Juno Beach France

Legendary

Step onto the beach where the Canadian Army invaded and pushed farther into France than any other landing force on D-Day.

Photo by Paul Arps

Underwater reefs sat hidden off this stretch of coast. They tore into the Canadian landing craft before the soldiers even reached the sand.

Nearly a third of the boats in the first wave were damaged or destroyed. Some men had to swim or wade the last stretch under fire.

Juno was one of five beaches attacked on June 6, 1944, the day known as D-Day. Britain, the United States, and Canada landed together along a stretch of the coast of Normandy in France.

Germany had occupied France for four years. The invasion was the start of pushing German forces back out.

Juno was Canada's beach. About 14,000 Canadian troops came ashore that morning, mostly from the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division.

The landing zone stretched about 10 kilometers, covering the small seaside towns of Courseulles-sur-Mer, Bernières-sur-Mer, and Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer.

German soldiers were waiting inside the houses along the seafront. They had built concrete bunkers, laid barbed wire, buried mines, and filled the beach with obstacles.

The naval guns that were supposed to soften those defenses mostly missed. The Canadians landed into defenses that were still working.

They took the beach anyway. By nightfall they had pushed nearly 10 kilometers inland, farther than any other Allied force that day.

The cost was high. Of the Canadians who landed, 340 were killed, 574 were wounded, and 47 were taken prisoner.

Visit the Juno Beach Centre, a museum built by Canadian veterans to tell their country's story of the war. Walk the sand at Courseulles-sur-Mer, where a restored Canadian tank sits near the shore. Look for the German bunkers still standing along the dunes, with their gun slits pointed out to sea.