Getting ashore on D-Day was one thing, staying ashore was something else. The men who stormed Juno Beach also had to hold it against major German counterattacks in the days ahead. It was a race against time. The Allies needed to build up their forces in Normandy, across 100 miles of English Channel, faster than the Germans could concentrate their forces to push the liberators back into the sea.

In the middle of all of this was Rifleman George Carvell of ‘B’ Company, The Royal Winnipeg Rifles. With us to share his story — from the timber mills of New Brunswick to his time in captivity until the end of the war in Europe — is Amanda Shepherd, George Carvell’s great-great niece.

Time Stamps

2:16 The Timber Man

6:18 Beginnings in the Military

10:05 Training and Integration

13:05 June 6th 1944

16:00 Overrun at Putot-en-Bessin

19:00 Captured (Not Murdered) in Normandy

23:57 Early Captivity

30:08 Piecing the Story Together

37:10 Liberation and Homecoming

40:15 Living and Remembering

Guest Biography

Amanda Shepherd is the author of I’m A Survivor, Not a Victim: The Experiences of Normandy Veteran George Carvell. The book was a labour of love since George Carvell was Amanda’s great-great uncle. It was also a scholarly endeavour, being based on Amanda’s Master’s thesis from work with the Gregg Centre for the Study of War and Society at the University of New Brunswick. She is currently an early learning instructor at NorQuest College in Edmonton, Alberta.

Notes

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

Podcasts

Stopping the Panzers with Marc Milner

Voices of Juno with Desaree Rosskopf

OSCVI’s War Dead with Dave Alexander

Juno75: Above & Beyond with Neil Orford

Events

D-Day

The Normandy Campaign

Weapons & Formations

Canadian Army Units in the Normandy Landings

Credits

Juno Beach & Beyond is hosted and edited by Alex Fitzgerald-Black, the centre’s Digital Projects Coordinator.

Garth Webb’s quote about D-Day from the Testaments of Honour Historical Archive and the Defining Moments Canada website: https://definingmomentscanada.ca/jbc75/dday/webb/

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

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/