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Newfoundland foresters' contribution to WW II

While D-Day was a major turning point in the war, the Newfoundland Overseas Forestry Unit's work to support it had been going on behind the front lines.

Newfoundland foresters' contribution to WW II

10 years ago
Duration 26:46
Todd O'Brien travelled to Scotland to film this documentary

Events have been held all week to mark the 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion that led to the liberation of Europe in the Second World War.

While D-Day was a major turning point in the war, much work to support it had been going on behind the front lines.

The Newfoundland Overseas Forestry Unit was operating in Scotland and England as early as 1939.

More than 3,600 men worked in the forests, cutting down trees. Wood that was needed for mine pit props, telegraph poles, railway ties and barricades for the beaches.

CBC's Todd O'Brien visited Scotland in 2005 and shot the documentary above, originally broadcast in three parts.