RIP Paul Martin | 1925-2016
Royal Winnipeg Rifles
7th Infantry Brigade
3rd (Canada) Infantry Division
Paul Martin was born on March 25, 1920, in Transcona, Canada. He enlisted in the army in 1940, knowing he could potentially help France, the country of his ancestors. Commissioned into the Royal Winnipeg Regiment, he was sent to England after graduation to continue his training: preparations for the liberation of Europe were underway!
On June 6, 1944, after crossing the Channel, he landed at Juno Beach in extremely difficult conditions: “We didn’t know the names of the villages in Operation Overlord, only the numbers the groups were to storm. As we approached the beach, in our landing craft, we could hear German bullets crashing into the boats. We had to jump into the water. But we couldn’t touch the bottom, and one of my comrades, Louis, called for help because he couldn’t swim. With Gauthier, another friend, we helped him reach dry land, but barely arrived when he was fatally shot and collapsed in the waves, before he could even touch French soil.“
After the assault on Juno, Paul Martin took part in the Battle of Normandy and the liberation of numerous towns such as Putot-en-Bessin, Creully, and Carpiquet airfield. He returned to Canada in 1945, at the end of the Second World War, proud of a duty accomplished. For nearly forty years, he testified about his struggles in schools and museums, speaking “on behalf of those who can no longer speak.” Paul Martin visited Normandy several times, receiving the Legion of Honor in 2015. He died on July 4, 2016.
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