'We wouldn’t be living the life we are now': Local tribute to D-Day runs all month

Many area communities marked the 80th anniversary of D-Day with ceremonies and tributes.

But at least one effort will continue for weeks to come.

The Plympton-Wyoming Museum in Camlachie has been repurposed to mark the anniversary of Operation Overlord.

It is a passion project that has taken volunteers months to prepare.

Opening Saturday, it's hoped visitors will arrive with stories of valour.

“Such as my dad was at D-day. My dad was at this beach, or here, or my grandfather,” said museum President Gordon Mackenzie as he pointed at a map of the Normandy beach landing sites.

With under 10,000 residents, the size of Plympton-Wyoming is reflective of the price rural communities paid on D-Day and in the Second World War.

Local farms produced food for soldiers and young men for battle.

“If you didn’t have an immediate family member, you had a next-door neighbour,” said museum volunteer and local resident Bill Monroe. “We all knew someone up the street that became a casualty of this great conflict.”

The impact of D-Day is shown through connections with Sarnia and London, Ont. and via a unique map.

It overlays the D-Day beaches onto the shores of Lake Huron between Grand Bend and Sarnia.

The indoor displays also feature German military hardware captured by local soldiers.

Outside, expect historical vehicles and re-enactments.

Doors open Saturday at 10 a.m. at 6745 Camlachie Rd.

Cpl. Brent Poland of Camlachie was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2007. One exhibit room in a D-Day exhibit at the Plympton-Wyoming Musuem is named in his honour in an effort to tie area military generations together. (Source: Department of National Defence)

There will also be a tribute to a soldier the main display room is named after.

Cpl. Brent Poland was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2007.

The tie between the Canadian military generations of sacrifice is moving to Netty McEwen, the deputy mayor of Plympton-Wyoming.

“If it weren’t for those people on D-Day, and anybody who went into a war, we wouldn’t be living the life we are now. And I’m going to get emotional,” she said through tears. “But it’s very important.”