D-Day
June 06, 1944 - June 06, 1944Normandy, France
The Stormont Dundas & Glengarry Highlanders of the 9th Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division wade ashore on Nan White Sector of Juno Beach in Bernières-Sur-Mer, Normandy on 6 June 1944.
The Normandy landings were the landing operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D-Day, it was the largest seaborne invasion in history. The operation began the liberation of German-occupied northwestern Europe from Nazi control, and laid the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front.
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”. This was an eight-kilometre long stretch of beach bordering Saint-Aubin, Bernières, Courseulles-sur-Mer and Graye-sur-Mer. Assault troops were then to move towards the Carpiquet airfield, 18 kilometres inland. The 3rd Infantry Division, under Major-General R.F.L. Keller, was under command of the Second British Army. 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). To the right, the 50th British Division had as its target “Gold Beach” (La Rivière, Le Hamel, and Arromanches).
- Canadian Casualties: 1,074
- Allied Casualties: 10,000
- Opposition Casualties: 6,500
- Outcome: Victory
Resources
War Diaries- Canadian War Diaries of the Normandy Campaign Laurier Military History Archive
- No. 14 Canadian Field Ambulance R.C.A.M.C. War Diaries June – July 1944
- No. 22 Canadian Field Ambulance R.C.A.M.C. War Diaries June – July 1944
- No. 23 Canadian Field Ambulance R.C.A.M.C. War Diaries June – July 1944
- Normandy War Diaries Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies
- The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada War Diaries 1944 The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada Regimental Museum and Archives
- 2nd Tactical Air Force Order of Battle D-Day
- 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade – Op Order No 1 – Neptune Overlord
- 8th Canadian Infantry Brigade Landing Tables
- 9th Canadian Infantry Brigade Landing Tables
- D-Day Marshalling and Embarkation Areas
- Juno Beach Discharge Figures
- Juno Beach Landing Tables Lt (Ret'd) Barry N Miller, CD, CME
- Operation Neptune Force J Naval Operation Orders
- UK D-Day Airfields
- D-Day Overlord
- Juno Beach Centre
- Operation Overlord: D-Day Remembered Royal Canadian Air Force
