“Today, we trace the poppy for Private John Wallace Atchison, who died at age 26”.
On the sands of Juno Beach, in front of Courseulles-sur-Mer, Sébastien solemnly reads the paper provided by the organizers.
With Audrey, his companion, they have just drawn the flower on the beach, this June 6 afternoon.
The poppy is a tribute to soldiers killed in conflicts.
In the Juno sector, between Courseulles and Bernières-sur-Mer, 359 young Canadians died just 77 years ago.
This year again, the ceremonies and other highlights of the DDay commemorations were limited by the health context. While on vacation in the region, Audrey and Sébastien heard about this initiative on the beach. “We landed in Normandy for the D-Day landings. This is an opportunity to honor the memory of these soldiers. We did not know this story. But it's very good to participate in that. It's beautiful ". The couple will try to find the family of John Wallace Atchison to send him the photo of the poppy.
A sudden roar was heard.
Military planes fly over the beach closely.
A tradition on June 6.
From their cockpit, pilots can admire the drawings, along with the names of the soldiers.
And for Antoine, 16 years old, they are not the only ones: "If ever the dead look at us from above, they will see that we do not forget them, that we think of them and that we especially thank them" .
The teenager grew up with the stories of D-Day and wishes to perpetuate this memory: “We owe everything to our ancestors.
It is thanks to their fight that Europe was liberated from Nazi Germany and that we are still free today ”.
"It's important to be there"
His mother, marked by the young age of the victims of June 6, sheds light on the family process: “We wear this every year.
My son's great-grandfather was Polish, he landed in Arromanches in 1944. Another great-grandfather fought in the First World War.
So we bathed in it.
It's important to be there ”.
Same story a few meters away, near another poppy.
Locals came with their families, with the children.
“We are fortunate to live in Normandy and we are even more sensitive to this History since we have our children.
It is a duty to relay that to them ”.
Read also Thousand portraits of veterans deployed on Normandy roads
The hope of seeing 359 poppies appear on Juno waned over the course of the afternoon. The bet was perhaps daring. Under the Calvadosian sun, the atmosphere was more for the beach towel than for commemorations, during a June 6 orphaned from its usual fervor. Antoine's mother is aware of the context and positive: “Despite the conditions, it's nice to see the world gathered there for the poppies. It reminds us of our Freedom, which we had lost a bit lately ”. The message has passed and the tribute has been paid. 77 years later, Juno still bears the traces of his heroes.