Guy Goulet
Surname: Goulet
First Name: Guy
Nationality: Canadian
Date of Birth: Unknown
Died: 2003
Place of Birth: Unknown
Occupation: Official Photographer of the Canadian Navy
Guy Goulet was an official photographer of the Canadian Navy from 1940 to 1945. On June 6th, 1944, he landed in Normandy.
Guy Goulet took part in the Battle of the Atlantic, in convoys towards Murmansk and the Mediterranean, prior to landing on Juno Beach on June 6th, 1944. He landed at Bernières-sur-Mer with the soldiers of the Régiment de la Chaudière. Two things set him apart from the other soldiers crammed in his landing craft heading for Juno Beach. First, his uniform was marine blue as opposed to khaki. Second, he was not equipped with a gun but rather a large and cumbersome camera.
“After receiving the start signal, I joined the men who, with frozen gazes, were waiting for their turn to go down the rope ladder hanging from the side of the ship. Everything went like clockwork. Each soldier knew the number of the landing craft he had been assigned and where his place was aboard. Carrying my photography equipment, I discreetly slid onto the raised platform at the back of the landing craft, next to the helmsman. I didn’t expect this craft to be the only one of the six to return intact from the landing beach.”
Testimonial from Guy Goulet.
Guy Goulet’s camera was a “speed-graphic”. It was the type commonly used by the press during the mid 20th century. It was equipped with a magazine containing twelve 10 x 12 centimeter photographic plates. This camera was Guy Goulet’s faithful companion from 1940 to 1944. Unfortunately, the morning of D-Day, prior to even reaching the beach, the camera fell into the water and was rendered unusable.
Guy Goulet’s « Speed Graphic » Camera
Guy resorted to an emergency camera.
“I was part of the second assault wave. We followed the first by about half an hour. Looking out through my camera lens, I was met by a spectacle of appalling destruction.”
Sadly, the pictures taken that day were destroyed by a fire in Ottawa in the 1960s. All his life, Guy Goulet kept the precious camera that had fallen into the water on D-Day.
In May 2003, when the Juno Beach Centre requested donations to expand its collections, he donated his camera to the museum, saying:
“On June 6th, 1944, on Juno Beach, war photographers like me were the only ones turning their backs to the enemy!”
Guy Goulet died in 2003. Today, his camera is displayed in Room D “Roads to Victory” of the museum’s permanent exhibit.
Source: Guy Goulet