My first BBR Operation Overlord was in 2019. A friend, Bob Harding, and I joined the ride and then found two other residents of Lake Country, BC who had also signed up. We formed a fundraising team, the Okanagan Chain Gang. BBR19 began in Dieppe, France, the site of the bloodiest day in Canadian military history. From there, we rode the 450 km to Juno Beach, the Canadian beach for Operation Overlord. We arrived at the beach on the morning of 6 June 2019, the 75th anniversary of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division landings there.

General (ret’d) Romeo Dallaire, the Patron of Wounded Warriors Canada and Russel Kaye, a gunner who landed on Juno Beach on D-Day, in discussion.

My sense of historical curiosity had been piqued and I was now fully involved with WWC, their programs and the rides.