A statue depicting Canadians who fought Nazi Germany 80 years ago will make its permanent home near the French beaches that soldiers stormed on D-Day.

The Royal Regina Rifles statue is to be unveiled Wednesday at Juno Beach. The names of 458 soldiers from the infantry unit who died during World War II are etched in the base of the statue. One-hundred-eight were casualties on D-Day.

Then called the Regina Rifle Regiment, they landed in the first wave on Juno Beach as part of the Normandy D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944, which signaled the beginning of the end of the Second World War. The statue was created by world-renowned sculptor, Don Begg, of Cochrane, Alberta.

In a news release the Government of Saskatchewan says the Royal Regina Rifles Trust participated in a commemorative ceremony on Peepeekisis Cree Nation in April. More than 50 members of the Peepeekisis First Nation served in the Second World War. Many landed on Juno Beach as Regina Rifles.