Back for his fifth appearance at the annual Shedden Remembrance Day observance, Ted Barris will pay tribute to a group of veterans whose unique experience changed the complexion of the Second World War. Based on his bestselling 2004 book, “JUNO: Canadians at D-Day, June 6, 1944,” Ted looks at some of the unheralded Canadians who made the greatest military gamble of the Second World War succeed. Operation Overlord depended on the lightning strike capability and efficiency of all three Allied armies – U.S., British and Canadian – on D-Day. Ted Barris’s definitive book on the Canadian story that day will be the focus of this year’s talk.

When: 9:30 a.m to 11:30 a.m., Sunday, November 6, 2011.

Where: Keystone Complex, Shedden, Ontario.

Contact: Michele Drewitt, Township of Southwold, 519-769-2010, mdrewitt@twp.southwold.on.ca

Back by popular demand, Ted Barris returns to the RCAF 413 (A/C Leonard Birchall) Wing at Trenton, Ont., on Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011. Following his talk about instructors in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, during the Second World War, Ted has been invited back to look at another of his topical works. In 2009, his book “Breaking the Silence: Veterans’ Untold Stories from the Great War to Afghanistan” was published. It quickly became a bestseller. But more important, the book began to generate a lot of buzz about the nature of getting veterans to talk about their experiences and equally fascinating, Ted’s exploration of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and its indelible impact on veterans then and now. That’s the subject of his return-visit talk.

When: Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011.

Where: 413 Wing, 230 North Murray St., Trenton, Ont., 613-392-2774

Contact: Art Darnbrough 613-965-5837 or Joanne Peckham 613-392-3878

Ted Barris offers a unique telling of the famous WWI battle at Vimy Ridge, that, he says, gave birth to the country’s nationhood. At the April meeting of the Scarborough Historical Society, 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: Tuesday, April 26, 2011.

Where: Bendale Library, Scarborough, Ont., 613-392-2774

Contact: Jan Howe, chair of program committee, janicelhowe@sympatico.ca

Ted Barris addresses the Canadian Club of Durham Region during a luncheon meeting on Wednesday, February 2, 2011. He will speak to members about the job of getting veterans to speak about their experiences; his talk is based on two recent bestselling books “Breaking the Silence: Veterans’ Untold Stories from the Great War to Afghanistan” and “Deadlock in Korea: Canadians at War 1050-1953.”

When: 12 noon., Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011.

Where: Holiday Inn, 1011 Bloor St. E., Oshawa, Ontario.

Contact: Tim Davies, speakers convener, timcdavies@rogers.com