Flares, fireworks and general explosions roared through the area as the Axis forces prepared for the ramps to drop and dozens upon dozens of Allied soldiers to begin their attack, attempting to climb and claw their way through the withering hail of fire from above.
Three short horn blasts at exactly 12 o'clock and carnage ensued.
With every second of it taking place in support of Joe's Place youth centre.
Prairie Storm hosted their annual D-Day re-creation paintball battle on the afternoon of Saturday, Sept. 21, drawing close to 200 competitors to the Axis and Allied sides for a day of fun warfare, all with the goal of raising as much money as possible for the local charity.
“Oh man, it was incredible,” said Joe’s Place owner Joe Dueck, who served as an Allied commander for the event. “This is the 10th annual D-Day Juno Beach event, but this is the first year they’ve invited Joe’s Place to run it, including writing the script for the event, planning the game and then our youth helped to do a lot of work around the place like painting the landing craft and everything.
“We’ve had youth play before but we’ve never helped run it and we’ve certainly never been the recipient of all the funds raised. It’s incredible, because we’re really struggling financially over the last couple of years and especially over the last two or three months. So this could not have come at a better time.”
The event’s format was exceptionally unique.
Each set of team leaders on both the Allied and Axis side received an intel package with maps and orders prior to the event in order to co-ordinate the assault and defence. Throughout the day, orders were updated and secret objectives were delivered, complete with full scripts. The planning went so far as to have the orders – such as one objective where a downed Spitfire pilot had to be rescued – signed by the proper authorities who would have made the decision back in 1944.
The written realism was only part of the package. Throw in plenty of pyrotechnics and things get ramped up even further.
That’s where Andrew Jones’ JFX special effects company came into play, as they set up the various fireworks and noisemakers to simulate the start of shelling and various objectives as the battle progressed.
Case in point, one sequence during the Eastern Front phase of the day.
“When the Eastern Front opened the Allies had to take enough fuel from the fuel depot to get our Canadian tanks to Caen and then blow up the fuel depot,” Dueck explained. “The Axis troops repelled wave after wave of attacks, but the Allies were finally able to blow it up, which created an amazing fireball up into the sky and a smoke ring that probably lasted for half an hour.”
And yes, the Allies did prevail on the day – Phase One simulated the landing on Juno Beach, complete with Higgins boat craft and the aforementioned heavy fire onto the ‘beach’ from entrenched positions. Allies were able to secure the beachhead, though, before moving into the outskirts of the town of Reviers. The Axis recovered in the late stages of the game and managed to regain lost ground, but by that time a minefield on the Western Front had been cleared, setting the stage for the Allies to overrun the area and claim overall victory.
“We actually took a map of France and the towns near Juno Beach that the Canadians had to take, and we transferred those onto a map of Prairie Storm Paintball,” Dueck explained. “So as they were playing the game and had their maps and orders, they were defending and going after the towns that Canadians actually had to fight for.”
That realism was part and parcel of Dueck’s plan for the day: in addition to having a ton of fun, the significance of the battle and the history behind it was also paramount.
To that end, the re-creation opened with a memorial that highlighted the service of Sgt. Bill Williams of Moose Jaw, who was killed in the initial assault on Juno Beach and is buried in the Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery.
“The moment of silence we held was pretty powerful, there wasn’t a sound in the place,” Dueck said. “I think it’s important that we remember history or we’re bound to repeat it, so this was kind of one of those hands-on experiences to think through what the cost of that battle actually was.”
The entire project saw around 30 volunteers working throughout the day, including members of the Saskatchewan Dragoons armoured reconnaissance unit who helped run the Higgins boats and referee the game as well as even putting out a small fire that broke out and helping clear the Western Front ‘minefield’.
Having the local armed forces unit involved was part of the plan to drive home the realism of the whole event.
“We can’t turn a blind eye to what has happened, we have to acknowledge the price that we’ve paid for our freedom, the freedom we enjoy so much in Canada,” Dueck said. “So hopefully everyone can take that home and do some research and learn what it was all about and what happened on Juno Beach on D-Day.”
