A former army officer who led a team onto the shores of Juno Beach during the D-Day attacks celebrated his 90th birthday on the Coast this month.
Alan Dean was born on Jan. 1, 1922 in Vancouver, but he doesn't know if he was the official New Year's baby that year.
"They didn't care much about that sort of thing back then," he said with a shrug.
Twenty years later, they didn't care much about his plans to finish university and start a business either. With the Second World War raging in Europe, personal goals like that took a back seat.
"I left my studies at UBC in 1942 and went to military officers' school," Dean said, recalling an urgent need throughout Canada for young men to enlist. "They were different times. Everybody who wasn't sick or had something wrong with them had to sign up. It was something you couldn't get out of."
Dean graduated from military officers' school in November, 1943 as a full lieutenant. Soon he was a member of the Third Division of the First Canadian Army and named as a platoon commander of about 40 men who were bound for Juno Beach, although Dean didn't know that until a matter of weeks before the military operation would unfold.
"I didn't know about Operation Overload [the plan to flood the continent of Europe with allied troops and destroy the German forces there] until no more than six weeks before we left. You had to know pretty well though by the preparations, which were vast, unbelievable preparations," Dean said.
Those preparations started in 1942 with British Intel-ligence gathering information and looking for the best beaches to launch an attack.
It was decided the British and Canadian soldiers would land on the eastern beaches code-named Sword, Juno and Gold.
Dean and his men were bound for Juno and on June 6, 1944 they stood bravely in ships destined for battle. When their ship hit the beach, it opened into what was a horrific battle zone.
"The ramp came down and we all ran out," Dean remembered; however, he didn't care to recall the scene. "It's not something that you talk about."
The Germans were ready for the attack and they laid heavy fire on the allied forces. With bullets flying and the death toll rising, Dean did his best to get his men off the vulnerable beachfront.
Somehow Dean said he survived that day, but many of his men perished. By the time Dean came home from the battle in Europe, there were only four members of his platoon left, himself included, and he was the only one not missing a limb.
Dean did have a close call, however. He remembers being hit by shrapnel during one of the bombings on his men.
"We were on the move one day, we were just picking up some rounds, and we were shelled and mortared. They threw a lot of stuff at us," Dean said.
Following the attack, Dean had shrapnel lodged in his leg and was taken to the hospital for treatment. Once there, he realized the journal his girlfriend had given him to carry had saved his life.
"A piece of shrapnel hit that reader [journal] and it got stuck in there, just missing my spine," Dean said, running his hand over the shrapnel still lodged in the journal.
Shortly after leaving the hospital he was sent home, thankful to have survived his time in Europe, and intensely proud of what he had been a part of. Thanks to Dean and 3.5 million other brave troops from around the globe, the people of Europe were liberated from Hitler's occupation.
"They had not seen freedom for five years. Five years under German rule and, you know, when you think of it, it's a bloody horrible thing. Hitler was just insane," Dean said.
Once Dean returned to Vancouver, he quickly got married to the girlfriend whose gift saved his life.
"Jean and I got married nine days after I got back," he said, noting the three men who stood with him were the remainder of his platoon.
The newly married couple moved to Courtenay where Dean took command of the Comox base and the pair stayed there until the war was over.
Next the couple moved to Calgary where Dean trained new officers headed for Japan and, following that, realized his dream of starting his own business. He had a successful men's wear business for several years, which helped support his growing family. Dean and his wife Jean had three children, Rodger, Jamie and Jennifer.
Jean passed away in 1995, after 53 years of marriage to Dean.
He now lives in Sechelt with his second wife Kath-leen who joined him on a trip to Holland for the 60th Anni-versary of Peace in Europe. During that visit, Dean said he was shown great honour by the people and given a sentimental present.
"It's kind of a precious thing. It's part of the flag of Holland," Dean said pointing to the perfectly folded flag displayed behind glass in his home. "It means a lot."
