Cecile Wasylyk still has all the letters her brother Herve Labrecque sent home to his family, saying 'My mother didn't get many letters from him, and she kept every one of them.'
A Cranbrook woman is remembering her brother lost in the Normandy Massacre . He was one of 156 soldiers executed by the German forces and 22 years old at the time. Catherine Urquhart has the story.
Cecile Wasylyk still has all the letters her brother Herve Labrecque sent home to his family, saying “My mother didn’t get many letters from him, and she kept every one of them.”During the Battle of Normandy, he was among the estimated 156 Canadian soldiers taken prisoner by German forces. All of them were executed.
“He had been taken prisoner of war and after the war was done, he was shot in the back of the head, not once but twice,” Wasylyk told Global News.General Kurt Meyer, one of the 12th SS commanders, was put on trial by Canada and sentenced to death. Later it was commuted to life imprisonment.For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.Labrecque is buried in Beny-Sur-Mer, France at the Canadian War Cemetery.
Wasylyk has never had a chance to visit her big brother’s gravestone, but says her brother’s memory remains very much alive, adding “You don’t forget, you should never forget what all these people have done for you.”Changes to Abbotsford Remembrance Day ceremony due to homeless camp disappoint someVeteran mental health highlighted on Remembrance Day: ‘It’s hard to say I’m not OK’
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