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A Moment Immortalized, A Mystery Solved

  • Jan 31, 2019
  • History
  • 5 MINUTES READ
A nervous Canadian soldier glances over his shoulder, acknowledging a friendly pat on the back as he prepares to step off the landing craft onto Juno Beach. This fleeting moment, captured in rare footage taken during the D-Day invasion of June 6, 1944, served as the inspiration behind the Royal Canadian Mint’s 2019 proof silver dollar. And as Mint product managers Alicia Cook Sapene and Jamie Desrochers discovered, there was a lot more to that soldier’s story than they could have imagined.
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D-Day invasion of Juno Beach on June 6, 1944.

A nervous Canadian soldier glances over his shoulder, acknowledging a friendly pat on the back as he prepares to step off the landing craft onto Juno Beach. This fleeting moment, captured in rare footage taken during the D-Day invasion of June 6, 1944, served as the inspiration behind the Royal Canadian Mint’s 2019 proof silver dollar. And as Mint product managers Alicia Cook Sapene and Jamie Desrochers discovered, there was a lot more to that soldier’s story than they could have imagined.
Canadian Infantry landing from invasion barges. LAC/PA-122765
Canadian Infantry landing from invasion barges / Canada Dept. of National Defence / PA-132655
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Remembering the sacrifices made by Veterans, 75 years ago
Second World War Veteran, Alphonse Vautour shares his D-Day story. On June 6, 1944, Private Vautour from the North Shore Regiment of New Brunswick landed in Bernières-sur-Mer, France.