Publisher: Nimbus Publishing Limited
"Thirty years ago, author and photographer Len Wagg found himself in a Commonwealth War Graves cemetery in Europe, a lush oasis of manicured lawns with row upon row of immaculate headstones inscribed with the names of Canadian dead. It left a powerful impression."
(https://www.indigo.ca/products/at-home-and-beyond-honouring-canadas-war-dead)
I am excited to share a new book that I thought would be of interest to visitors into military photography and history enthusiasts alike. “National bestselling author” and photographer Len Wagg has recently released a new photoessay collection titled, At Home and Beyond: Honouring Canada’s War Dead (published by Nimbus Publishing).
Len accepted my offer to showcase his latest release here on the CFPU website, and has generously given me permission to share a look inside this incredible project.
Len’s book combines moving historical essays with over one hundred stunning photographs, spread across 26 chapters. There were two of these chapters that I wanted to share here…
Chapter 25. D-Day, Juno Beach, and Canada House
For regular visitors to the site, D-Day was an extraordinary, high-stakes undertaking for the Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit. Canadian cameramen were among the very first Allied waves to go ashore, tasked with filming the Canadian invasion of France under intense enemy fire.
By juxtaposing the CFPU historical archives with Len Wagg’s modern research, we get a profound look at how a single location connects the past to the present:
On the morning of June 6, 1944, combat cine-cameraman Sgt. Bill Grant was crossing the English Channel aboard a Landing Craft, Tank (LCT) alongside the 14th Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery. Keeping his Bell & Howell Eyemo camera rolling through heavy spray and gunfire, Sgt. Grant captured the, grainy black-and-white footage of Canadian troops and armour storming the ‘Nan White’ sector of Juno Beach. Critically, his lens caught the troops disembarking directly in front of a large timber house just up from the shoreline. His footage—later immortalized in Canadian Army Newsreel Issue No. 33—provided the world with its very first visual proof of the Allied breakthrough.
In Len Waggs’s book, At Home and Beyond, Len captures that exact same timber landmark, recognized today as Canada House (La Maison des Canadiens) in Bernières-sur-Mer. Len describes the deeply personal story of the Hoffer family, who originally bought the house in 1936. We learn from Nicole Hoffer how the property was named “Canada House” by the very members of the Queen’s Own Rifles (QOR) who liberated it. Len documents how the family returned after the war to repair extensive damage, and how, every June, they transform their home into a living museum filled with hat badges, flags, and mementos left behind by a stream of grateful Canadian veterans and their families.
Where Sgt. Grant’s cinematic lens recorded a chaotic, smoke-filled beachhead being secured at the risk of so many lives, Len Wagg’s camera and essays capture the enduring legacy of that sacrifice—showing how the memory of June 6 is actively kept alive on that now-peaceful shoreline.
CHAPTER 1. “Wait for Me, Daddy”
The book further explores the human ripples of wartime imagery through the story behind another iconic piece of Canadian photography: the “Wait for Me, Daddy” photo, captured by Claude P. Dettloff in New Westminster, BC, on October 1, 1940, as seen in the image below from Len Wagg’s book…
Len traveled to Tofino to personally interview and photograph Warren “Whitey” Bernard—the little five-year-old boy seen running toward his father in that timeless image. Seeing Whitey today, combined with Len’s contemporary lens, brings a profound layer of modern context to the enduring power and emotional weight of Canada’s military history.
What is behind these expressions of generational gratitude? Through personal research, illuminating essays, and more than one hundred powerful photos, At Home and Beyond: Honouring Canada’s War Dead reminds us that our war dead may be gone but their sacrifices are far from forgotten.
(https://www.indigo.ca/products/at-home-and-beyond-honouring-canadas-war-dead)
I highly recommend picking up a copy to explore these visual histories for yourself. You can order the book directly from Nimbus Publishing or look for it at your local independent bookstore. ( I was able to locate a copy at the Chapters-Indigo, Pinecrest location in Ottawa).
Related Reading: Len Wagg’s examination of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) provides an excellent institutional backdrop to the volunteer-led biographical research featured here on our site. Discover how digital preservation and community memories intersect on the ground by reading our feature on the Faces to Graves Initiative.
Special thanks to Len Wagg for allowing me to feature his latest book, At Home and Beyond: Honouring Canada’s War Dead.
Lest We Forget
© Copyright Dale Gervais November, 2026
