“Ben” Cunningham) was assigned to the First Canadian Army for Operation Overlord. The Canadian 3rd Division’s 9th Infantry Brigade (the Highland Brigade, under Brigadier D.G. Mike-Green was the farthest western and Nan-Red the farthest eastern of the Juno Beach subsectors. From west to east, the sectors were Mike (divided into Green and Red subsectors) and Nan (divided into Green, White, and Red subsectors). To allow for orderly and synchronized landings, Juno Beach was divided into two primary assault sectors that were then further divided into subsectors. “Rod” Keller, was made responsible not only for capturing Juno, but also for striking inland (southward) from there once the coastal defenses had been overcome. The 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, commanded by Maj. The Canadian beachhead known as Juno was a five-mile length of sand and dunes and seaside vacation homes stretching west to east from Bernières-sur-Mer through Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer, and Graye-sur-Mer to Courseulles-sur-Mer.
Braving fire coming from Germans holed up in beachfront houses, Canadian troops of the 9th Infantry Brigade disembark from their landing craft at the Nan Red Beach sector of Juno Beach, June 6, 1944. 82nd and 101st, and the British 6th, which included a Canadian airborne battalion), with glider components, would arrive before the seaborne landings took place to seal off the invasion sites and prevent German reinforcements from attacking the amphibious forces. All told, these five beaches comprised an invasion sector more than 50 miles long. Utah and Omaha were the responsibility of the American First Army, while the three other beaches were the responsibility of the British Second Army.
Infantry Division with a regiment of the 29th Infantry Division attached), Gold (50th British Infantry Division), Juno (3rd Canadian Infantry Division), and Sword (3rd British Infantry Division). Of these volunteers, only about 100,000 men were in the First Canadian Army, which was preparing for its role in Operation Overlord, the D-Day invasion of Normandy.įrom west to east, the Allies’ beachheads were code-named Utah (to be initially assaulted by the 4th U.S. The Canadian Army consisted of 405,834 men and women who had volunteered for General Service. In June 1944, the Canadian military was a completely voluntary force there was no conscription in Canada. On June 7, 1944, D+1, two volunteer Canadian 3rd Division, 9th Infantry Brigade regiments, the North Nova Scotia Highlanders (the North Novas) and the 27th Canadian Armoured Regiment (the Sherbrooke Fusiliers)-together with volunteer units from the Camerons of Ottawa and Forward Observers from the 14th Field Regiment-fought an important but now generally forgotten battle in Normandy.įorgotten or not, the outcome of this battle can be considered to be a significant factor in preventing a planned German attack into the D-Day landing beaches that could have split the Allied invasion force in two.
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