Commemoration
The Foundation
has established and maintains a Memorial Garden, on the grounds of
Le
Mémorial, in Caen, France, to recall the Canadian
participation in the Battle of Normandy. The Foundation has also
placed a plaque in the Place de l’Ancienne Boucherie, in
Caen to commemorate the liberation of the
centre of the city by Canadian forces in 1944.
On 9 July 1944
the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, supported by the 2nd Canadian
Armoured Brigade, launched the attack to liberate the center
of Caen, which had been heavily bombed and shelled by the Allies in the
previous weeks. By noon, elements of the 9th Canadian Infantry
Brigade, supported by tanks of the Sherbrooke Fusilier Regiment, had
reached this square and Canadian soldiers were shaking hands with
jubilant citizens. By that evening the Canadians and the 3rd
British Infantry Division on their left, supported by members of the
French Resistance, had freed most of the shattered city.
In the weeks
before Caen was liberated some 3000 of its inhabitants died under Allied
bombardment, and over 3500 Canadian and British soldiers had been killed
our wounded by enemy action.
Let us remember
with gratitude the sacrifice all these men and women made for our
freedom today.
Foundation
Services
The CBF annually reviews the support opportunities for guide and visit programs to Le Mémorial where the story of Canadian participation in the Battle of Normandy is commemorated in the unique Canadian Garden.