They were farmers, students, northern fur trappers — ordinary young Saskatchewan men from all walks of life transformed into extraordinary warriors who helped end Nazi tyranny in Europe.

They were the men of the Regina Rifles Regiment, who were part of the invasion of Nazi-occupied France that began with the D-Day battle in Normandy on June 6, 1944.

Their Saskatchewan origins meant other Canadian soldiers got their digs by dismissing them as “just a bunch of Farmer Johns.”

The men of the regiment, though, wore the nickname as a badge of pride.

THE REGINA RIFLES

A Canadian Soldier of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry in street fighting, Ortona Italy, 1943

PPCLI at Ortona, Italy 1943

Personnel of the Regina Rifles preparing to attack enemy in Moyland Wood near Calcar, Germany, 16 February 1945.