A Windsor man returned home from Florida Sunday to get some closure for a WWII hero, that hero was his father.
Hundreds gathered at the Dieppe Memorial along Windsor's waterfront as the Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment marked 76-years since the Dieppe Raid. More than 6,000 Allied troupes crossed the English Channel to take on an entrenched German stronghold in the French port on Aug. 19 1942 — more than 550 of those men were from the Essex Scottish Regiment and only 51 made it back to England.
Hundreds gathered at
’s Dieppe Monument to mark the 76th Anniversary of the Dieppe Raid durning WWII to honour the 521 soldiers and 32 Officers from the Essex Scottish Scottish Regiment.
— Gord Bacon (@baconAM800)Of the 3,367 casualties 1,946 were prisoners of war, Laurence Brenner's father Joseph was one of those prisoners. Laurence attended the ceremony to surrender his father's medals and photos to keep his memory alive.
An emotional Brenner tells AM800 News his father — who never spoke of what he endured as a prisoner of war up until his death in 1973 — would want his medals and photos to help others remember the raid.
"He wore these medals with honour, he was proud," he says. "Maybe people might recognize a relative in these pictures and that's what it's all about."
The 73 year old says parting with the medals and memorabilia to provide others with insight is the right thing to do.
"Even the ones that were prisoners and came back, they still hit that beach and anybody that hit that beach under those conditions were heroes," says Brenner. "It needs to be carried on, people need to know."
Private Joseph Brenner's medals and photos will be on display at the Major FA Tilston Armoury.
Laurence Brenner gave up his father Joseph’s medals and photos to help others remember the heroes of
’s Raid on Dieppe. https://t.co/YjsyCfwuHa
The ceremony marking the 76th year since the Raid on Dieppe durning WWII is coming to a conclusion AT
’s Dieppe Gardens.