Local 1 Nova Scotia Member Remembers Juno Beach

Retired Local 1 member Ray Williams

As preparations for the dedication of the World War II Memorial in the U.S. heighten, BAC members, both Canadian and U.S., may be spurred to think back on their personal wartime experiences.

As a sapper with Canada’s 5th Field Engineers, Ray Williams landed at Juno Beach on June 6, 1944, ducking intense Nazi fire while trying to clear mines from the beaches so others could follow. Although Williams helped pave the way for the D-Day invasion of occupied France, he lost more than 20 comrades that day. Fifty-nine years later, encouraged by his son Rick, the retired Local 1 Nova Scotia member returned to France for the opening of the Juno Beach Center. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin addressed the crowd of 1,000 Canadian veterans, and were followed by a Canadian Spitfire fly-over, and an airdrop of 43,000 poppies representing Canada’s fallen WWII veterans.