Juno Beach and Beyond: Recent Episodes
Juno Beach Centre
Juno Beach and Beyond is Canada's first Second World War podcast. Discover Canadian stories from the war that changed the world.
We're back with a bonus episode in our series with Canadian authors and their new releases this fall. In this episode we're joined by Canadian military historian David Borys.David Borys' new book Punching Above Our Weight: The Canadian Military at War Since 1867 is a photograph-rich history of 150 years of the Canadian military that traces the evolution of the country’s armed forces from a small, underfunded, poorly trained militia to the modern, effective military it is today.
This fall, Juno Beach and Beyond is sharing a three-part series with Canadian authors and their new releases. In this episode, we're joined by journalist and author Nahlah Ayed.Nahlah’s newest book, The War We Won Apart: The untold story of two elite agents who became one of the most decorated couples of WWII, came out earlier this year.The book details the life and love story of Guy D’Artois and his British Warbride Sonia D’Artois, two “Special Operations Executive” agents who parachuted behind enemy lines in France in preparation for Allied Landings of D-Day.Disclaimer: This episode contains a discussion on sexual assault.
This fall, Juno Beach and Beyond is sharing a three-part series on Canadian authors with new releases. In episode 2, we’re joined by Tim Cook to talk about the importance of the Canada-USA alliance during the Second World War. Canada and our American neighbours share so much: we share the longest border between any two...
Ted Barris shares stories from his new book that take us through the highs and lows of the eager and talented young men who fought to protect Britain from the skies, and the impressive air training scheme and industry back home that made much of it possible.
Preston Duncan Campbell was several months shy of his 25th birthday when he became one of nearly 300 casualties from the Algonquin Regiment between February 27th and March 10th, 1945. In this episode of Juno Beach and Beyond, his great-nephew, Darin MacDonald, tells Preston's story.
The Battle of the Atlantic lasted 2074 days and claimed the lives of more than 4,000 men and women in the Royal Canadian Navy, the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Canadian merchant navy. This month on Juno Beach and Beyond, Juno Beach Centre Association Executive Director Alex Fitzgerald-Black sits down with author and historian...
Wilson Brooks, Ella Jackson, and Kenneth Jacobs were all fighting a Double War against fascism and racism. This month we share the inspiring legacies of three remarkable Black Canadian Veterans.
When she was 8 years old, Grace Eiko Thomson was uprooted from her home in Vancouver, BC and sent to the Minto Mines Japanese Canadian Internment Camp. She was one of an estimated 21,000 Japanese Canadians who were interned by the government during the Second World War. In this episode, Grace tells her story.
From stretcher bearers risking their lives to save others to the collection of fallen soldiers’ body parts without their consent, military historian Tim Cook joins us to talk about Canadian medical intervention in the First World War.
Todays story and excerpts come from the book titled Patton’s Gap: Mustangs Over Normandy written by Major General Richard Rohmer. Rohmer’s accounts of his time as a reconnaissance pilot during the Second World War presents an often underappreciated role that many pilots in the Air Force played in identifying key strategic targets. Timestamps 0:00 |...
Written in 1994, Company Sergeant-Major Charles Cromwell Martin tells his story as a member of the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada in his memoir titled Battle Diary: From D-Day and Normandy to the Zuider Zee and VE. His story explores the events of D-Day and beyond as a leading Sergeant of A Company in the QOR, including firsthand experiences...
This edition of Witnesses to History tells the story of Fred Turnbull through the words of his book “Invasion Diaries”. Fred’s role as a member of the Royal Navy’s Combined Operations led him to take part in some of the most significant landing operations in the Second World War, as well as some of those...
On this episode of Juno Beach & Beyond, we had the opportunity to speak with Al McAlder from Sherwood Park, Alberta, about the story of his father, Douglas McAlder, who was an infantry soldier with the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders at Dieppe. Not only was he a part of the invasion on August 19th, 1942,...
Today’s episode is focused on telling the stories of a few of the many Canadian soldiers who lost their lives during the Dieppe Raid on August 19th, 1942. Through the course of these stories, it is clear that the Canadians who fought at Dieppe were a diverse group of men with their own individual personalities,...
Content Warning from 20:00 to 25:45 The Canadian soldiers of “C” Force deployed to Hong Kong in 1941 faced a difficult task; defense against an assault by the Japanese. Cut off from most supplies and reinforcements, the brave defenders surrendered on Christmas Day of 1941, ending the Battle of Hong Kong. Many Canadian soldiers were...
For many Canadians, mention of the name Farley Mowat is sure to pique the interest of most. Some Canadians might know Mowat as an environmentalist- a man whose writing and activism helped to change popular attitudes towards nature. His writing on the Canadian North specifically helped to draw much popular attention to occurrences in the...
