A war veteran who is a resident of Sunridge Place in Duncan was given FranceB次元官网网址檚 highest award on Nov. 17.

Capt. (Ret.) Fernand Labrie was presented with The Legion of Honour, the highest national order of France, both military and civil, by Nicolas Baudouin, the consul general of France in B.C. at a ceremony at the senior centre in Duncan.

The award was given to Labrie, who is 100 years old, in recognition of his heroic service to the people of France in the liberation campaign during the Second World War.

Baudouin told Labrie he felt privileged and humbled to stand before him and present him with The Legion of Honour, which was first established in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte and is considered one of the most prestigious awards in the world.

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B次元官网网址淩emembrance Day is important in both France and Canada as a time to remember those who fell in combat,B次元官网网址� he said.

B次元官网网址淭he day is a strong reminder that freedom and prosperity comes with a price. ItB次元官网网址檚 important to remember you [Labrie] and others from Canada who fought in the war.B次元官网网址�

LabrieB次元官网网址檚 daughter Pierrette Morgan said her father joined Le R茅giment de Maisonneuve in Montreal in 1940 and, after a brief training period, was shipped out to England.

She said her father participated in the unsuccessful Dieppe Raid in 1942 in which 3,623 of the 6,086 mostly Canadian soldiers who landed were killed, wounded or became prisoners of war, but never went ashore.

B次元官网网址淭hey sat out in the channel bouncing around in a landing craft while being targeted by German fire until they returned to England,B次元官网网址� Morgan said.

Morgan said Labrie landed on Juno Beach in France six days after D-Day and his regiment fought its way into northern Germany and was there when the Germans surrendered in the spring of 1945.

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B次元官网网址淒uring his war service, my father was in regimental intelligence as a cipher specialist,B次元官网网址� she said.

B次元官网网址淗e spent time during the war in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany, as well as the United Kingdom. He returned to Canada in January, 1946, and was one of just two of the original Le R茅giment de Maisonneuve who shipped out in 1940 to return to Montreal for demobilization.B次元官网网址�

Morgan said her father reenlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces in 1947 and trained as a glider pilot, and received his wings, but a gliding accident in 1949 left him severely injured and on the non-active list.

He went on to serve in a number of other roles in Canada and overseas before finally retiring in 1973 with the rank of captain.

robert.barron@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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