Canadian Valour on the Shores of.... Norway?

[Tyler]

Anyone who took Canadian history in high school, or watched "Saving Private Ryan" or the "Band of Brothers" series, or simply picked up a history book would know that the Allies (US, UK, Canada) landed on the Normandy coast on June 6th 1944.

Apparently, our Prime Minister hasn‘t done any of these things:


PM mistakenly recalls D-Day invasion of Norway

CTV.ca News Staff

Prime Minister Paul Martin is not afraid to rewrite Canada‘s military history. At least, that‘s how it appeared when he spoke to soldiers on Wednesday.


Addressing troops at CFB Gagetown outside Fredericton, N.B., Martin was recalling Canada‘s contribution to the 1944 liberation of Europe.


"Sixty years ago, Canadians were working alongside their British and American allies planning for the invasion of Norway and the liberation of Europe," Martin said without batting an eye.


In fact, the slip-up seemed to cause little stir throughout the room, even though it is a famous fact of history that Normandy, not Norway, was the scene of the famous landings.


Then, a few minutes later, Martin underscored his point.


"Today, it is every bit as important that Canada step forward -- just as we did during the invasion of Norway," he said.


Despite a distinction of at least 1,000 kilometres and two national identities, Martin‘s gaffe again went largely unacknowledged.


There were whispered murmurs among the prime minister‘s aides.


Martin‘s visit to CFB Gagetown -- the latest stop on a countrywide campaign-style swing -- was the first by a Prime Minister. In his speech, Martin went on to outline his military priorities.


"The purpose of today was to put the role our armed services play, domestically and internationally, into context," he said.

This isn‘t the first time this has happened either. Does anyone remember when our defence minister talked about how Canada earned its name on the battelfield of VICHY! in WWI? (Vimy was the actual place, for those of you not in the ‘know‘)

All of that in front of soldiers to boot.

Further proof that the liberal government doesn‘t give a flying **** about Canada‘s military, past or present.

Tyler

 

[Superman]

yeah I had a good laugh over that one actually..

 

[Ex-Dragoon]

He must have had the same teachers as McCallum.

 

[Michael OLeary]

Norway was also an occupied country during the Second World War.

Norwegian Training in Canada During the Second World War Commemorated at "Little Norway"

During the Second World War over 3,000 members of the Norwegian Armed
Forces trained in Canada while their country was occupied by the Axis Powers.
The Norwegian presence in Canada brought home to Canadians the importance of
the alliance of free nations with armed forces from occupied Europe. The
memory of their presence remains a powerful symbol linking Canadians to their
war-time allies.
German forces invaded Norway in April of 1940 and overran the country by
June. The Norwegian government fled to London where it established a
government-in-exile which continued to fight the war. The government financed
its wartime activity with revenue derived from the Norwegian merchant marine
which aided the Allied cause throughout the war. In September of 1940 the
government established an airbase at Little Norway in Toronto to train members
of the Royal Norwegian Air Force; in 1942 the base was moved to Camp Little
Norway at Gravenhurst. After training at Little Norway, most flight crews
received further training at British Commonwealth Air Training Program bases
across Canada.
Norwegian fighter squadrons which had trained in Canada provided support
for the Canadian attack on Dieppe in 1942. Norwegian airmen also provided
support for convoys on the North Atlantic, covered the Normandy landing in
1944 and fought in the subsequent campaign across Northern Europe. Over the
course of the war, Norwegians were credited with destroying 252 enemy aircraft
and sinking five submarines.
The Norwegian government also established a naval and military training
base, Camp Norway, in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. Its whaling fleet took refuge in
Halifax, where many whaling vessels were converted to anti-submarine corvettes
for the Royal Norwegian Navy. After training at Camp Norway, Norwegian sailors
returned to sea to fight in the Battle of the Atlantic. The Norwegian merchant
fleet, the third largest in the world in 1939, played a key role ferrying
supplies to Britain throughout the war. Norwegian seamen paid a high price for
their support of the Allied cause; over 4000 sailors and 570 vessels were lost
during the war.

HMCS Haida

In 1945 HAIDA returned to duties in the Arctic and was involved in the liberation of Norway.

 

[AlphaCharlie]

that‘s hilarious. How could you NOT know where the D-Day invasion happened? I mean... oh im not even going to try and comprehend.

 

[Armymedic]

Because the Politician are only as smart as thier speach writers...

Like this stuff surprises you, their whole purpose/job is to get reelected, not memorize exactly where, why, who and when details happened for the audience they are speaking to, they have lackies for that.

 

[Gunnar]

The beauty of it all is that this was a speech done in front of some 350 soldiers....and a speech where he was trying to tout all the defense spending that‘s coming up "REAL SOON NOW". I mean, bullsh|t is one thing, but to try to pass it off when you obviously don‘t even know what you‘re talking about is incredibly stupid.

But then, nothing surprises me about the Liberals. They can‘t even make their OWN ideas work efficiently. Job creation, 2 billion on 27 jobs. Gun registry: 2 billion (10 times the planned 2 million) and not everyone is registered yet. Then, there‘s the obvious pork barrel stuff: slush funds for every advertising agency or company that kicks back to the Liberal party, fiscal malfeasance at Crown Corporations...then, as they are "investigating", 2 billion in spending where they figure they can buy votes. The only difference between Svend Robinson‘s recent theft and the Liberals woeful record of mismanagement and dishonesty is that a) he stole from ONE person and b) He didn‘t try to tell the jeweller it was for his own good.

