Mr. Speaker, I rise to mark the 75th anniversary of the deployment of some of Newfoundland and Labrador's finest and bravest in World War II.
Twenty-five hundred men and 500 women served in the Canadian armed forces. Others served in the Royal Navy and we fielded two royal artillery regiments in the British army.
The 57th Newfoundland Heavy Regiment, later becoming the 166th Newfoundland Field Regiment, fought in North Africa and Italy, and the 59th Newfoundland Heavy Regiment fought alongside Allied forces in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany.
The exceptional valour and incredible skill of the Newfoundland artillerymen was widely recognized and celebrated. Sir Anthony Eden, then Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs, said upon their arrival in England:
Newfoundland, whose sons have fought side by side with Englishmen since the days of the Tudors, responded at once to the call that echoed round the world last September. ... You may be sure that the spirit of Newfoundland...is not forgotten.