D Day: A Captivating Guide to the Battle for Normandy (The Second World War and D Day Book 2) by Captivating History

Author:Captivating History [History, Captivating]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2017-09-30T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11 – Juno

Responsibility for taking Juno beach fell upon the Canadian army. The size and prestige of the American and British military forces means that the Canadians have often been neglected in accounts of the Second World War. But just as in the First World War, they faced challenges as great as those of the other Allies, displaying every bit as much courage, skill, and tenacity as their comrades in arms. As at the other beaches, the naval forces supporting the operation were also a reminder of the remarkable international nature of the coalition facing Germany, with the Allied fleet including Canadian, British, Free French, and Free Norwegian vessels.

Juno was one of the more strongly defended beaches. The usual mass of obstacles blocked the way up the beach at the high-water mark. Behind them, there were strongpoints every thousand yards, involving machine-gun posts, artillery positions, and bunkers. These were defended by the 716th Static Infantry Division, a unit which was mostly made up of very young or old soldiers, but which was still considered better than average for a division of its type. Panzer forces and eastern European conscripts were stationed inland.

The Juno landing ran into difficulties before the men even hit the beach.

The usual bombardment by air and sea preceded the arrival of troops. This bombardment included the use of obsolete Centaur tanks carrying 95mm howitzers and providing covering fire from their landing craft. But the combination of landing vessels and the firing tanks turned out to be far less seaworthy than had been hoped. Scores of them sank, and only six made it to shore to support the infantry.

Meanwhile, a reef off the beach provided an obstacle to all the landing craft. The advance was delayed, and the pilots struggled to coordinate as they crossed the difficult waters.

When the infantry hit the beach, they landed amid the obstacles laid out by the Germans. They also arrived without the tank support they had been expecting, as the difficulties at sea meant many of the amphibious tanks and the specialist obstacle clearing tanks were held back.

Having deposited the troops, the craft were meant to pull out. But they became caught up in the German defenses, steel obstructions and mines preventing them from getting out. As more landing craft came in, mines damaged some, forcing the soldiers inside to get out and wade ashore. Of the first 24 landing craft, 20 were lost or damaged. For the whole morning, it was 90 out of 306.

Faced with rows of obstacles and barbed wire, under fire from the German troops in their defensive positions, the Canadians began advancing up the beach. Their experience varied hugely from one part of Juno to another. Some units came under heavy fire and quickly became worn down. Others had an easier time and could start tackling the obstacles in their way.

Meanwhile, the first tanks onto the beach opened fire on the German strongpoints, hoping to destroy tough concrete emplacements that had survived the preparatory bombardment.

In some parts of the beach, the Canadians became pinned down by German fire.

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