Canadian 3rd Division on D-Day
Three Rifle Brigades Land on Juno Beach to Attack Atlantic Wall
On the morning of June 6, 1944, 20,000 Canadian troops would launch their D-Day assault on the Normandy coast.
Elements of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division had been in England since mid-1940, and began preparing for the cross-channel invasion of Europe in late 1943. Although the rifle regiments of the 3rd Division – along with three armoured tank battalions of the 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade – would figure most prominently in the attack, troops representing more than 50 units of the Division would ultimately take part.
The Canadians were assigned to take Juno Beach, an eight-kilometre stretch that included the fortified coastal towns of St. Aubin, Bernieres-sur Mer, Courselles-sur Mer and Graye-sur Mer (east to west). The Canadian 3rd Division, commanded by Major-General Rod Keller, would attack "two brigades up” with the 8th Brigade – comprised of the North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment, the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada, the Regiment de la Chaudriere and the duplex-drive, or “swimming” tanks of the Fort Garry Horse (10th Canadian Armoured Regiment) – landing on the left from St. Aubin to Bernieres. The 7th Brigade – comprised of the Regina Rifles, the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, the Canadian Scottish Regiment and DD tanks of the 1st Hussars (6th Canadian Armoured Regiment) - would land between Bernieres and Graye.
The 9th Brigade – comprised of the Highland Light Infantry of Canada, The Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders, the North Nova Scotia Highlanders and tanks of the Sherbrook Fusiliers (27th Canadian Armoured Regiment) - would be in Division reserve, and would ultimately follow the 8th Brigade ashore. In addition the self-propelled .105 mm artillery guns of the 12th, 13th, 14th and 19th Canadian Field Regiments would take part in the assault, providing off-shore fire support on the run into the beaches, and then setting up ashore as soon as the infantry units had established a beachhead.
Along with the Canadians, elements of the British 76th Armoured Division, with tanks specially designed to tackle the beach defenses, would land in support. As well, combat teams from the British Royal Marine 48th and 46th Commandos would also land on the far eastern end of Juno to provide a link between the Canadians and the 3rd British Division landing further east on Sword Beach.
Facing the attacking troops were regiments of the German 716th and 352nd Infantry Divisions. Although somewhat undermanned, Juno beach was arguably the most heavily-fortified of the five invasion beaches. Coming ashore, the Canadians would face five different Wiederstandneste – or strong points – that included several .88 and .75 mm guns, numerous .50 mm and .81 mm mortar positions, and dozens of machine gun nests, both along the beach and within the towns. Strong points and machine gun nests were encased in concrete bunkers and pillboxes, with connecting tunnels running back from the beach into the towns, enabling the defenders to bring up reinforcements unimpeded. Besides the mined beach obstacles, thousands of mines were buried in the beach itself. In most areas, the back of the beach was covered with a 10-metre wide, one-metre high carpet of barbed-wire, and in places the actual seawall was four metres high.
The Allied plan for the assault on the Normandy coast called for troops to land at the mid-point of high and low tides, giving landing craft the chance to get as close to shore as possible, but before the beach obstacles the Germans had planted for defense became fully submerged and invisible. Due to the fact the tide rose sooner on the west (American beaches) than in the east, the assault was not simultaneous across the 100-kilometre front. The Canadians were set to land at 7:45 am., following a one-hour naval barrage.
Taking a lesson learned from the ill-fated raid on Dieppe in August 1942, the plan called for the tanks to land with, or even slightly before, the infantry. As it happened, this was rarely the case. Heavy seas caused the tank landings to be delayed, or, in the case of some of the swimming tanks, not reach shore at all, and in many places the rifle companies were forced to go into the attack without tank support (although, it should be noted the majority of Canadian and British tanks at Juno did land, most only minutes behind schedule, and in many cases proved the difference between success and disaster in the infantry attack on bunkers and machine gun nests).
In addition, debate still rages as to the effectiveness of the preceding naval barrage on the Juno coastal defenses. The War Diary of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles was to note:
“0749 Hrs…The bombardment having failed to kill a single German or silence one weapon these companies [B and D Cos. RWR, and C Co. Canadian Scottish] had to storm their positions “cold” – and did so without hesitation.”
By the end of the day, the Canadian 3rd Division would suffer nearly 1200 casualties, including 364 killed, after the Americans on Omaha Beach the highest casualty rate of the five invasion beaches. Hardest hit were the handful of rifle companies landing in the first wave. B Company of the Winnipeg Rifles had more than 75 percent casualties, and at the end of the day had only one officer and 25 other ranks still on their feet. Nearly 100 troops of the Queen's Own Rifles became casualties before they reached the seawall.
Yet the Canadians broke the "outer crust" of the German defenses and in taking the Juno beachhead, tanks of the 1st Hussars would penetrate farther inland than any other Allied unit on D-Day. By nightfall all four towns were more or less secured, with 3rd Division Headquarters established in Bernieres, and the troops dug into the open fields behind the beach.
Prior to D-Day, virtually none of the Canadian 3rd Division troops - or their commanders - had faced enemy fire. Within hours, and while advancing inland over the next few days, they would face multiple German counter-attacks from elements of three different infantry and Panzer divisions, including the fanatical 12th SS Hitler Youth Division, whose Fuhrer had ordered them to drive the Canadians back into the sea.
