On Aug. 8, 1944, Allied forces converged on the Falaise-Chambois region of France in an effort to push out the occupying German armies and eventually liberate Paris.
It is a day that Port Moody's Howard Davies, now 92, will never forget.
Davies was on the battlefield that day, which was cut short when a mortar round blew up near him and six of his fellow soldiers. When he awoke, his right leg was awkwardly crossed over the left one and he was bleeding profusely.
"I was in shock," he said, "but I was awake. They took me to first aid and then further back to the hospital."
Despite his injuries, he assured his comrades he would be back in the field to fight with them in a week or two.
He did not get out of bed until 1947 three years later.
A FRENCH HONOUR
Last month, Davies received a letter from the Canadian government stating that France intended to appoint him Knight of the French National Order of the Legion of Honour in recognition of his service during the war.
He received the award on Sunday along with six other Canadians at a ceremony at the Mountain View Cemetery in Vancouver.
It is not the first time France has shown its appreciation for Davies' service.
The Second World War veteran has visited the country four times since the war ended, receiving medals at commemoration events in Normandy on the 50th and 60th anniversaries of D-Day.
Those were a long way from Sooke, where he lived when he enlisted in 1942.
He did his basic training in Camrose, Alta., before heading overseas, first landing in Liverpool before settling in a community called Aldershot with the Calgary Highlanders. He even spent some time with commandos in Scotland before crossing the English Channel in July 1944, a few weeks after D-Day.
"We went in by landing barge but the beach was clear," he said of the day he arrived on Juno Beach. "All we could hear was the large shells from the battle ships firing over our heads into France."
The Allies had been barraging Caen on Aug. 7, before ground troops moved into the town the next day. Davies was crossing a field when the mortar round struck and he was quickly taken away from the front lines.
"An English doctor said, 'I think we'll have to take the leg,'" he said. "Then, the Canadian doctor said, 'No, we don't. We will fly him back to England tomorrow morning.'"
Doctors managed to save the leg but today, Davies walks with a limp and still has pieces of shrapnel in his shoulder as well as four pins in his leg. He received 109 stitches and was in a body cast for several years.
Davies crossed back over the Atlantic on a hospital ship, landing in Halifax on Christmas Day 1944, before making his way across Canada by rail. He arrived in Vancouver and began a series of surgeries and what would turn into a close to four-year hospital stay that ended in June 1948.
HOME IN PORT MOODY
These days, Davies likes to spend his time with his four children at his home on Port Moody's north shore.
He bought the property in 1964, back when it was mostly cabins in the area, but added an addition a few years ago. One of Davies' sons, Howard Jr., lives next door.
The medals Davies has received hang on the wall near his front door, next to the ones given to his father and his father-in-law, both of whom served in the First World War.
Many of the friends Davies made during his time in the army have died but when he spoke to The Tri-City News last Friday, he said he was looking forward to seeing some of the other veterans at the recognition ceremony.
But these days, Davies prefers spending time by himself or with his family on the deck overlooking Port Moody Inlet.
"I like to keep things low key," he said. "I don't really like all the attention."
ANOTHER LOCAL VETERAN HONOURED
Another Tri-City resident who was named a Knight of the French National Order of the Legion of Honour on Sunday was a longtime Port Coquitlam resident, Jean-Paul Dubreuil (above right), a veteran who landed on Juno Beach as part of the D-Day invasion. His division was later the first to cross the border into Germany.
