Barrie's Fred Andrews was one of the 14,000 Canadians who landed in Normandy for the June 6, 1944 D-Day Invasion. According to the Juno Beach Centre, close to 400 Canadians were killed that day.
"It was quite a day, the channel crossing was rough. We knew we were a part of something big,” said Andrews, who resides at Roberta Place. "We hit the beach running and didn't stop. I had a 50-pound bag on my back, and my rifle in my hand. It was quite a sight.”
Andrews, now 99, said the tough times obviously didn't end there as there was still plenty of fighting to do.
“We pushed inland as hard as we could and continued to fight for the next several weeks. We hit a hard German line three miles inland,” recounted Andrews. "The Germans were strong fighters. They didn't give up anything as they were so brainwashed by Hitler.”
Andrews and his unit walked through France, Holland, Belgium and into Germany, fighting all the way.
He told BarrieToday they “were in Germany on VE Day (May 8, 1945) and when the church bells rang out at the end of the war, it was beautiful.”
Soldiers were paid $1 a day, which Andrews called “a lot of money back then.”
After the war and upon his return to Canada, Andrews became a teacher, as did his wife, as they raised their two children.
“I taught history for a bit, but never talked about my experiences in the war. I just didn’t, I just couldn’t,” said Andrews.
Andrews’ life started in Trinity Bay, NL, but but he has lived in Quebec, Northern Ontario and Toronto before coming to Barrie 10 years ago to live closer to his children.
Andrews has written six books of poetry, one of which saw him receive a letter from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
“I love to write. I did it through college and the army,” said Andrews.
Andrews has attended every Remembrance Day and D-Day ceremony, no matter the weather. This year, COVID-19 means Roberta Place will take extra precautions.
There will be a ceremony over the facility’s PA system, and everyone can take in the day in their own way.
“I’ll be thinking about a lot of my buddies. It was a real tragedy and it will be a good time to reflect,” said Andrews.
When asked how he kept going during those dark days that he will reflect on Saturday, Andrews was very clear.
“We all believed in peace. We knew we were doing the right thing, and that someday it would all be over," he said.
