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Juno Beach, Normandy, France | |
| The Canadian forces storming ashore at Juno Beach on D-Dayhad a double mission: to achieve their objectives and to revenge the abortive landing at Dieppe two years earlier... | ||
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When Canadian troops landed on Juno Beach between Coursulles-sur-Mer, 22 km (14 miles) northwest of Caen, and Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer in Normandy on D-Day (June 6, 1944), they wanted revenge. The bold, brave but doomed landing of Canadian troops at Dieppe in 1942 had ended in disaster, and the Canadians were going to prove that Dieppe was just a battle, not the war. The 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and Royal Marines Commandos stormed ashore, but the pre-invasion bombardment was not as effective as expected, so the fighting was fierce. The Royal Winnipeg Rifles and the Queen's Own Rifles of Canada were in the thick of the fight, and took serious casualties, but within a few hours the Canadian forces were established, the defenders retreating, and the Canadian front pushed inland farther south than any other landing force. Forces on Juno Beach and on Gold Beach linked up on D-Day itself, ahead of all others. Today the heroism and sacrifice of the Canadian forces in all theaters of World War II are commemorated in the Juno Beach Centre, the dramatic museum on the west bank of La Seulles River in Courseulles-sur-Mer, opened in 2003. Juno Beach Centre
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Juno Beach Centre, the Canadian World War II museum, Courseulles-sur-Mer, Normandy, France.
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