City of Edmonton Archives (Loyal Edmonton Regiment Collection, A98-96, Box 4).

Canadian Soldiers at Juno Beach, Normandy, France, 6 June 1944.

Soldiers leave their landing vessel and prepare to attack the enemy

By the spring of 1944, the Allies where ready to cross the channel and assault “Fortress Europe”. D-Day, 6 June 1944, saw Allied forces gain five beachheads on the coast of Normandy. Fighting inland, the Canadians played a major role in the capture of Caen and then Falaise, which closed a gap trapping thousands of Germans soldiers and their equipment. This effectively ended the battle for Normandy.

D-Day

On June 6, 1944, Allied forces invaded Europe on the Normandy beaches in France. Five divisions landed across a 50 mile beachfront with the Canadians landing at Juno Beach.

Caen

Moving inland from the beaches, the Canadian’s next objective was the city of Caen. Achieving this proved to be a long and costly fight against battle-hardened German forces.

Falaise

The Canadian forces, now expanded to form the 1st Canadian Army, was next tasked to capture Falaise and help close a circle which would cut off a large segment of Germany's fighting force.

 

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