D-Day veteran earning national attention

Here and Now column by Dan Hilborn
Published June 5, 2004


Frank Helden, Burnaby's best-known D-Day veteran, remembers piloting a 50-foot craft onto the beaches of Normandy on the afternoon of June 6, 1944.

This year, for the 60th anniversary of the Allied assault that triggered the final push to defeat Nazi Germany, Helden will be riding in a much quieter vehicle - taking the HandiDart bus to the Coquitlam Legion.

Helden, a former corporal in Britain's Royal Marines, has been basking in the limelight as the city's most famous D-Day veteran.

Last month, the Vancouver Courier newspaper published a story about his desire to return to Normandy for the celebrations. This week, the Toronto-based Globe and Mail ran another article on his experiences both during the war and his life in Canada afterwards.

"We got ashore and my craft went derelict, so I grabbed my rifle and told my crew that we were going up front," the 85-year-old Helden remembers of that fateful day so long ago.

Helden was assigned to Gold Beach, one of two sites where the British forces were deployed as part of a five-pronged Allied assault on the continent. After months of training in Southampton, Helden and his squadron were assigned the task of helping other Allied soldiers disembark from their vessels.

"We never got off the beaches of Normandy," he said. "Our job was to go alongside the boats in the harbour and bring them ashore to the 'mulberry' (an artificial harbour made of sunken ships).

"It was devastating," said Helden.

"Boats coming ashore could strike the odd mine that the minesweepers hadn't cleared, or they'd get shelled.

"But we were lucky, we landed in the afternoon. It must have been awful for the guys who landed at six o'clock in the morning."

An estimated 10,000 Allied soldiers died that day alone. Helden knows he was was lucky to survive.

Three years after the war ended, he moved to Canada, where he has worked on the coastal ferry system and at B.C. Tel.

Today, he is best known for his many unsuccessful attempts to run for politics both in Burnaby and Vancouver. And while life has slowed down for the octogenarian, he still makes an impact on his community. Earlier this year, Helden was instrumental in convincing city hall to install a new pedestrian controlled crosswalk on Kingsway at Inman Avenue.

Helden spent Friday at an official D-Day function at the Beatty Street Armouries in Vancouver, and, on Sunday, the official anniversary of the event, he will attend a wreath-laying ceremony at the cenotaph in Coquitlam before taking in a dinner at the local legion.

WALK FOR DREAMS

Looking for something to do this weekend?

The annual Sunshine Walk for Children's Dreams is coming back to Burnaby Lake on Sunday afternoon, with registration taking place at 9 a.m. outside of the pavilion on Roberts Street.

This walk, with entry by donations or pledges, raises funds to fulfill the wishes of kids between the ages of three and 19 years who have a severe disability or a life-threatening illness.

After the walk, the foundation will host a barbecue for all the participants. For more information, check out the website www.sunshine.ca.

AUTHOR IN TOWN

Students at Burnaby Mountain secondary school are in for a treat when Nanaimo-based author Susan Juby comes to town to read from her new book Miss Smithers on Wednesday afternoon.

The book, which is receiving rave reviews from across the country, relates the story of 16-year-old Alice MacLeod, who enters the local beauty pageant in her northern B.C. hometown of Smithers.

Motivated by the prospect of winning a $400 clothing allowance, the young vegetarian beauty queen runs into a series of hilarious misfortunes, including being sponsored by the local Rod and Gun Club, and then having to impress the judges at a steak dinner.

Miss Smithers is the second in a trilogy of books to be published by Harper Collins Canada. Coming in at 336 pages, it's available at most bookstores, or from the author's own website at www.susanjuby.com.

CLEANUP SET

Come on out and help keep your neighbourhood clean this Wednesday afternoon when Maywood community school and a host of other local agencies team up to sponsor the Metrotown Clean-Up and Barbecue.

The event starts at 5 p.m., June 9, with a barbecue featuring hot dogs, veggie dogs and other treats for participants at the South Central Youth Centre, located at 6730 Jubilee Ave.

Participants are welcome to show up on the day to help out, but the group is also seeking team captains who can help with the organization of the day. To sign on as a team captain, contact Janice at 604-431-0400.

The Metrotown Clean-Up and Barbecue is sponsored by Prestige Travel and the Metrotown Rotary Club, with help from the South Burnaby Neighbourhood House, Burnaby parks, recreation and cultural services, the South Central Youth Centre and local residents.

Simon Dix of Burnaby will be riding the SkyTrain for free over the next month, and he won't have to worry about being caught by the transit police force, either.

Dix was the winner of a one-month transit pass after he was spotted wearing a Clean Air Day button on the rapid transit system on Clean Air Day, June 2.

The event was created several years ago to help promote awareness of air quality in the Lower Mainland and to encourage local residents to use alternative forms of transportation, even if just for one day.

Charles Chan of Burnaby won a clean Air day coffee mug. Both prizes were handed out at the Lougheed Town Centre SkyTrain station. A total of 1,500 prizes were randomly distributed to people who wore the buttons on the transit system.