At the Juno Beach Centre, we often get inquiries from family members of Canadian veterans who served in Normandy during the Second World War. There is a clear interest in uncovering family heritage, especially as it relates to the greatest conflict the world has ever known. The Canadian Research and Mapping Association (CRMA) wants to provide Canadians with a helping hand in this respect.

Project ’44 is the first part of an online commemoration project launching for the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings. The CRMA has created the largest database showing all the major units’ positions that fought in the Battle of Normandy. Canadians will be able to follow the First Canadian Army and her allies from Juno Beach to the River Seine covering 87 days of combat from June 6th to August 31st 1944.

The Juno Beach Centre Association is proud to be partnering with the CRMA. Over the next two years, both the CRMA and the JBC will be working together in furthering the research and education of the Canadian contribution to victory in Europe. This episode explores why Project ‘44 came to be. We also outline the features of project44.ca that will enhance the way Canadians study and commemorate the Second World War.

Time Stamps

3:08 Project ‘44’s Elevator Pitch

5:24 Why Project ‘44?

9:45 Stories that Drive the Project

17:07 Website Features

20:03 An Immense Effort

24:40 The “Final” Product

33:45 The Future

Guest Biography

We have a trio of guests for this episode, all members of the Project ‘44 / Canadian Research Mapping Association leadership team. Executive Director Nathan Kehler is a 12-year veteran of the Canadian Forces with deployments to Afghanistan and Latvia. Drew Hannen is the CRMA’s Director of Geomatics & Research. He is an expert in digital preservation. Julien Brown is Director of Operations & Communications at the CRMA. He is a marketing and business operations expert who currently works for ther Hudson’s Bay Company.

Notes

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

Podcasts

Stopping the Panzers with Marc Milner

Crerar’s Lieutenants with Geoffrey Hayes

OSCVI’s War Dead with Dave Alexander

Juno75: Above & Beyond with Neil Orford

Events

D-Day

The Normandy Campaign

Weapons & Formations

1st Canadian Parachute Battalion

Canadian Army Units in the Normandy Landings

Canadian Army Units in Normandy from July 1944

RCAF Fighter Squadrons Overseas

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/

Interview with Major David Vivian Currie, VC courtesy of Rob McCue, Historical Officer, The South Alberta Light Horse Regimental Association

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/