Today's episode is dedicated to Canada's most proficient fighter pilot in the Second World War, George Buerling and his many stories from his time in the Royal Air Force.
The Italian Campaign in the Second World War is often overshadowed by the legacy of the D-Day Landings in June of 1944, however the soldiers who served in “Sunny Italy” faced their own share of trials and tribulations. The story of RSM Harry Fox is just one of these accounts. The collection of stories found...
Our Fathers’ Footsteps is about four average men among the millions of people who volunteered to serve their countries during World War II. These men had one thing in common. They all landed on Normandy’s beaches on June 6, 1944. Using family history books, letters, telegrams, journals, and Regimental War Diaries, Don Levers tells the...
What was the experience like for the many members of the air operations leading up to D-Day? Today’s episode tells just part of the story of Flight Lieutenant David Murray Peden, who recounts his role as an RCAF bomber pilot preceding D-Day in the early hours of June 6th, 1944. We are excited that Witnesses to...
For centuries, countries have relied on their non-commissioned officer (NCO) corps to form the backbone of their armed forces. The Canadian Army was no different in the Second World War. As it mobilized from fewer than 56,000 regular and part-time soldiers to almost a half-million men and women, it needed to grow an effective NCO...
Faced with the global environmental disaster that asserts itself a little more each day and that threatens peace in the world, we began asking ourselves some questions: What have we done with the peace obtained by the Allied Forces in Europe in 1944-1945? What are we going to do with it in the future? As...
August 2022 will mark 80 years since the Dieppe Raid – Operation Jubilee. In nine hours, a force of nearly 5,000 Canadians suffered over 800 killed, with two-thirds of the force dead, wounded, or captured. Canada’s darkest moment of the Second World War remains shrouded in controversy, mystery, and tragedy. For decades, the disaster dominated...
Today’s episode is a little different. Instead of a guest interview, we are pleased to share stories about Canadians who served during the world wars. This is a new feature of the podcast and we hope to bring it to you regularly. Today’s stories take us from the forests of France behind the trenches in...
In fall 1941, the Canadian government accepted a request to reinforce the British garrison at Hong Kong. Canada sent two infantry battalions, the Royal Rifles of Canada and the Winnipeg Grenadiers, a brigade headquarters, and two nurses from the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps. “C” Force, as they were known, arrived in Hong Kong on...
Approximately 27,000 Canadian soldiers and airmen killed during the First World War, the Second World War, or the Korean War have no known graves. Some 8,000 went missing during the Second World War. A couple of times each year, the Canadian Armed Forces will announce that the Casualty Identification Program has identified the remains of...
The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) was easily one of Canada’s top contributions to victory in the Second World War. Part of the wider Empire Air Training Plan, in Canada, the BCATP laid the foundations for the training of over 131,500 aircrew (nearly 73,000 with the RCAF) and 80,000 ground crew between October 1940...
In June 1940, France fell to Nazi control and preparations began for the Battle of Britain. The Canadian government deployed soldiers overseas – to Iceland! The Canadian authorities labelled these troops “Z” Force. Eventually, three Canadian battalions served in Iceland under the leadership of Brigadier Lionel F. Page. These were the Royal Regiment of Canada,...
Laden with two 500-pound bombs and adorned with black and white invasion stripes, a model of Harry Hardy’s Hawker Typhoon IB “Pulverizer II” hangs proudly in the “Road to Victory” room at the Juno Beach Centre in Courseulles-sur-Mer, France. There is a certain fierceness in its profile, especially looking up into the four-bladed propeller, four...
Order a copy of Seven Days in Hell: Canada’s Battle for Normandy and the Rise of the Black Watch Snipers by David O’Keefe through our online shop and receive a 15% discount using the code BLACKWATCH at checkout. Offer valid until August 31, 2021. Three miles or so south of Caen the present-day tourist, driving...
In 1959 author Cornelius Ryan began research for his book “The Longest Day”. In doing so he put out advertisements to countries of the Allied nations of the Second World War, looking for first-hand accounts of D-Day. More than 100 Canadians responded, as well as soldiers from Allied nations serving on the Canadian sector at...
New Brunswick is one of Canada’s smallest provinces, yet it has always played a prominent role in Canadian military history. Many will be aware of the North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment’s efforts on D-Day. Less well known is the story of Ripples Internment Camp (Camp B), located about 30 kilometres from Fredericton, the provincial capital....
New Brunswick is one of Canada’s smallest provinces, yet it has always played a prominent role in Canadian military history. Many will be aware of the North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment’s efforts on D-Day. Less well known is the story of Ripples Internment Camp (Camp B), located about 30 kilometres from Fredericton, the provincial capital....