D-Day pics

 

This picture here would have been taken from a German defence at Juno Beach. Because of the ships you can see off shore it would have been taken sometime after the beaches had been taken. There would be many defences like this one along the beaches to help defend them. The gun inside the bunker is a German anti-tank gun which would be able to penetrate tanks armour and destroy them. It would also have the ability to fire HE rounds to kill soldiers or destroy landing craft. The Hedgehogs in the water would be to stop tanks from coming onshore by having them get stuck on them and unable to continue an advance towards German defences. They might have also been used alongside mines to destroy allied landing craft or to stop them from advancing. If they weren’t in the water soldiers could have used them for some cover from enemy fire. Right below the barrel of the gun you can see what appears to be a landing craft, this would have been used to bring soldiers onto the beach, but it looks like it got destroyed while bringing soldiers. Outside the bunker window you can see the damage the defences took during the invasion. This could have been caused during the landings from soldiers and tanks or from Allied fire before the landings from ships/planes. The ships you can see could have helped attack German defences before the landings to help destroy some of them and would have carried the landing craft, tanks, soldiers, and supplies.

 

Germans prepare defences on the beach

 

The Canadian 3rd division reserve troops coming ashore at Bernieres at the Nan sector of Juno beach

Assault launch

American forces landing on one of their beaches, This is what the beach assault would have looked like

340 killed, 574 wounded, 47 captured (Canadian Casualties)

14000 were to land on the beaches, 450 to drop behind enemy lines by parachute/glider, Royal Canadian Navy supplied ships and about 10000 sailors, Lancaster bombers and spitfires supported the invasion from the royal Canadian air force.

Two sectors, Mike sector and Nan sector.

24 hour timeline

0600-allied battleships and cruisers begin bombardment of the beaches

0700-germans begin to return fire at Juno Beach

0730-most heavy support firing ends, Germans continue attaching the invasion force

0745-landing crafts reach the beach, soldiers get in the water

0800-first Canadian beachhead is established at Courseulles in the Mike sector by the Regina Rifles. Royal Winnipeg Rifles come under heavy fire and many soldiers die in the water

0830-Queen’s Own Rifles land at the Nan sector and have to run 183m from shore to a seawall only a few men from the first company survive

1000-Canadian soldiers are on the beach in all sectors, reserve troops begin to reach the beach

1200-All units of the Third Canadian Division are on the shore at Juno Beach

1800-The Canadians capture Courseulles, Bernieres and Columbiers-sur-seulles. The 1st Hussars reach its objective 15km away from the beach at the Caen-Bayeux Highway intersection. The Hussars are the only Allied unit to capture its planned final objective on D-Day

Aftermath

The result to the invasion was that it successfully gave the Allies a foothold on Nazi occupied France. The Germans were forced to retreat in a matter of hours. Juno beach occupied by Canada was a breach which gave the Allies’ troops a better position to attack Germany. After this battle, the Germany had little power to defend the Allies troop. It was also a start of the Allies’ victory. Later in August, the Allies succeed in taking back Paris.

Canada's Role

Operation overlord took place on of five different beaches along the coast of Normandy, Canada was given the task of taking Juno beach. The invasion began at 7:30 after 230 bombers had softened the German defences. Fourteen thousand Canadians stormed Juno beach by the time the Canadians had taken the beach three hundred and forty men had died with five hundred and seventy wounded. By the end on the day the Canadians had fought their way inland to the towns of Bernieres, Couseulles and ST.Aubin; farther than any of the troops on the other beaches and were ready to take carpiquet airfield eleven miles inland.
The force coming in from the water wasn’t the only force of Canadians invading Normandy a battalion of Canadian paratroopers was dropped behind enemy lines for the purpose of reconnaissance and sabotage.

“At the end of the day, its forward elements stood deeper into France than those of any other division. The opposition the Canadians faced was stronger than that of any other beach save Omaha. That was an accomplishment in which the whole nation could take considerable pride.” - John Keegan, British historian.

Causes of D-Day

During WWII, the Germans used Blitzkrieg (lightening war) to win many battles. However, this kind of war requires efficient supplies and specialized communication systems, which later on drained the Germans out of supply. The Germans lost a battle against Russia and the eastern line was broken. As a result, Russia asked Britain and America to form a new battlefield in Western Europe. At the same time, Italian army surrendered after losing against Britain and America, which helped Britain and America to concentrate its arm force. After Casablanca conference and Tehran conference, Britain and America reached an agreement to open up the second battlefield in Western Europe.

What happened during the battle (componants)

D-Day was on June 6 1944

Juno Beach(the Canadian section)was divided into 2 sectors called “Mike” and “Nan” which the 7th and 8th Canadian brigades attacked

Juno Beach was around a 10km area of coastline that included St. Aubin and Bernieres

One of the 1’st Canadian troops to land were the North Shore Regiment and the Queen’s Own Rifles just after 8:00am

Conditions meant that amphibious tanks designed to float shore had to be deposited directly onto the beach instead of being launched and floating to shore

Landing craft had to dodge mines and submerged obstacles to land

Canadians had to run through German “pillboxes” which were reinforced concrete bunkers with narrow slits, resistance nests(defences with concrete, barbed wire, and landmines), and around 20 medium/large gun batteries

Canadians came under heavy machine gun and mortar fire while running for the sea wall

Most German soldiers that Canadians faced were over 35 years old or under 18 who were all outnumbered by the first wave of Canadians

The Queen Own Rifles had broken through the Atlantic wall in less than 1 hour with 137 casualties

The 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade and tanks from the First Hussars landed at Courseulles-sur-Mer to capture a strongpoint containing a 88mm gun, three 75mm guns, two 50mm guns, 12 MG pillboxes, some fortified mortar emplacements and protective shelters making this one of the most heavily fortified positions to be attacked

The Regina Rifles faced undamaged positions with the German 716th infantry division in position to defend. With all the DD tanks landing too far away to help Lieutenant Bill Grayson took out a MG gun post and capturing a 88mm gun position which allowed the rest of the company to clear the strong point.

Some landing craft couldn’t get all the way to shore leaving some Canadians to have to swim to shore

By 10:00am the Canadians had succeeded in capturing all their primary objectives along Juno beach

The only unit to capture all its objectives on D-Day was the Canadian 1’st Hussars

Around 14000 Canadians were to land on the beaches to attack with 450 to be dropped behind enemy lines