Gospel choir performs tonight music/17 Monday, June 1, 2009 Newsstand $1.25 Home Delivered 62¢/day www.pgcitizen.ca Classified: 250-562-6666 Reader Sales: 250-562-3301 Switchboard: 250-562-2441 Hot times at art bazaar music/17 Young minds spark science/2 PGARA Tearing up the road /9 Personnel of Royal Canadian Navy Beach Commando "W" land on Mike Beach, Juno sector of the Normandy beachhead on June 6, 1944. National Archives of Canada photo Day of days Legion to mark the Allied invasion of Europe Bernice Trick Citizen staff On June 6, 1944, Canadian, British and U.S. forces invaded German-occupied Normandy and opened the second front that resulted in the German surrender on May 8, 1945. It was called D-Day, and it was the start of the great campaign to drive the German army out of France and to bring the Second World War to an end. The D-Day invasion, code named Operation Overlord, is known as one of the most remarkable feats in military history, and was one of the best kept secrets of the war. The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 43 in Prince George will commemorate the 65th anniversary of D-Day Saturday with a ceremony and luncheon at the Royal Canadian Legion, 1335 Seventh Ave., to remember those who were there. The ceremony, featuring the Royal Canadian Legion colour party and chaplain Susan Scott, will be followed by a luncheon at 1 p.m., which is free to all military veterans. Cost is $9 to non-veterans. "D-Day was one of those deals where everybody's arguing about what you can do and what you can't," Alfred Morris, a Second World War veteran in Prince George, told The Citizen in an interview several years ago. "It was to be a combined operation with the Navy, Air Force and Army on the ground. "The hardest part was to co-ordinate all the different ordnances. If the weather was cloudy and good for the ships, it was bad for the Air Force. If the waters were rough, a lot of people would drown getting off the landing crafts. "The weather didn't co-operate. There were gales and storms which delayed the operation to June 6 from the planned June 5. But they had to go then, or wait until late July because of weather conditions on the English Channel," said Morris, who at the time was serving with the British Pacific Fleet. "Canada's role on D-Day was to take Juno Beach, and the Canadians came complete with their own tanks and everything," said Morris. Canadian forces were pitted against the second most heavily defended of the five beaches along the coast. The Germans were ready for an amphibious assault with 11 heavy batteries of 155millimetre guns and nine medium batteries of 75mm guns. German troops were also stationed in heavily-fortified bunkers and pillboxes across the beach. The Canadians not only faced heavy artillery and machine gun fire, but the seawall at the end of the beach was almost twice the size faced by the Americans on Omaha Beach. In the water was a heavy minefield that would eventually damage a large number of Canadian transports trying to reach shore. The German bunkers just off the beach were supported by an extensive network of trenches, barb wire and machine gun pits. -- See CANADIANS on page 2 focus Weekend in pictures /7 opinion Smaller ideas /6 IN STEP -- Sgt. Frank Stojkovic, left, Sgt. Chris Munger, and Flight Cpl. Matthew Stojkovic, of the 396 City of Prince George Royal Canadian Air Cadets, march in unison during the 61st annual Ceremonial Review Parade at the Prince George Airport on Saturday. Citizen photo by David Mah lifestyles Why do cats purr? /19 Right to remain silent Fears of letting boy's killer go kept police tight-lipped: RCMP Frank Peebles Citizen staff Had the RCMP told the public they had found Adam Williams' body in 2004 it might have blown their chances of catching the suspect, said the lead investigator on the case. It is rare for case information to be that sensitive, said Staff Sgt. Bruce Hulan, commander of E-Division's Unsolved Homicide Unit, but it happened then and he added it might be happening in other cases in the province also. "The RCMP acknowledges the public and the media have a lot of unanswered questions in relation to this case," Hulan told The Citizen. "The RCMP understands the public's frustrations regarding this matter and respectfully requests their patience and understanding as well as confidence in its ability to conduct a thorough investigation that will bring whoever is responsible for this heinous crime to justice. For those reasons it is not in the best interest of the investigation at this point to reveal intimate details on the specific reasoning this case was not brought to the public's attention until now." Police have said, and it has been echoed to The Citizen by Prince George's mayor and council, that it is a separate matter of interest that Williams, 13 at the time, was murdered in January of 2000 but the police did not know of the crime until someone undisclosed reported it to Mounties in October of 2004. For some reason not yet understood, it was reported to the Oliver RCMP detachment. Hulan said the remains of the body they found at that time were skeletal and partial. That caused "a considerable delay" in getting a positive identification. Another police search of the same area in recent weeks revealed more of the body and it was then, five years after their investigation started and nine years after the killing, that police announced the existence of the case. Even now, said Hulan, the case against the suspect is not to the point of arrest, although that is expected in the coming weeks. "The investigation is at a very sensitive stage," Hulan said. "Explicit answers would have a very serious and negative effect on the progress of the investigation. We want to provide the public with the amount of information they feel they need, but our goal is to complete the investigation and bring charges to those responsible." Hulan said no accomplices are being investigated at this time, begging the question who it was in 2004 that first provided police with the information about the murder and where to look for a body. Police told The Citizen that they were certain from the start that their prime suspect was no further threat to the public, was someone known to the boy's family, and Hulan confirmed that the suspect is a male who is aware that he is the centre of the police investigation. They have known of his whereabouts since the investigation began in 2004 and it is still known today. -- See DISCLOSURE on page 2 music A sad end for Susan Boyle /15 diversions Annie's Mailbox . .18 Bridge . . . . . . . . . .15 Comics . . . . . . . . .14 Crossword . . . . . . .14 Horoscope . . . . . . .2 Classifieds . . . .20-23 0 58307 00100 8