Figure 1.--Allied air power played a key role in the success of the D-Day landings. Here a crashed American P-47 Thunderbolt can be seen on the Juno waterfront some time after Canadian forces came ashore at Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer. The P-47 was an an enormous plane, ideal for ground support because of the enormous load of ordinance it could carry. Even so, it could go toe-to-toe with the German fighters. Click on the image to see Juno today.

The Canadians 3rd Infantry Division as part of the British Second Army landed at Juno, between the two British landing beaches. Lieutenant General Miles Dempsey commanded the assaulting force. The Canadian landing area included the area on both sides of the small fishing port of Courseulles-sur-Mer. There were two smaller villages (Bernières and Saint-Aubin) to the east of Courseulles. Smaller villages were situated in the sand dunes. The Allied planners divided Juno into two assault sectors: Nan (Red, White, and Green sections) to the east and Mike (Red and White sections) to the west. Juno lacked the dramatic heights faced by the Americans at Omaha, but offshore reefs posed a major problem. As a result, the Canadians landed later than the other beach assaults. It was felt necessary to land at high tide to clear the reefs, some of which proved to be only seaweed. The later la nding meant that the Germans had some time to prepare. The 7th Brigade landed at Courseulles in Mike sector and the 8th Brigade landed at Bernières in Nan sector. The first day objectives were to cut the Caen-Bayeux road, seize the Carpiquet airbase west of Caen, and form a link between the two British beachheads (Gold and Sword) flanking Juno. The defending German force was the 716th Infantry Division (mostly the 736th Regiment). They set up positions in the seafront houses which Allied bombers had avoided. The Germans had also fortified the dunes with casemates and dug out positions. The Canadian first wave suffered heavy casualties. They managed to fight their way shore and quickly succeeded in landing tanks. By the end of the day they had secured the beachhead and tanks were spearheading the move inland. The Canadians of all the Allied landing forces moved further inland on D-Day.

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Created: 12:25 AM 5/30/2014
Spell checked: 10:18 PM 6/6/2014
Last updated: 10:18 PM 6/6/2014