NEWS RELEASE
ORILLIA MUSEUM OF ART AND HISTORY
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The history committee at the Orillia Museum of Art and History (OMAH) welcomes Jayne Poolton-Turvey as our guest speaker at 7 p.m. on Oct. 19 via Zoom with her talk, The Dieppe Raid: 80 Years of Tragedy and Tribulation.
The Dieppe Raid has been called Canada’s darkest day of the Second World War, with 907 killed and 1,946 taken prisoner.
It occurred 80 years ago, on Aug. 19, 1942, forever changing the lives of the families of hundreds of Canadian soldiers.
Jayne’s father, Jack A. Poolton, a member of Toronto’s Royal Regiment of Canada, was taken prisoner in the Dieppe Raid and spent nearly three years in Stalag VIII-B in Germany, including 410 days with his wrists in chains.
Jayne and her father shared this story with presentations to hundreds of people.
Realizing the importance of remembering Dieppe and the sacrifices made, in 2015, she created a research project called Dieppe Blue Beach, Every Man Remembered. The goal was to locate a photo and biography for the 554 soldiers in her father’s regiment who participated in the Dieppe Raid.
Jayne co-authored a book with her father, called Destined to Survive: A Dieppe Veteran’s Story (published in 1998 by Dundurn Press). The book is available for purchase in the OMAH shop. Click here to order.
Join Jayne as she shares her quest to memorialize each of the 554 soldiers in her father’s regiment and recount some of the stories of the loved ones who were left behind.
To register and receive a link to the talks, click here or call Monica at 705-326-2159 or email [email protected].
Admission is free, but donations to OMAH are appreciated.
— Written by Mary Ann Grant
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