Normandy, Illustrated, Part 2

D-Day and the Battle of Normandy

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Jan de Vries, a member of 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, landed several kilometres from his intended drop zone. In the English Channel, an armada of more than 6, ships, including Canadian warships, approached the coastline towards daybreak. After a naval and aerial bombardment of German shoreline defences, the first waves of landing craft headed for the beaches, packed with anxious, often sea-sick soldiers. The Allied bombardment did little to destroy enemy positions, and soldiers faced resistance as they came ashore on all the beaches, dodging bullets while wading through chest-high seas.

But none of the landings were as severe as on Omaha Beach, where US forces were cut down as they struggled first to cross the wide sands and then scale high bluffs overlooking the beach. More than 2, Americans were killed or wounded before Omaha was finally secured, the surf turning red with the blood of the dead and dying. Total Allied casualties on D-Day reached more than 10,, including 1, Canadian casualties, of which Canadians were killed in action.

Hundreds of Germans were also killed and captured, and French civilians also died as bullets and bombs rained around their seaside villages see La Maison des Canadiens. Although none of the Allied forces succeeded in reaching their inland D-Day objectives, the Normandy beachhead itself was secured, allowing successive waves of troops, tanks, artillery and other supplies to come ashore.

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See also Juno Beach. If D-Day was a success, initial Allied efforts to break quickly out of Normandy and begin the march toward Germany were not. Eisenhower and British General Bernard Montgomery expected to have their armies advancing east across France within weeks. Instead, it took a whole summer of hard fighting, often against skilled Nazi panzer armoured units, for the Allies to break out of their narrow Normandy bridgehead.

As the Americans battled on the western end of the front and struggled to take the prized port city of Cherbourg, the British and Canadians waged war around the Norman capital city of Caen — originally a D-Day objective that had not been captured. The first week after D-Day, Canadian forces were in the vanguard of the push toward Caen.

They encountered fierce opposition from the 12th SS Panzer Division, which infamously murdered as many as Canadian soldiers taken prisoner that week see Normandy Massacres.

On 4 July, Canadian units, already worn-out from weeks of hard fighting, began an assault on Carpiquet airport, outside Caen. Carpiquet and thereafter Caen fell to the Allies in early July, but weeks of intense fighting remained for the weary Canadian veterans of D-Day, and also for newly-arrived, untested soldiers with the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division. By early August, the Allied armies had launched a huge pincer movement — with British, Canadian and Polish units moving south towards the town of Falaise, and American forces, having finally broken through enemy lines in the west, circling south and east around what remained of the German Army in Normandy.

Scenes of desperate and confused fighting unfolded in the final days of the battle, as the Allies tried to trap German forces on the run. The Normandy campaign finally ended on 21 August , with Canadians playing an important role in closing the Falaise Gap and assisting in the capture of approximately , German soldiers. Now the pursuit of the enemy into the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany could begin.

Total German casualties killed and wounded in the Normandy campaign were estimated at more than ,, while the Allies suffered , casualties among the more than two million soldiers landed in France since D-Day. Among the Allied casualties, were more than 18, Canadians casualties. Over 5, Canadian soldiers were killed. In the decades following the Second World War , Canadian historians considered the long and tortuous Normandy campaign only a qualified success.

The Canadian and British armies were criticized as poorly trained, unaggressive in battle and badly led. Copp argues that Canadian and other Allied forces faced not only a formidable enemy with superior tanks and other weapons, but that their assault objectives, from D-Day onward, were exceptionally difficult pieces of ground to capture. Copp also says the much-vaunted Allied air machine did not inflict as much damage on enemy positions through most of the campaign, as originally believed. Includes photos and video clips.

From Canadian Military History. D-Day 6 June Animated series of maps that show the route taken by Canadian forces as they stormed Juno Beach and advanced inland to establish a bridgehead. From the Canadian Armed Forces website. See also accounts provided by other veterans of this memorable battle.

From the Memory Project Historica Canada. Their multimedia website offers biographies of Canadian military officers and other officials involved in the war, details about specific battles, and much more. Search The Canadian Encyclopedia.

German Armor in Normandy (Casemate Illustrated): Yves Buffetaut: www.farmersmarketmusic.com: Books

I forgot my password. Accessed 20 December In The Canadian Encyclopedia. Article published February 07, ; last modified June 28, Article by Richard Foot. The Battle of Normandy — from the D-Day landings on 6 June through to the encirclement of the German army at Falaise on 21 August — was one of the pivotal events of the Second World War and the scene of some of Canada's greatest feats of arms.

Canadian sailors, soldiers and airmen played a critical role in the Allied invasion of Normandy, also called Operation Overlord, beginning the bloody campaign to liberate Western Europe from Nazi occupation.

Normandy, Illustrated, Part 2 (Paperback)

Nearly , Allied troops landed or parachuted into the invasion area on D-Day, including 14, Canadians at Juno Beach. The Royal Canadian Navy contributed ships and 10, sailors and the RCAF contributed 15 fighter and fighter-bomber squadrons to the assault. Total Allied casualties on D-Day reached more than 10,, including 1, Canadians, of whom were killed. By the end of the Battle of Normandy, the Allies had suffered , casualties, including more than 18, Canadians.

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