Juno Beach - British 2nd Army, 1st Corps


Spanning either side of the port of Courseulles-sur-Mer, the Juno Beach landing area was six miles wide. German light infantry occupied villages beyond the coastal dunes, giving them a decent advantage over troops advancing through the dunes.


The landing started miserably, with a third of the landing craft destroyed or damaged by mines and obstacles. The Canadian assault troops then had an easy time crossing the beach, before being mown down by German fire. The first waves of troops suffered a 50% casualty rate.


By noon, the coastal towns had been taken and the Canadian troops advanced inland and teamed up with British soldiers from Gold. Out of 21,400 men landed, there were 1,200 casualties.