June 6, 2011, is the 67th anniversary of D-Day, the greatest military gamble of the Second World War. At dawn on that spring morning in 1944, 15,000 Canadians participated in Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy that would begin the liberation of Europe. A member of the RCAF, Spitfire pilot Charley Fox flew cover that morning and went on to perform 232 operational sorties and win two Distinguished Flying Crosses. But Hon. Col. Fox was – following the war – a well respected and active businessman and citizen of several southwestern Ontario communities, including London. The city has decided to honour his memory with the Charley Fox Overpass, to be inaugurated at a special ceremony on the anniversary of D-Day. Ted Barris will join the observance and remember his friend and revered veteran.

When: 10 a.m., Monday, June 6, 2011.

Where: Charley Fox Overpass, London, Ontario.

Contact: City of London, Ontario, 519-661-2500.

Some 50 feet wide and 10 feet tall, the Portraits of Honour mural remembers the 155 Canadian soldiers, sailors and aircrew who’ve lost their lives in the Afghanistan operation since 2002. For three years, Ontario-based artist Dave Sopha has captured the faces of those lost in the mission. On Saturday, June 4, 2011, the Portraits of Honour mural will be featured during a fundraising banquet at Oshawa’s historic McLaughlin (Ontario Regiment) Armoury. Organizers have invited Ted Barris to offer a keynote speech, which will focus on events relevant to the date – Canada’s pivotal role in the June 6, 1944, D-Day operations on Juno Beach.

When: 6 p.m., Saturday, June 4, 2011

Where: McLaughlin Armoury, 53 Simcoe Street North, Oshawa, Ontario.

Contact: Todd Doyle, Kinsmen (Oshawa), 905-243-0703, tdoyle8603@sympatico.ca

The Great War and Maud’s Community: The Great War came to Ontario County in June 1915, when local lawyer and MP Samuel Sharpe began recruiting young men for service in his brand new 116th (Ontario) Battalion. As with other communities in other counties in other dominions of the Empire, the families in Maud’s vicinity responded. Young men joined “this great adventure” quickly because they feared it might “all be over by Christmas.” But the impact on those who served as well as on the world they left behind proved indelible. Of more than a thousand Ontario County men who joined Samuel Sharpe’s battalion, only one-tenth returned; they were truly “the lost generation.” On Thursday, Oct. 13, 2011, Ted Barris joins the 100th anniversary celebrations of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s arrival in Ontario with a talk that focuses on a few of those who enlisted from Maud’s neighbourhood, what they experienced and how the war affected the young men in uniform and community back home.

When: 11 a.m., Thursday, Oct. 13, 2011.

Where: Uxbridge, Ontario.

Contact: Kathy Wasylenky, President of the Lucy Maud Montgomery Society of Ontario, 905-852-5284, kwasylenky@sympatico.ca

As part of its fall 2011 program, the North York Historical Society has invited Ted Barris to address the membership on Wednesday, November 16, 2011. He will speak about the job of getting veterans to speak about their experiences; his talk is based on one of his recent bestselling books, “Breaking the Silence: Veterans’ Untold Stories from the Great War to Afghanistan.” Copies of a number of Ted’s books will be on hand for sale and autographing.

When: 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2011.

Where: Meeting Room No. 1, North York Central Library, 5120 Yonge St., North York, Ontario.

Contact: North York Central Library, Canadiana Department, 416-395-5623.

Ted Barris addresses the annual RCAF birthday observance of 427 (London) Wing of the Air Force Association of Canada on Saturday, April 2, 2011. During his visit, Barris will speak about perhaps the least known military aviation heroism of the Second World War. When Britain and free-Europe cried out for help to defend themselves against the German Luftwaffe, Canada responded by launching the largest, wartime, military air training scheme in history. It was known as the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan – created 72 years ago this year – and its heroes are the subject of Ted Barris’s bestselling book “Behind the Glory.”

When: Saturday, April 2, 2011.

Where: 427 Wing building, 2155 Crumlin Road, London, Ont.

Contact: Joan Sullivan, president, 519-657-1381, joan.sullivan064@sympatico.ca

Ted Barris has accepted an invitation to speak to the annual St. David’s Day Mess Dinner of the Ontario Regiment, on Saturday, March 5, 2011. He will speak to members about post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) based on his own experience of getting veterans to speak about their experiences; his talk is based on his bestselling book “Breaking the Silence: Veterans’ Untold Stories from the Great War to Afghanistan.”

When: Saturday, March 5, 2011.

Where: Col. R.S. McLaughlin Armoury, Officers’ Mess, 53 Sincoe St. N., Oshawa, Ont.

Contact: Wayne Johnston, Captain, 647-239-3863, wayne@woundedwarriors.ca

Ted Barris has accepted a return invitation (his third visit) to speak to the Buttonville Flying Club, on Wednesday, April 13, 2011. He will speak to members about the job of getting veterans to speak about their experiences; his talk is based on his bestselling book “Breaking the Silence: Veterans’ Untold Stories from the Great War to Afghanistan.”

When: Wednesday, April 13, 2011.

Where: Buttonville Flying Club hangar, Buttonville Airport

Contact: Paul Hayes, 905-201-0232, aerocan@rogers.com

At this year’s Vimy Dinner, held at Branch 67 of the Royal Canadian Legion in Lindsday, Ted Barris offers a unique telling of the famous WWI battle at Vimy Ridge, that, he says, gave birth to the country’s nationhood. Barris will offer insights and images gleaned from some of the individual accounts – old interviews, memoirs, letters and diaries of the Canadian Corps troops – he assembled in the research/writing of his book “Victory at Vimy: Canada Comes of Age, April 9-12, 1917.”

When: Wednesday, April 6, 2011.

Where: Branch 67, Royal Canadian Legion, Lindsay, Ont.

Contact: John Sherman, president, sirsamhughes@bellnet.ca

Ted Barris addresses the Canadian Aviation Historical Society in Toronto on Saturday, April 9, 2011. Barris spoke to CAHS members about the D-Day operation during his last visit in 2004. On this occasion he speaks about perhaps the least known military aviation heroism of the Second World War. When Britain and free-Europe cried out for help to defend themselves against the German Luftwaffe, Canada responded by launching the largest, wartime, military air training scheme in history. It was known as the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan – created 72 years ago this year – and its heroes are the subject of Ted Barris’s bestselling book “Behind the Glory.”

When: Saturday, April 9, 2011.

Where: Royal Canadian Legion, Branch #527 (948 Sheppard Ave. W.) Toronto.

Contact: Bob Winson, rwinson@sympatico.ca

Ted Barris answers a longstanding return invitation as he addresses the Men’s Group of the Newtonbrook United Church during a dinner gathering on Tuesday, November 15, 2011. He will speak to members about the job of getting veterans to speak about their experiences; his talk is based on his bestselling book “Breaking the Silence: Veterans’ Untold Stories from the Great War to Afghanistan.”

When: 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2011.

Where: Newtonbrook United Church, 53 Cummer Ave., Toronto.

Contact: Paul Smith, Church office 416-222-5417, karpa@rogers.com