But then, the sheeple who make up the electorate will probably vote Liberal anyway, because they CARE so much for the underdog.

Anyone notice that the Liberals only seem to waste taxpayer‘s money in multiples of 2 billion? Wonder why the magic figure....?

 

[Michael Dorosh]

Gunnar, the whole point that he was in front of 350 soldiers may have accounted for the slip. I can only that if he is half as dedicated to the military as he says he is, he was more than a little nervous about getting the speech right. Face it, he is an elderly man and he read the speech incorrectly.

It‘s still probably not an excuse, but it‘s not like he made stuff up on the spot and got it wrong. It‘s more like he was simply nervous and read the script incorrectly - twice.

I do like the comment on Svend Robinson, esepecially b)

Although, if the speech was so important to him, you would think he would have read it over to an audience of his staff first. Possible he did that and said Normandy in front of them, but who knows.

Anyway, actions speak louder than words. We can only wait and see. The tax breaks are a good start, no?

 

[Infanteer]

Maybe he should have to watch "Saving Private Ryan"?

 

[SFontaine]

I wonder what would happen if President Bush screwed up like this.

I think it‘d be breaking ******* news on CBC. "BREAKING NEWS: PRESIDENT BUSH IS DUMB HURR HURR HURR"

 

[Jarnhamar]

"How could you NOT know where the D-Day invasion happened?"

I would say because he has a billion things going through his head, probably quite a few more then we have here.
I wonder how much is going through his mind on a day to day basis. Every single word you utter you have to choose carefully because you might say something completly by accident and the next day you have a million up in arms over something you said. People are just sitting waiting for you to trip up so they can jump all over you. In this case he has the pleasure of working with all the morons who have spent what, decades? screwing up canada. When i stand in front of a class of 15 or 20 guys and im speaking i get nervous and trip over my words sometimes, just like everyone else does.

Imagine standing infront of an army?

 

[nbk]

I keep reading that quote from the PM over and over again and I cannot see where it stated he was referring to D-Day as having taken place in Norway. It seems the author of the article put those words into his mouth.

Correct me if I am wrong, but were Canadians not involved in the invasion and liberation of Norway from NAZI occupation?

 

[Infanteer]

Norway was in German hands on VE day, so no.

 

[mattoigta]

Originally posted by nbk:
[qb] I keep reading that quote from the PM over and over again and I cannot see where it stated he was referring to D-Day as having taken place in Norway. It seems the author of the article put those words into his mouth.

Correct me if I am wrong, but were Canadians not involved in the invasion and liberation of Norway from NAZI occupation? [/qb]

Article: " ‘Sixty years ago, Canadians were working alongside their British and American allies planning for the invasion of Norway and the liberation of Europe,‘ Martin said without batting an eye. "

60 Years ago would be 1944, so this "invasion and liberation of europe" being referred to is without a doubt the Normandy invasion.

 

[Long in the tooth]

Once again, Liberal gaffs conceal the larger misconception. Operation Overlord was only launched after the First and Fifth Canadian Divisions had already been fighting hard from Scicily through Italy for a year. But let‘s not expect our politicians to know about "The D Day Dodgers" of the First Canadian Corps, as we‘ed be even more disappointed....

 

[nbk]

Originally posted by Infanteer:
[qb] Norway was in German hands on VE day, so no. [/qb]

Originally posted by Scarlino:
[qb] Article: " ‘Sixty years ago, Canadians were working alongside their British and American allies planning for the invasion of Norway and the liberation of Europe,‘ Martin said without batting an eye. "

60 Years ago would be 1944, so this "invasion and liberation of europe" being referred to is without a doubt the Normandy invasion. [/qb]

Alright fair enough. Stupid PM...

 

[Jarnhamar]

Hey NBK, you going to run and tell your good buddies at FARK about this one too?


***
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2004-04-14 12:27:03 AM nbk


As well this site has always had major bandwidth problems, and they will be delighted to know you farked them up bigtime haha.
***

Maybe you and your boys can go FARK the PM‘s website or something neat-o like that.

 

[nbk]

Well I hardly ever post there. And I‘m not a member so I don‘t think I can submit anything. It may have already been mentioned, I don‘t check that site everyday. As well they are mostly americans on that site, so they would simply flame to death how dumb the PM is, even though they are all to dumb to even know what the second world war was. As if said on another thread, I have zero respect for any of the losers on that site.

 

[Jarnhamar]

Kinda looked like you were laughing right along with them, at army.ca.

Maybe i‘m wrong though.
Be that as it may i‘m fairly certian you can‘t post if your not a member. I know i tried.

"And I‘m not a member so I don‘t think I can submit anything"
"Well I hardly ever post there."
"quote: 2004-04-14 12:27:03 AM nbk"

Somethings not really adding up. *Taps nose*
I‘m sure it‘s just me whos confused.

 

[vr]

It would be understandable as nervousness if he only did it once...but he said it twice. that means whomever wrote the speech is the culprit. the PM like a good politician just read what was put in front of him.

The sad part is do you think any schoolkids in this country would have noticed the mistake. I for one doubt it.