Richard Rohmer

Richard Rohmer
Rohmer speaking at a Remembrance Day ceremony in 2012
Born	(1924-01-24) January 24, 1924 (age 93)
Allegiance	Canada
Service/branch	Royal Canadian Air Force
Rank	Honorary Lieutenant General
Commands held	Chief of Reserves of the Canadian Armed Forces Commander of the Air Reserve Group
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Officer of the Order of Canada Commander of the Order of Military Merit Distinguished Flying Cross Order of Ontario Knight of the Order of Saint John Canadian Forces Decoration Officer of the Order of Leopold (Belgium) Legion of Honour (France)
Other work	Author, lawyer, columnist

Honorary Lieutenant General Richard Heath Rohmer OC CMM OOnt DFC CD QC (born January 24, 1924) is a Canadian aviator, lawyer, adviser, author and historian.

Rohmer was born in Hamilton, Ontario, and spent some of his early youth in Pasadena, California as well as in western Ontario at Windsor and Fort Erie. The Peterborough Examiner's lead editorial of 14 January 2009 describes Rohmer as "one of Canada's most colourful figures of the past half-century". General Rohmer is the Honorary Advisor to the Chief of the Defence Staff of the Canadian Armed Forces. He is the Advisor to the Minister of Veterans Affairs for the organization and conduct of Canada's celebration of the 70th Anniversary of D-Day celebrations in Normandy in June 2014 and the 70th Anniversary of the Liberation of Holland in May 2015. He is the senior Canadian Veteran of D-Day, the Battle of Normandy and the Liberation of Holland.

After his studies in high school he worked briefly at Fleet Aerospace before joining in 1942 on his 18th birthday the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). In Europe in 1943/44 as a reconnaissance pilot flying North American Mustang fighters he completed a 135 mission Tour of Operations at the end of November 1944 in Holland. On July 17th, 1944, he had spotted a fast moving staff car, usually used to carry German officers. According to Rohmer, the German officer being carried was Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. Rohmer reported the car's location to Group Control Centre, which sent in a Spitfire piloted by Canadian Charley Fox. Rohmer took part in D-Day and the Battles of Normandy, Belgium and Holland. He is the Senior Canadian Veteran of all of those Battles.