Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 57 His unit took part on the D-Day invasion, on 6 June 1944, as part of Operation Neptune. John and his fellow naval commandos operated ashore, in support of the 50th (Northumberland) Infantry Division at Gold Beach. John would note that, while there was a lot of shelling of his position, the D-Day landing was much smoother than the landings in Salerno. One of his memories from Normandy was of the day he was shot at by a well concealed sniper near Bayeaux. At the time he was driving a truck and would later remark “I stepped on the accelerator and got out fast.” It was later revealed that the sniper was a French Fascist woman. After the war John left the navy and immigrated to Canada. He found work in London, ON, in the engineering department of EMCO Corporation. He and his wife Katherina moved to Clearland N.S. in 1976 where John joined Branch 49 (he was the branch treasurer for many years). John and Katherina became founding members of the Mahone Bay Founders Society. John was also a member of the South Shore Naval Association and the Royal Naval Commandos Association. . Vice Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten inspecting RN Beachhead Commandos continued ...
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