D-DAY Landing of Normandy

Brief introduction The D-Day refers to the day of the landing of Normandy. It took place on Jun.6, 1944 in Normandy, France. It is a well-organized plan. Soldiers from different countries were being assigned different sections of the beach. Canadians were responsible for the Juno beach. On the morning of Jun 6, over 30,000 Canadians arrived there.

3 objectives Establish a beachhead along the five miles Courseulles and St- Aubin-sur-Mer. Push through the gap between Bayeux and Caen. Penetrate to Carpiquet airfield around eleven miles inland. Beachhead- a temporary line created when a military unit reaches a beach by sea and begins to defend the area until reinforcements came. Courseulles- a small fishing port.

Some numbers 14,000 Canadian soldiers were to land on the beaches. 516 Canadian Paratroopers were to drop behind enemy lines by parachute or glider. The Royal Canadian Navy supplied ships and about 10,000 sailors.

ADVANTAGES Allied troops had massive air and naval support They managed to keep the details a secret from the German.

Results Nearly 200,000 Germans were killed, wounded or missing and also nearly 200,000 were taken as prisoner. Over 5000 Canadians were killed on the shores of Normandy, and there were more than 200,000 Allied casualties.

Diary of a solider on D-day

“D-Day, it being hours this morning. Rose and went for a walk on deck. Feeling pretty rough. Ship rolling pretty bad.” “Couldn't face any food. Arrived at our location 'somewhere in France' 13.30hours. Began to load on to Rhinos. Assault troops broke through beach head and advancing rapidly. No Sleep.” “News still that we are advancing further in the mainland. Beaches getting cleared of obstacles. Lost all my kit, blankets and money and my GS watch has given up.” Rhinos-- landing crafts used during D-day. There has been a mistake and the rhinos are in far deeper water than they should be. When the landing happened, the water has been chest-high, they also have to carry their rifle above their head to keep them dry.

Injured soldiers waiting to be transferred back to casualty clearing station for treatments. A small landing craft during the Normandy landing.

Canadian soldiers waiting to aboard an L.C.I in June Canadian soldiers on their way to land on the Juno Beach.

Significance The landing of Normandy was the largest Canadian military operation of the ww2 (14,000 Canadian soldiers, 100 ships, and 36 bomber squadrons from the Royal Canadian Air Force) Though both sides suffered a lot, it can be said as a success on the Allies side. German suffered catastrophic losses, resulting it to have a limited number force to call on future battles.

Thank you!