World War II

A World War II reenactor pays tribute to a soldier on Omaha Beach in Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, Normandy, Sunday, June 6, 2021, the day of 77th anniversary of the assault that helped bring an end to World War II. While France is planning to open up to vaccinated visitors starting next week, that comes too late for the D-Day anniversary. So for the second year in a row, most public commemoration events have been cancelled. (AP Photo/David Vincent)

Normandy commemorates D-Day with small crowds, but big heart

On D-Day, more than 150,000 Allied troops landed on the beaches 77 years ago

 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, May 26, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Trudeau delivers apology to Italian Canadians for internment during WW2

31,000 Italian Canadians were labelled ‘enemy aliens,’ fingerprinted and scrutinized

 

Italian-Canadian prisoners at the Kananaskis prisoner of war camp in Alberta. (University of Calgary/Contributed)

Italian moved to Okanagan with hope; he ended up being sent to a WWII internment camp

Raymond Lenzi shares his grandfather’s story ahead of Canada’s planned formal apology to Italian-Canadians

 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Italian-Canadians to get formal apology for treatment during Second World War

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will issue a formal apology next month, acknowledging internment camps

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
File - In this Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018 file photo, survivors of the Nazi death camp Auschwitz arrive for a commemoration ceremony on International Holocaust Remembrance Day at the International Monument to the Victims of Fascism inside Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim, Poland. The commemorations for the victims of the Holocaust at the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, marking the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau on Jan. 27, 1945, will be mostly online this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, file)

Auschwitz survivors mark anniversary of liberation online amid pandemic

Nazi German forces killed 1.1 million people at the Auschwitz death camp in occupied Poland

File - In this Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018 file photo, survivors of the Nazi death camp Auschwitz arrive for a commemoration ceremony on International Holocaust Remembrance Day at the International Monument to the Victims of Fascism inside Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim, Poland. The commemorations for the victims of the Holocaust at the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, marking the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau on Jan. 27, 1945, will be mostly online this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, file)
Jean and Dudley Thompson met by chance on Easter Sunday 1943 outside Westminster Abbey while serving in the Second World War. (Photos courtesy Julie Forster)

Saanich couple’s wartime romance led to 69 years of love, ‘appreciation for life’

Young Canadian officers found love outside Westminster Abbey during Second World War

Jean and Dudley Thompson met by chance on Easter Sunday 1943 outside Westminster Abbey while serving in the Second World War. (Photos courtesy Julie Forster)
Inside Christ Church Cathedral in Victoria. (Black Press Media file photo)

Victoria bells join cacophony marking 75th anniversary of Japanese bombings

Bells ring Aug. 6, 9 in remembrance of the victims of Nagasaki, Hiroshima

Inside Christ Church Cathedral in Victoria. (Black Press Media file photo)
Dutch liberation commemorated at Duncan cenotaph

Dutch liberation commemorated at Duncan cenotaph

Canadian troops played integral role

Dutch liberation commemorated at Duncan cenotaph
Henry Martens has often told the story of the time he unwisely extracted a bear cub from a Jasper park den while the animal’s mother looked on. Tyler Olsen/Abbotsford News

VIDEO: B.C. senior recalls ‘crazy’ wartime decision to grab bear cub from den

Henry Martens – now 96 – says he was lucky to be alive after youthful decision to enter a bear’s den

Henry Martens has often told the story of the time he unwisely extracted a bear cub from a Jasper park den while the animal’s mother looked on. Tyler Olsen/Abbotsford News
The St. Luke Cedar Hill Anglican Church hosts a Nov. 10 service to honour the veterans buried in the nearby cemetery. (Devon Bidal/News Staff)

St. Luke’s Service of Remembrance honours more than 130 veterans

Women’s Auxillary Air Force veteran added to the list of honourees

The St. Luke Cedar Hill Anglican Church hosts a Nov. 10 service to honour the veterans buried in the nearby cemetery. (Devon Bidal/News Staff)
Bart Armstrong show off a digital copy of the portrait of his mother on her wedding day, as well as a portrait of his aunt. Armstrong was contacted recently by the family of the portrait artist in Belgium, which was trying to find out who the bride is. (Nicole Crescenzi/News Staff)

Greater Victoria man shares the secrets behind a portrait of a Canadian Bride

The portrait was painted by a famed Belgian artist immediately after the Second World War

Bart Armstrong show off a digital copy of the portrait of his mother on her wedding day, as well as a portrait of his aunt. Armstrong was contacted recently by the family of the portrait artist in Belgium, which was trying to find out who the bride is. (Nicole Crescenzi/News Staff)