One of British Columbia’s most prominent surviving veterans of the Second World War has died.
Norman Kirby served with the North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment right from the D-Day landing in France though Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands all the way to V-E Day in 1945.
He died on Wednesday at the age of 95 after a stay in hospital.
Honorary Lt.-Col Don Foster, director of the Juno Beach Centre Association, said Kirby was nothing less than a Canadian hero.
“When they asked him, he was there,” he said. “That's always been the incredible thing about Canada. Those guys are all volunteers. And the women too. And I think it just says something about Canada's values, and the pride they have in the Canadian military.”
Kirby enlisted at age 17, “scared to death of actually meeting up with a German soldier,” he told the North Shore News in a 2014 Remembrance Day profile.
On D-Day, Kirby’s landing craft was blown up before it hit the beach in Normandy. The Bren gunner made it to shore with just a fork, spoon and knife, Foster said. Kirby was later instrumental in capturing Germany positions threatening Allied ships in the English Channel.
As the battles wore on, Kirby said he found more courage, if for nothing else than to be of help to his brothers fighting alongside him.
"It's the camaraderie with a group of men and you don't want to let them down," he told the North Shore News.
He was quickly promoted to the Canadian military's youngest combat platoon sergeant and later, acting platoon commander. Oftentimes, that meant going on patrol to root out the German forces they’d soon be engaged in bitter fighting with.
Kirby said he lived with nightmares for years after the war, but he also kept some warmer moments in his heart. Among his possessions was a photo of Dutch children gleefully welcoming him when the last of the Nazis had been captured or driven out of the city of Groningen.
“They were all around me. I was standing there, pistol at my side and I just thought, ‘Wow, this is what it’s all about. This is what I’m here for,’” he said in a video recorded for the Juno Beach Centre. “It’s my favourite picture of the war and I treasure it.”
For his service in France, he was awarded the rank of Knight of the French National Order of the Legion of Honour, as well as numerous medals from the Canadian Military.
In his later years, Kirby was a dedicated volunteer and “poster boy” for the Juno Beach Centre, which is Canada’s Second World War museum located not far from where 14,000 Canadian troops landed in 1944.
He was one of 17 Legacy of Honour veterans who recorded their personal oral histories for the centre in 2020. Foster said it was important to Kirby that future generations understand and remember what happened in the war.
“It’s a passing of the torch,” he said.
The centre will be preparing a special memorial to Kirby on their website, Foster said.
