Editing 3rd Canadian Division (section)

==== Juno Beach, D Day ====
{{Main|Operation Overlord}}
[[File:Canadian landings at Juno Beach.jpg|thumb|right|Canadian soldiers headed for Juno Beach aboard [[Landing Craft Assault|LCA]]s]]
[[File:Junobeach Landing1.jpg|thumb|right|Canadian reinforcements landing on Juno beach from an LCA]]
[[File:Kanadische Truppen landen in der Normandie.jpg|thumb|right|[[9th Canadian Infantry Brigade]] personnel land at 'Nan White' Beach at Bernières-sur-Mer]]
[[File:Junobeach Landing2.jpg|thumb|right|Tanks and Régiment de la Chaudière moving along French village road, Normandy Beach head]]
[[File:D-day - Allied Forces during the Invasion of Normandy 6 June 1944 B5228.jpg|thumb|left|Canadian troops of 'B' Company, North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment, take cover behind steel girders and logs guarding the approach to the German strongpoint WN-27 in St Aubin-sur-Mer, 6 June 1944.]]
Juno Beach was {{Convert|5|mi|km|abbr=}} wide and stretched on either side of Courseulles-sur-Mer. It lay between Sword and Gold beaches which were the responsibility of British Army forces.

The 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, with the [[2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade]] under command, landed in two [[brigade group]]s, the 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade and the 8th Canadian Infantry Brigade. Each brigade had three infantry battalions and an armoured regiment in support, two artillery field regiments, combat engineer companies and specialist units of the British [[79th Armoured Division (United Kingdom)|79th Armoured Division]]. The [[The Fort Garry Horse|10th Armoured Regiment (The Fort Garry Horse)]] tanks supported the 7th Brigade landing on the left and the [[1st Hussars|6th Armoured Regiment (1st Hussars)]] tanks supported the landing on the right. The division had been assigned extra artillery and anti-tank units{{efn|the British [[62nd (6th London) Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery]] with two batteries of M10 self-propelled and two of towed 17 pounder guns}} doubling its artillery component.

The 9th Canadian Infantry Brigade was kept in reserve and landed later that day and advanced through the lead brigades. The [[27th Armoured Regiment (The Sherbrooke Fusiliers Regiment)]] provided tank support.

The initial assault was carried out by:
* North Shore Regiment on the left at [[Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer, Calvados|St. Aubin]] (Nan Red beach)
* Queen's Own Rifles in the centre at [[Bernières, Seine-Maritime|Bernières]] (Nan White beach)
* Regina Rifles at [[Courseulles]] (Nan Green beach)
* Royal Winnipeg Rifles on the western edge of Courseulles (Mike Red and Mike Green beaches)

Canadian air, land and sea forces suffered approximately 950 casualties on D-Day, the majority being soldiers of the 3rd Canadian Division,<ref>[http://canadiansoldiers.com/history/battlehonours/northwesteurope/normandylandings.htm canadiansoldiers.com page on the Normandy Landings]</ref>{{full|date=June 2023}} of 21,400 troops landed on Juno beach that day.<ref name=iuk20040606/>

By noon, the entire division was ashore and leading elements had pushed several kilometres inland to seize bridges over the [[Seulles]]. By 6:00&nbsp;pm, they had captured the town of [[Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer, Calvados|Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer]]. A 1st Hussars armoured troop reached its objective along with men of [[The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada]] before nightfall, when both units moved 15&nbsp;km inland and crossed the [[Caen]]-[[Bayeux]] highway.<ref>Martin, CC ''Battle Diary'', p.16</ref> However, this troop was forced to pull back because they had passed the supporting infantry. By the end of D-Day, the division had penetrated farther into France than any other Allied force, though counter-attacks by elements of two German armoured divisions prevented further major gains for four weeks.

None of the assault divisions, including 3rd Canadian Division, had managed to secure their D-Day objectives, which lay inland, although the Canadians came closer than any other Allied formation.<ref>Graves, Donald E. ''Century of Service''</ref> Indeed, The Queen's Own Rifles of the 8th Brigade were the only Allied battalion to capture their D-Day objective.<ref>{{cite web|title=Queen's Own Rifles|url=http://www.junobeach.info/juno-4-1.htm|website=Juno Beach|access-date=14 March 2016}}</ref>

By the end of the next day, the Canadian forces had linked up with the British forces that had landed at [[Sword Beach]].

[[File:3rd Canadian Infantry Division formation sign.png|thumb|right|Formation sign used to identify vehicles of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division]]

=====Time line Juno Beach=====
*6 June 1944
**05:35 German shore batteries open fire; Allied naval forces, now massed along entire Normandy coast, begin bombardment.
**06:30 Assault on beaches starts. 3rd Canadian Division landing on Juno made more difficult by strong current. Delay allows Germans to mount strong defence. Objective: advance inland and join troops from British beaches.
**07:00 German radio broadcasts first report of landing.
**08:30 [[48 Commando]] lands at St Aubin, Juno Beach and heads east. Beach clearance difficult due to high tides and rough seas.
**09:00 General Eisenhower issues communiqué announcing start of invasion.
**09:35 Canadian 8th Brigade liberates Bernières.
**11:12 After fierce fire fight, 7th Brigade secures Juno exit at Courseulles. But congestion as Canadian 9th Brigade arrives.
**11:20 Canadians capture Tailleville, Banville and St Croix.
**12:00 As Winston Churchill reports landings to House of Commons, Further landings on Juno. Langrune captured by Juno troops.
**13:35 German 352nd Division wrongly advises HQ that Allied assault repulsed. Message not corrected until 18.00.
**14:15 All Canadian 3rd Division now ashore on Juno. Rapid advances start: troops link with those from Gold.
**18:00 3rd Canadian Div, North Nova Scotia Highlanders reach {{Convert|3|mi|km|abbr=}} inland. 1st Hussar tanks cross Caen-Bayeux railway, {{Convert|10|mi|km|abbr=}} inland. Canadian Scottish link with 50th Division at Creully.
**20:00 Canadians from Juno Beach reach Villons les Buissons, {{Convert|7|mi|km|abbr=}} inland. Attack by 21st Panzers reach coast between Sword and Juno at Luc-sur-Mer.
**22:00 Rommel returns to HQ from Germany. Montgomery sails for France.

Juno Beach: 21,400 troops landed, with fewer than 1,000 casualties. Aim of capturing Carpiquet airfield not achieved. No link yet with Sword forces.<ref name=iuk20040606>{{cite news|title=The longest day|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-longest-day-731283.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080612162931/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-longest-day-731283.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 June 2008 |work=The Independent |location=London | date=6 June 2004 | access-date=23 April 2010}}</ref>
[[File:Starving concentration camp prisoner liberated by Canadian 3rd division.jpg|thumb|Members of the 3rd Infantry Division with a starving prisoner liberated from a [[Nazi concentration camp]] in 1945.]]