On board their assault landing crafts, men of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles heading towards their sector of Juno Beach, June 6th, 1944. To the right, the 50th British Division had as its target “Gold Beach” (La Rivière, Le Hamel, and Arromanches). It was flanked on the left by the 3rd British Infantry Division that was to land on Sword beach (Lion-sur-Mer, Langrune-sur-Mer). Keller, was under command of the Second British Army. The 3rd Infantry Division, under Major-General R.F.L. Assault troops were then to move towards the Carpiquet airfield, 18 kilometres inland. This was an eight-kilometre long stretch of beach bordering Saint-Aubin, Bernières, Courseulles-sur-Mer and Graye-sur-Mer. On June 6th, 1944, the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and the 2nd Armoured Brigade were tasked with establishing a bridgehead on the beach codenamed “Juno”. Germany, attacked on three separate fronts, in Northwest Europe, in Russia, and in the Mediterranean, would soon be exhausted and defeated. With the bridgehead firmly secured, the armies were to move on to liberate France and the neighbouring countries. The Normandy landing was designed to establish a bridgehead from which two armies, the First US Army on the west flank and the Second British Army to the east could be supplied by sea. Operation Overlord was only one step of a global strategic plan for the complete defeat of Nazi Germany. In a few minutes, 130,000 men would be landing on French soil to oust the Nazi invaders. As thousands of engines roared and bombs exploded in the air, the LCAs were launched and the soldiers boarded them. At 0530, destroyers started pounding the coastal defence positions. Channel waters were choppy with waves over one metre. Department of National Defence / National Archives of Canada, PA-132790.Īt dawn, the weather was still bad a northwesterly wind was blowing at 15 knots. This was manned by a much larger force than had been anticipated…Ī LCA just launched off HMCS Prince Henry carrying troops towards the Normandy beaches. At the Chateau de Varaville, a 75 mm anti-tank gun and fortifications, which included bunkers and trenches, had been established to control the road intersection. Given the size of the force represented by ‘C’ Company, the undertaking was formidable. ‘C’ Company had been given the task of clearing out the enemy garrison at Varaville. On the western side, US paratroopers from the 82nd and 101st Airborne were dropped their mission was to take control of the area inland from Utah Beach. At midnight, the 6th British Airborne division, which included the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, dropped off north of Caen to protect the eastern flank of the landing area. Meanwhile, French resistance fighters warned by BBC coded messages undertook more than a thousand sabotage actions during a single night. The Royal Canadian Air Force 6 Group was part of the operation, targetting batteries at Merville, Franceville and Houlgate. Bombs fell until 0515 in all, 1,136 sorties, 5,268 tonnes dropped. In the distance, the bombings could be heard at 2331 Bomber Command launched an assault against the coastal batteries in the landing zone. The 31st Canadian Minesweeper Flotilla, as well as other Canadian ships incorporated into British flotillas took part in the operation, clearing ten lanes marked with lighted buoys.Īt nightfall, everything was going according to plan. In front of the fleet, minesweepers cleared a route through the mined area protecting the coast. The ships and landing crafts were tossed around and many got seasick. Waves, some two metres high, made sailing difficult even at reduced speed. This was no exercise…Ĭanadian Army units in the Normandy landings They broke open the seals and took out the maps where the actual targets were shown. On the way, subaltern officers and later troops were briefed. LCA slung from the davits, the ships sailed off at dawn, followed by the large landing crafts for infantry and tanks. Monday, June 5th, 1944: near Southampton, England, the men of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and the 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade had already boarded the ships. Canada in the Second World War > Events > Roads to Victory > D-Day D-Day