Pipestone Flyer
70 years ago on June 6, 1944, 359 Canadians were killed in action on the beaches of Normandy. The Juno Beach Centre Association is commemorating the sacrifice of these men by installing a Tribute Marker for each fallen soldier.
One of these fallen soldiers is from the Millet area, Private Lawrence Osborne of the Canadian Scottish who was 25 when he lost his life at Normandy and is buried at the Canadian War Cemetery at Bretteville -sur-Laize in France.
Unfortunately, at this time not much is known about Private Osborne. The markers will have codes that can be used with smartphones to link to any information, stories and pictures that can be gathered and made available to the Juno Beach Centre Association. The goal is to have as much personal information as possible about these soldiers to pay tribute to them.
Currently the Pipestone Flyer is searching for information on Private Osborne with the help of the Millet Museum and Millet Legion. We are hoping that there is family of Private Osborne’s still in the Millet area who can provide information to make his Tribute Marker as personal as possible. If you can help with this please call 780-216-0624 or send an email to stacie@pipestoneflyer.ca Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
“The Canadians who fell on D-Day and the thousands of men who were killed throughout the Battle of Normandy were from communities across Canada. They went to the school down your street, sat in your church every Sunday and worked at your businesses. Some of the men were only boys as young as 18; they stormed the beach fresh out of high school and minor sports.” The Juno Beach Centre.
The Juno Beach Centre Association is also looking for financial support for placement of these tributes in time for the 70th as well as help pave the way for future commemoration and educational programming at the Centre. You can call 1-877-828-JUNO (5866) or email jsguigna@junobeach.org for more information about making donations to this project.