While we enjoy fine late spring weather this Tuesday June 6, the weather on the same day and date 73 years ago was thick cloud and rough seas off the French coast of Normandy. And on D-Day in 1944 a young 18-year old Marine was there serving aboard HMS SCYLLA. SCYLLA, the flagship of Admiral Vian, was supporting the Allied invasion of France by bombarding the Ouistreham area and gunfire support as the troops landed. Royal Marine Mike Kirkwood was the young Marine and he already had nearly two years of war service prior to D-Day.
Last month Mike was presented a special honour from the French Government for his participation in the Allied invasion to free the peoples of France and Europe. The medal of the French L’ordre national de la Légion d’honneur was presented to Mike by Colonel Mike Atkins, C.D., Commander of 19 WING Comox. While Mike was serving in the British Forces during World War Two, it was only recently that his local shipmates learned of this French honour to surviving D-Day veterans of several Allied nations.
Mr. Kirkwood left the Royal Marines in 1952 and emigrated from Britain to Canada in 1953. Later that year he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force as a musician with the RCAF Band. After some 33 years of military service he retired in Comox from the Regular Force in 1975 with the rank of Warrant Officer; and released from the Supplementary Reserve in 1990.
Mr. Kirkwood remains active in community organizations; he had been the President of the Comox Rotary Club as well as the Comox Valley Branch of the Royal Canadian Naval Association (RCNA). Shipmate Kirkwood was recognized with a Life membership by the RCNA in October 2014.
The RCNA is made up of serving and former naval Regular and Reserve veterans and is formed into various branches across Canada. The Association also includes Coast Guard and Merchant Navy members and includes support of the Canadian Cadet Organization.