75 years ago, when front lines really did mean front lines, and the Second World War was coming to an end in Europe, Sgt. Norman Kirby was there.
Tuesday this week marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands. On Friday, it will have been 75 years since Germany surrendered.
Kirby, now 94 and living in Lions Bay, recorded an interview with the Juno Beach Centre to commemorate the occasion.
Kirby signed up for the army at 17. He was part of the Juno Beach landing in Normandy on D-Day, and continued on through France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany right up until the end of the war.
In the video interview, he recalls battles along the way, rooting out SS officers and spying on enemy tank movements from a civilian barge. But one in particular moment during the liberation of the Netherlands stands out.
When the fighting was over, Dutch children came streaming out, greeting allied soldiers, waving banners and laughing.
“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. “It’s my favourite picture of the war and I treasure it.”
The children of today are who Kirby has in mind when he tells the story now.
“I feel privileged to be in a position to talk about my experience. My grandfather was a veteran, so growing up I heard the stories,” he said in a release. “Hearing them taught me about life, about the world. It’s important for younger generations to understand what came before them so they can understand the present.”
The Juno Beach Centre is Canada’s Second World War museum located not far from where 14,000 Canadian troops landed in 1944. The centre has been compiling videos of veterans’ stories as part of their Legacy of Honour project.
“Every day there are fewer and fewer veterans, and those who are still with us are in their 90s,” said Honorary Lt.-Col Don Foster. “These men and women have stories to tell that are still relevant and important today. We are giving veterans the opportunity to share the lessons they learned, so what they endured is not lost to new generations. It really is a now or never circumstance, which is why the Legacy of Honour initiative was launched by the Juno Beach Centre.”
The North Shore News published a profile on Kirby in 2014, which you can read here.
