In May 2022, I had the honor of welcoming the son and grandson of Canadian WW2 veteran Donald Moar, who landed on Juno Beach on DDay with his brother Fred (nicknamed "Toot"), both part of the North Shore Regiment.
The day started at the Juno Beach Center and we immediately went to see the Memorial Bricks dedicated to both of them. The son of Donald brought a picture of his father as a veteran. It was an emotional start of the day. We proceed to the visit of the Juno Beach Center and a visit of Mike Red beach, one of the bloodiest part of Juno Beach landing.
We took the direction of the end of the beach of Bernières-sur-Mer, close to Saint-Aubin, to start following the footsteps of the Moar brothers. Fred was the first of the two to land, a lieutenant in Company A commanding 7 Platoon. The company rushed the beach despite the intermittent German fire and left it by a breche in the seawall opened by naval bombardment.
"We were the best assault company of the division and the defenses in front of us were not a serious fortification" Fred Moar
Donald Moar was a lieutenant in D Company and landed shortly after his brother, a little further east in front of a château. B company was stuck behind its stonewall and were suffering from German fire. Incredibly, a camera recorded the landing of some men of D company in front of the château. Donald Moar was maybe in this landing craft.
We followed D Company route behind Saint-Aubin, talking about the attack on the German defenses and seeing the remnants of them, as well as the memorials. Next, we were up toward Tailleville.
The attack on Tailleville was a difficult one. While C Company was attacking the village with support of the tanks of the Fort Garry Horse, Fred "Toot" Moar's 7 Platoon took a small copse of trees on the east side of the village. The fighting lasted for the entire afternoon, and will see C Company losing his commanding officier, Major McNaughton, a WW1 veteran. Fred's platoon fought its way around the northern part of the village when he was recalled and asked to become A Company second-in-command. Donald's D Company made it to the southern side of the village, ready for the next objective, the radar station.
We had time to discover Tailleville in detail, saw the copse of tree taken by Fred, exploring the remains of the German defenses, until we drove to the edge of the forest south-east of Tailleville, where D Company ended DDay.
The next day, the North Shore Regiment was ready to tackle their final DDay objective: the large radar-station at Douvres. But the attack never started: it would have been too much for a single regiment with limited fire-support. The regiment was withdrawn to Anguerny. It remained there and in Cairon until the 17th when it was ask to move to Le Mesnil-Patry. The men discovered dozen of bodies of their fellow comrades of the Queen's Own Rifles killed during the attack of the village on June 11th. Holding his position a few hundred meters away from the Germans, Fred Moar narrowly escaped death when a bullet went ripping above his head.
"I knew them all" Fred Moar, talking about the dead officers of the Queen Own's Rifles in Le Mesnil-Patry.
The next attack came on July 4th, with the objective of seizing the town and airfield of Carpiquet. The North Shore Regiment had to make its way along the railway line and capture the northern side of the village. Both D and A Company were the assault ones for the day, with Donald's D Company on the left, along the railroad, and A Company on the right, next to the Régiment de la Chaudière. In front of them, the criminals of the 12th SS Panzer-Division "Hitleryouth", who executed close to 150 Canadians prisoners-of-war since DDay.
We drove to the very fields where both companies started the attack on July 4th. The quiet fields today were scene of utter destruction, the men being caught between their own artillery rolling-fire, and the German artillery counter-fire. The fighting was brutal but within 3 hours, the Regiment had taken the northern side of the village. But it was at a price: Donald Moar's D Company had lost half of its men. Fred's A Company was in slightly better shape.
We ended the day in Carpiquet, looking at the church around which their (grand)-father and (grand)-uncle fought, and visiting the memorial to the Liberation of Carpiquet.
If our tour ended in Carpiquet, the Battle of Normandy was not yet over. The month of July and August will continue to see heavy fighting, taking physically and psychologically a heavy toll on the men of the North Shore. On August 11th, Harold MacDonald, officer in the regiment, wrote in a letter
It’s a funny life, and how one stands it is a marvel. Toot Moar was in a while ago. He’s getting really down - one of the originals and it is hard to look around and see so few of the old gang left. I put on hot water and got him a wash and shave, and even a haircut; made him feel a lot better. It’s little things we do for each other that makes this old world livable.
Both Fred and Donald would survive the Battle of Normandy and the rest of the war. If Fred, who became a Colonel after the war, talked about his war experience openly, Donald remained much more reserved and quiet. The war had affected differently the two brothers.
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