Juno Beach

Juno Beach was one of the three British landing zones of the Allied invasion of Normandy on D-Day, during World War II. Stretching from Courseulles-sur-Mer on the west to Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer on the east, it lay between Sword Beach and Gold Beach. Juno Beach was the Canadian landing sector. The 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, under the command of General Rodney F L Keller, was given the task of securing a beachhead through which more military personnel and supplies would pour into France. To carry out its task, the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division was reinforced with importan British elements and was under the overall command of Sir John Crocker. Force J was the naval task force which would give support to the invading troops.

Juno Beach was subdivided into two landing zones; "Nan" to the east and "Mike" to the west. The Wehrmacht 716th Division, under the command of General Wilhelm Richter, was assigned to defend this area. Entrenched in pillboxes and casemates, it was equipped with 20 batteries of 155 mm and 75 mm guns. Nevertheless, Allied air bombings carried out in the previous days had significantly damaged the German fortifications. At 06:00 hours, on June 6, 1944, Force J began to pound hard on the coast with heavy naval artillery. At 07:30, the 7th Brigade and the 6th Canadian Armored Regiment landed first on Mike Sector. They were followed by the 8th brigade, the 10th Canadian Armored Regiment, and the 48 RM Commando who landed on Nan sector. By 12:00 hours, these elements of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division had penetrated several miles and seized the bridges over the Seulles River. On the first day the bulk of the Canadian forces had landed on French territory. The Canadians had suffered about 1,000 casualties.