Regina is commemorating the anniversary of D-Day and preparing to honour the 80th anniversary next year.
The regimental flag was raised at Regina City Hall today and residents heard speeches from Lt.-Col. Kyle Clapperton, who is also the commanding officer of the Royal Regina Rifles, as well as Regina Police Service (RPS) Chief Evan Bray and Mayor Sandra Masters.
“They played an incredible major role in the liberation of Europe, one that Europe continues to honour to this day,” said Mayor Masters.
“It is our obligation to reflect on that courage and that sacrifice in the resilience of those who fought on those distant beaches in the Second World War.”
“Today is the day that the regiment as one of the assault battalions landed on the beaches of Normandy known as Juno Beach, in his sector called Nan Green … and turned the tide on that fight against Nazi tyrannies,” said Clapperton.
“No surprise that the soldiers of the Regina Rifle Regiment, as it was known then, good old farm boys from Saskatchewan, knew how to pick up that fight and assault those beaches and fight inland further than any of the other Allied forces that day.”
At the ceremony, plans for next year’s anniversary were also announced at the commemoration event.
Next June 6, 2024, there will be a tour of the battle grounds in Europe for current serving rifles and a statue will also be unveiled of a Regina Rifleman on the Juno beach seawall.
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