With files from The Canadian Press
The 80th anniversary of D-Day was marked in Barrie on Thursday morning with a parade downtown, led by local veterans, the Grey and Simcoe Foresters, Canadian Forces Base Borden, the Royal Canadian Legion and first responders.
The parade started at 10 a.m. on Dunlop Street East at Mulcaster Street and continued to the Five Points intersection, halting in front of the cenotaph in Memorial Square where two minutes of silence was observed at 11 a.m.
City officials including Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall attended the ceremony.
Around 160,000 Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy, France that fateful day 80 years ago to begin an effort now remembered as the beginning of the end of the Second World War.
In all, 4,414 Allied troops were killed on the first day of the invasion, including 381 Canadians.
June 6 marked just the beginning of the bloody 77-day Battle of Normandy and the start of the Allied liberation of France.
At 8 p.m., the Grey and Simcoe Foresters will be conducting a special sunset ceremony at Military Heritage Park on Lakeshore Drive in Barrie.
The public is invited to attend.
Images provided - Michael Chorney - At the Scene Photography
