6 June 2009
Ottawa, Ontario
On the morning of June 6, 1944, now known as D-Day, Canadian and Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, with more than 5,000 vessels and 10,000 aircraft. In the Battle of Normandy over the months that followed, more than 90,000 Canadian men and women served in a monumental series of events that would signal the beginning of the end of the Second World War. More than 5,000 brave Canadians would lay down their lives.
The beginning of the end of the Second World War
Allied troops crossed the English Channel to engage in Operation Overlord. Their destination: a 50-mile stretch of the heavily-defended coast of Normandy in France.
It was morning when 15,000 Canadian troops came ashore at a place code-named “Juno Beach.” Their mission: to establish a beachhead along a five-mile stretch fronting the villages of Courseulles-sur-Mer, Bernières-sur-Mer and St-Aubin-sur-Mer. The troops would then push inland to capture the city of Caen, a German communications centre.
Canadians successfully parachuted inland and engaged the enemy. Royal Canadian Air Force planes attacked German beach defences and inland positions, while destroyers and supporting craft of the Royal Canadian Navy shelled German targets. Vessels of all types took part in Operation Neptune, the naval portion of the D-Day offensive.
More than 25,000 Canadians participated in D-Day, with 340 of them laying down their lives.
The fighting continued through the summer of 1944, through choking dust and intense heat. Canadian troops moved forward until Paris was liberated by the Allies on August 25, 1944. This successfully completed the Normandy campaign. It would be another nine months before the Allies achieved total victory in Europe.
Victory in the Battle of Normandy came at a terrible cost. Many Canadians made the ultimate sacrifice, while others returned home with injuries to body and mind.
D-Day was one of the most significant military engagements of the 20th century for Canada and for the world, the beginning of the end of the Second World War.
