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



## Tyler (16 Apr 2004)

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.
> 
> ...


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


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## Superman (16 Apr 2004)

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


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## Ex-Dragoon (16 Apr 2004)

He must have had the same teachers as McCallum.


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## Michael OLeary (16 Apr 2004)

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
> ...


HMCS Haida 



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


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## AlphaCharlie (16 Apr 2004)

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.


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## Armymedic (16 Apr 2004)

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.


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## Gunnar (16 Apr 2004)

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....?


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## Michael Dorosh (16 Apr 2004)

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?


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## Infanteer (16 Apr 2004)

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


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## SFontaine (16 Apr 2004)

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"


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## Jarnhamar (16 Apr 2004)

"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?


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## nbk (16 Apr 2004)

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?


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## Infanteer (16 Apr 2004)

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


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## mattoigta (16 Apr 2004)

> 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.


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## Long in the tooth (17 Apr 2004)

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....


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## nbk (17 Apr 2004)

> 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...


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## Jarnhamar (17 Apr 2004)

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.


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## nbk (19 Apr 2004)

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.


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## Jarnhamar (19 Apr 2004)

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.


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## vr (19 Apr 2004)

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.


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## brin11 (19 Apr 2004)

As Michael Dorosh has mentioned, the PM has admitted that the speech was written correctly and that he read it incorrectly; so it is NOT the speech writers‘ fault.  I think he just had Norway on the brain for one reason or another.  I just keep telling myself that so that I don‘t feel too depressed.


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## Gryphon (19 Apr 2004)

Correct me if i‘m wrong, but wasn‘t there a battle for norway? in the second world war, that was horribly horribly botched?


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## Tyler (20 Apr 2004)

> Originally posted by Worn Out Grunt:
> [qb] Operation Overlord was only launched after the First and Fifth Canadian Divisions had already been fighting hard from Scicily through Italy for a year.[/qb]


True, as well other campaigns in North Africa fought by others, but they didn‘t liberate Europe through Italy.


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## Old Cent Hand (20 Apr 2004)

Kind of reminds me of when the previous PM , went to Bosnia to visit the troops , he had his helmet on backwards , but no one had the " NADS" , to say " Excuse me , Mr. PM , let me adjust your helmet ", but he was no doubt surrounded by officers , who wouldn‘t want to hurt , the almighty " Career Progression".


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## nbk (20 Apr 2004)

> Originally posted by Ghost778:
> [qb] Kinda looked like you were laughing right along with them, at army.ca.
> 
> Maybe i‘m wrong though.
> ...


No I was not laughing at the site, I was laughing at the situation as in "Boy a lot of people on Army.ca are gonna be pissed at them for this, haha" and as well I believe you have to be a paying "total fark" member of the site to submit news, although I have never submitted news and cannot say for sure.

Why did not you quote the other thing I said before that, where I stated that it was not infact the official Canadian army site, "honour" is spelled correctly and soforth? 

But I suppose if you are desperate to have this image of me as an military hating hippie no matter how much I tell you otherwise, you will try to bend my words around and make it seem like I am something I am not.

This is only an internet site, and not the real world. So believe of me what you will, it will have no effect on my life and my career.


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## Infanteer (20 Apr 2004)

We don‘t think your a military hating hippie, we just think your Euro Trash.


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## Long in the tooth (21 Apr 2004)

[No message]


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## nbk (21 Apr 2004)

> Originally posted by Infanteer:
> [qb] We don‘t think your a military hating hippie, we just think your Euro Trash. [/qb]


Oh ok. Well in that case continue as you were.


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## pissedpat (21 Apr 2004)

> Originally posted by Gunnar:
> [qb]   Gun registry:  2 billion (10 times the planned 2 million) and not everyone is registered yet. Anyone notice that the Liberals only seem to waste taxpayer‘s money in multiples of 2 billion?  Wonder why the magic figure....? [/qb]


Hmmm, not to belittle you or anything but do you not think that on a comment that critiques others massive calculation failures maybe you should do a mathamaticle check of your own facts? 2 billion(2,000,000,000) is not ten(10) time 2 million(2,000,000) A ten time cost overrun would be, well, actualy quite small for a government contract. This is a one thousand time cost over run or if you would prefer an increase in cost of nearly 100,000%! As for where the 2 billion dollar figure came from I‘m not fully sure as up until recently the number has been only 1 billion though CBC is reporting 2 billion now.


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## Dan Gerous (25 Apr 2004)

> Originally posted by gryphon664:
> [qb] Correct me if i‘m wrong, but wasn‘t there a battle for norway? in the second world war, that was horribly horribly botched? [/qb]


The First Special Service Force was originally created to take out German power plants in the mountains of Norway and Italian Alps.  But then they decided just to bomb them.


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## hugh19 (25 Apr 2004)

There was a battle for Norway in 1940. Elements of 1 CDN Div were scheduled to go but they never did.


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## Michael Dorosh (25 Apr 2004)

> Originally posted by Nate M:
> [qb]
> 
> 
> ...


Good call.  The vehicle later known as the M29 Weasel was designed specifically to let the FSSF navigate over the snowy plains of Norway and was later used by US mountain troops in Italy.


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