commanding officer of the Royal Regina Rifles (RRR). “It’s to honour their sacrifice (and) their courage because it’s almost unbelievable what they endured.”
This year on June 6, Grubb will not be able to return to the place Saskatchewan soldiers fought so hard to secure during Operation Overlord 76 years ago. But COVID-19 restrictions will not prevent the RRR from celebrating the sacrifices made by soldiers on D-Day.
An important celebration for the RRR, annual D-Day celebrations would usually last a few days in remembrance of the Saskatchewan lives lost during the battle on Juno Beach.
Limits on gathering sizes and other restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic meant a big celebration was not possible this year. Instead, the Rifles will hold a virtual celebration on their Facebook page on Saturday.
A small gathering of 10 people at the Victoria Park cenotaph will be streamed online for people to spend a few moments remembering those who fought on D-Day and beyond.
“We had to do something,” Grubb said. “It’s extraordinary this year with the pandemic but we’re doing the best we can to honour those soldiers of the past and respect their sacrifices.”
The ceremony will feature the laying of a wreath at the cenotaph, which was erected in honour of the lives lost by soldiers during the First World War. A short prayer will follow and the celebration will end with a traditional toast by the RRR.
“I think it’s important, not just for the Rifles, but for everybody in Saskatchewan to take a bit of time out on June 6,” Grubb said. “Although the Rifles have the Regina name, (the regiment) was made up from people all over Saskatchewan.”
One such soldier, Lt. Bill Grayson, was awarded the Memorial Cross for his actions on D-Day. Grayson, originally from Estevan, landed on Juno Beach while his entire unit was pinned down by soldiers in an enemy bunker.
The lieutenant attacked and destroyed the bunker while also capturing 35 prisoners.
“This is just one of many heroic acts that would have had to happen on that day,” Grubb said. “The regiment lost, on that day alone, 44 soldiers. These are young men, and it affected so many families in Saskatchewan.”
Grubb said his own reflection on D-Day has become even more meaningful since personally experiencing the celebrations in France last year.
“I was truly humbled and also extremely proud,” Grubb remembered. “It’s different for us here in Canada because World War II was across an ocean. But in France, they still really remember it as if it was yesterday. The whole country comes out and celebrates the Allies landing.”
Grubb said he struggled hearing the praise around him for the Saskatchewan soldiers who had walked the same stretch of beach 75 years before him.
“The support and love we felt from the French civilians was awe-inspiring,” Grubb said, “and we didn’t deserve that; that came from the sacrifices of those soldiers 76 years ago (now) and it really wears heavy on the soldiers to live up to their deeds, their courage and their sacrifice.
“(In France) they’re treated like heroes because of those men in the Regina Rifle Regiment 76 years ago.”
Grubb credits the success of the Rifles on D-Day to their unity.
“The unit trained together for years,” he said. “They were a tight family and there was so much sacrifice they went through to save the person on their left and the person on their right.
“I’m truly humbled to be the commanding officer of this unit and I truly believe it’s my responsibility to make sure that the unit continues to remember their sacrifices and moves forward with that in their mind in terms of how we act when the country calls on us.”
