Canadians played a leading role in restoring freedom to the Dutch. It was arguably Canada’s finest hour. On May 5th 2020 (Liberation Day in the Netherlands) the Juno Beach Centre Association, Defining Moments Canada, and the Canadian Research and Mapping Association, supported by the Canadian War Museum, partnered on a webinar to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe. This podcast is an edited version of that complete webinar, featuring the historian roundtable. Tune in to join us on a journey from Normandy to the Netherlands. 

The complete webinar is available in the video below and more information can be found on the Defining Moments Canada website. 

VEDay75 – A Commemorative Webinar from Defining Moments Canada on Vimeo.

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Time Stamps

7:50 Spring 1944 

10:56 D-Day and Normandy

17:43 Approaching Nazi Germany

21:15Liberating the Dutch

25:40 Forgetting and Remembering the War

Guest Biographies

Dr. Mike Bechthold is Consulting Historian for Defining Moments Canada. Mike is a historian, author, and battlefield tour leader who specializes in Canada and the First and Second World Wars.

Marie Eve Vaillancourt is the Exhibitions and Development Manager at the Juno Beach Centre Association. Marie Eve has been with the Juno Beach Centre for almost 9 years. She completed a Master of Education on the topic of memory transmission at the University of Caen and holds a BA in History from Carleton University.

Dr. Tim Cook is the Acting-Director of Research at the Canadian War Museum. He is the author and editor of 13 books, including his 3-volume history of Canada and the Second World War: The Necessary War, Fight to the Finish, and his new book, The Fight for History.

Notes

The following links offer more information on the topics discussed in this episode:

Resources

Victory75.ca

Maple Leaves & Tulips

Project44.ca (Canadian Research and Mapping Association)

VEDay75: Normandy to the Netherlands (Defining Moments Canada)

Podcasts

Liberator of Leeuwarden with Don White and Project ‘’44

Jumping Across the Rhine with 1 Can Para Veterans

Kicking in the Door with Cool Canadian History

Remembrance Day 1944 with Matthew Halton

Canada’s D-Day Story with Canadian Veterans

Juno75: Above & Beyond with Neil Orford

OSCVI’s War Dead with Dave Alexander

Credits

Juno Beach & Beyond is hosted and edited by Alex Fitzgerald-Black, the Juno Beach Centre Association’s Operations and Outreach Manager.

Mackenzie King’s speech to British Parliament from the British Pathé YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SlEvclY5LE&t=48s

Artillery firing sounds from the CBC News: The National YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsCSQ4uWR1Y

Female veteran’s voice (Eileen Green, née Short) Courtesy of The Memory Project, Historica Canada: http://www.thememoryproject.com/stories/383:eileen-green-nee-short/ 

Winston Churchill’s “Finest Hour” speech from Jonathan Thomas’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB5wZtV1MWM

Spitfire sound effect from Jason Kirby’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgZI4tAoMN0

Dramatic Interlude by Alexander Nakarada | https://www.serpentsoundstudios.com

Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com

Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/