VIDEO – New Brockville Rifles Regimental Museum D-Day Exhibits Now on Display at City Hall Lobby & Brockville Museum

Brockville – This Thursday, June 6th marks the 80th Anniversary of D-Day and the liberation of occupied Europe.

To commemorate the anniversary, The Brockville Rifles and The Brockville Rifles Regimental Museum have provided the City of Brockville with two exhibits, one in the lobby at City Hall and one at the Brockville Museum honouring the service of The Brockville Rifles and the people of Brockville during the Second World War.

Video story below from Monday’s event:

Both exhibits are now on display until early July.

On Monday, June 3rd, the D-day exhibit in the lobby of City Hall was opened by Brockville Mayor Matt Wren along with members of the Brockville Rifles and a descendant of one of the local Second World War veterans, Charles Beattie, whose grandfather, Charles Alexander Beattie, served with the Brockville Rifles and would lead the company of Brocks that landed on Juno Beach on D-Day.

On June 6, 1944, the largest seaborne assault in history was conducted to liberate France and the rest of occupied Europe from the grips of Nazi Germany. The Brockville Rifles and the City of Brockville played a key role during the Second World War, with soldiers of The Brockville Rifles landing on D-Day and fighting their way through France, Belgium, Holland, and into Germany.

The Brockville Rifles provided more than 150 soldiers to The Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry Highlanders, part of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division. The unit would land at Juno Beach, fighting off countless fanatical counterattacks from the German 12th SS Panzer Division Hitler Jugend (Hitler Youth) between Les Buissons and Vieux-Cairon, an area now called “Hell’s Corner.” They also played a critical role in holding the beachhead at Beny-sur-Mer.

One of the local soldiers in the display at city hall is Twenty-one-year-old Private Herbert Edward (Bert) Box, who enlisted at the Brockville Armouries in 1940.

As Company Signaller, Pte. Box landed on Juno Beach with the SD&G Highlanders on D-Day and would be the city’s first loss in that campaign. He would succumb to his injuries suffered while his company came under mortar fire while on patrol.

The company took cover, but Pte. Box received a mortal wound when a large piece of tree splinter from the mortar attack went through him.

The exhibit in the City Hall lobby runs until about early July 2024. The Brockville Museum’s exhibit runs until July 3, 2024.

The Brockville Royal Canadian Legion Branch 96 commemorates the 80th anniversary of D-day with a ceremony this Thursday, June 6th at the Legion on Park Street starting at 11:00 am.