A World War Two veteran who helped the Allies in France after D-Day was honoured last week by that country for his military service.
Port Coquitlam's Harold Blanes said he was shocked to receive a letter in the mail from Kareen Rispal, ambassador of France to Canada, and a Legion of Honour medal — the highest French order of merit for military and civil merits, established in 1802 by Napoléon Bonaparte.
"It's a nice recognition," the 96-year-old told The Tri-City News on Wednesday, proudly displaying his other war medals for volunteerism and overseas service on his Legion jacket. "I think I'll have to get a longer holder for them all now."
Blanes was 21 when he enlisted in Calgary in 1941.
Like Coquitlam resident Bill Berrow — who received his Legion of Honour earlier this year — Blanes was with the 69th General Transport Company RCASC, the crew that supplied the "beans and bullets" to the front-line soldiers.
Berrow, who like Blanes also received his basic training in Red Deer, Alta., and was shipped to England in 1942, was in the A Platoon while Blanes was part of the B Platoon that stormed Normandy (on the northern coast of France) on June 18, 1944, for Operation Overlord after a successful D-Day invasion two weeks prior.
Blanes' platoon was responsible for topping up the tanks with ammunition and other supplies in France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands; on their way back, they moved German prisoners of war.
After the war in Europe ended, Blanes said he was invited to join the Allied campaign in Japan. He got a 30-day break before he started training with the American troops in Kentucky; however, Blanes said he was never deployed after the Hiroshima bomb exploded, which finished the Pacific theatre.
Blanes was discharged in October 1945 and worked in the construction industry, in Kitimat and, for two years, building the oil pipeline from Edmonton to Vancouver.
Now, the grandfather of five who followed his four brothers into war (three of them also stationed in France) volunteers with the PoCo Legion.
jcleugh@tricitynews.com
