Between Sword and Gold Beaches, Juno Beach, located between Graye-sur-Mer and Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer, was reserved for General Keller's 3rd Canadian Infantry Division. This division would not be alone in the assault. Tanks from the 2nd Armoured Brigade and the British troops of the 48th Royal Marine Commando were to support the initial waves. The Canadians' objective was to link up with the British forces at Sword and Gold Beaches. From a military standpoint, the Carpiquet airfield west of Caen was the primary objective.
Before that, from 5:30 a.m., the cruiser Belfast heavily pounded the German defenses, notably the Ver-sur-mer battery. RAF ships and aircraft bombarded the German positions for an hour and a half. The Canadian landing took place 10 minutes behind H-hour and behind Sword and Gold. The heavy swell combined with the presence of rocky reefs that could only be crossed at high seas forced the Allies to delay the initial time of the assault.
Major General Keller
Rodney Keller was born in England in 1900, but it was in Canada, where his parents had emigrated, that he joined the army after attending the Royal Military College in Kingston. After his adopted country entered the war, he took command of Princess Patricia's Light Infantry in 1941.
In September 1942, Keller was promoted to major general and appointed commander of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division. He landed on Juno Beach on June 6th with his 18,000 men. He then participated in the Battle of Normandy, notably in the offensive to liberate Caen, Operation Windsor against Carpiquet airfield in early July.
Seriously wounded on August 8 between Caen and Falaise by American fire during Operation Tractable, he was forced to relinquish his command, a position he would not regain until the end of the war. He appears to have been dismissed for his outspokenness, his hot temper, and excessive drinking. He retired in 1946. In 1954, he died in Normandy during a private trip, struck down by a heart attack.
The landing of the Canadians
At 7:55 a.m., as the beach obstacles were covered by the rising tide, the first echelons of the 3rd Division (7th and 8th Infantry Brigades) landed on an 8km front, at Bernières-sur-mer, Courseulles-sur-mer, Graye-sur-mer and Saint-Aubin-sur-mer.
The North Shore Regiment (8th Brigade ) arrived 20 minutes late at Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer, facing strongpoint WN 27, which had remained intact despite the bombardments. With the support of the Fort Garry Horse armored vehicles and specialized tanks landed at 9:45 a.m., the infantrymen managed to outflank the obstacle and definitively liberate Saint-Aubin around 11:30 a.m.
The Regina Rifles Regiment (7th Brigade ) landed at 8:00 in front of Courseulles with the strongpoint WN 29 facing it.
At the same time, at Graye-sur-mer, the Royal Winnipeg Rifles and the 1st Canadian Scottish – without the amphibious armored vehicles initially planned – clashed with WN 31, while at Bernières-sur-mer the Queen's Own Rifles of Canada (8th Brigade ) launched an assault, also without tanks, on the strongpoint of La Cassine (Wn 28).
The landing of the 48e Royal Marine Commando
On the edge of the Sword sector, 48 Royal Marine Commando landed at Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer. During the approach, two of their landing craft sank, and 50% of the men reached the beach unharmed. This unit, along with 41st, 46th, and 47th Royal Marine Commandos, was part of Brigadier Leicester's 4th Special Service Brigade. At the head of 48th RMC , Lieutenant Colonel Moulton immediately deployed his forces towards Langrune and Luc-sur-Mer to link up with the commandos of 41st Royal Marine Commando arriving from Sword.
In their path lay the formidable strongpoint WN 26. The assault, launched with the support of Centaur tanks, was broken by German resistance and the arrival of a detachment of grenadiers from the 21st Panzer Division near Luc-sur-Mer at the end of the day. By the evening of June 6, the commandos had lost half their men without managing to link up with the enemy.
First releases
On the beaches, which the engineering troops were struggling to clear, infantry losses were heavy. But through sheer determination and with the arrival of the second assault wave, the lines were gradually breached. By 9:30 a.m., Courseulles was partially liberated. However, the resistance of the 736th Regiment did not weaken, and the town would not be fully liberated until early afternoon. After clearing the coastal defenses, the Regina Rifles battalion would then advance towards Reviers and Fontaine-Henry, liberated in the afternoon, and then on to Le Fresne-Camilly.
The Queen's Own Rifles, which had received reinforcements from the French-speaking troops of the Chaudière Regiment, liberated Bernières at 10:00 a.m.
At midday, with the high tide making movement in the beachhead particularly difficult, the 9th Brigade landed at Bernières and immediately advanced towards Villons-les-Buissons, north of Caen. Liberated that evening by the North Nova Scotia Highlanders, Villons would mark the limit of the 3rd Canadian Division's advance by the evening of June 6th.
In the afternoon, Graye-sur-Mer finally fell to the Canadians, who had managed to reduce the WN31 despite heavy losses. Bény-sur-Mer and Basly were liberated at the same time by the Chaudière Regiment, but the Germans remained present at the radar station installed at the exit of the village.
Meanwhile, the soldiers of the North Shore reached Tailleville, where the castle housed the headquarters of the 2nd Battalion of the German 736th Infantry Regiment. They remained pinned down there until the arrival of the Fort Garry Horse armored vehicles, allowing them to seize the position at the end of the day.
What is the "Nan red" sector?
Juno Beach has been divided into 3 areas: Love, Mike and Nan.
Mike, facing Graye-sur-Mer, was divided into two sectors: green and red . Nan, located opposite Bernières, was divided into three sectors: green , white , and red . Nan Red is the sector where the North Shore Regiment and the 48th Royal Marine Commando landed.
What is the origin of the Chaudière Regiment?
Fighting under this name since 1936, the regiment has its origins in the Canadian militia under the French regime in the seigneury of Taschereau established in 1736 on the banks of the Chaudière River.
Find the results of the landing on the evening of June 6 here