by Mark Zuehlke
The centre was brought to fruition largely through the efforts of veterans who lobbied the federal government for almost seven years to build a significant museum of Canada’s experience on D-Day at Juno Beach. It is a significant achievement, of which they can be proud, and is arguably now the most compelling museum regarding the invasion to be found anywhere along the Normandy coast, which has many such facilities.
But museums can only do so much to preserve the knowledge of Canada’s contribution to winning the war for future generations or particularly the contribution of those soldiers, airmen, and sailors who took part on June 6, 1944 in the Normandy invasion. Ultimately, it falls to all of us to keep that memory alive. It lies with us to do honour by all those young men who faced the grey sky, sea, and sand of Juno Beach that morning so long ago, which is still only yesterday for those veterans alive today.
APPENDIX A:
CANADIANS AT JUNO BEACH (NOT ALL UNITS LISTED)
3RD CANADIAN INFANTRY DIVISION
7th Reconnaissance Regiment
(17th Duke of York’s Royal Canadian Hussars)
—observer elements only
The Royal Canadian Artillery:
12th Field Regiment
13th Field Regiment
14th Field Regiment
19th Army Field Regiment (attached)
3rd Anti-tank Regiment
4th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment
Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers:
6th Field Company
16th Field Company
18th Field Company
3rd Field Park Company
5th Field Company (attached)
Brigade Support Group:
The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa (MG Battalion)
7th Canadian Infantry Brigade:
The Royal Winnipeg Rifles
The Regina Rifle Regiment
1st Battalion, Canadian Scottish Regiment
8th Canadian Infantry Brigade:
The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada
Le Régiment de la Chaudière
The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment
9th Canadian Infantry Brigade:
The Highland Light Infantry of Canada
The Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders
The North Nova Scotia Highlanders
2ND CANADIAN ARMOURED BRIGADE
6th Armoured Regiment (1st Hussars)
10th Armoured Regiment (The Fort Garry Horse)
27th Armoured Regiment (The Sherbrooke Fusiliers Regiment)
1ST CANADIAN PARACHUTE BATTALION
(Landed Drop Zone V near River Dives)
APPENDIX B:
ROYAL CANADIAN NAVY SHIPS IN THE INVASION (EACH SHIP CLASS LISTED BY SENIORITY OF COMMANDING OFFICER)
A. FLEET DESTROYERS (‘V’ CLASS)
HMCS Algonquin
Sioux
B. FLEET MINESWEEPERS (BANGOR CLASS)
C. ASSAULT FORCES
Landing Ships, Infantry (Medium)
Landing Craft Infantry, Large
D. ASSAULT AREA DEFENCE FORCES: COVERING AND SUPPORT FORCES
Motor Torpedo Boats
Tribal Class Destroyers
HMCS Haida
Iroquois
Huron
Athabaskan
Destroyers
Frigates
Corvettes
APPENDIX C:
ABBREVIATIONS GUIDE TO THE LANDING FLEET
LCA
LCI(S)
LCI(L)
LCT
LSI(H)
LSI(M)
LSI(L)
LST
Landing Craft, Assault
Landing Craft Infantry, Small
Landing Craft Infantry, Large
Landing Craft, Tank
Landing Ship, Infantry (Hand Hoisting)
Landing Ship, Infantry (Medium)
Landing Ship, Infantry (Large)
Landing Ship, Tank
APPENDIX D:
CANADIAN INFANTRY BATTALION (TYPICAL ORGANIZATION)
HQ COMPANY:
No. 1: Signals Platoon
No. 2: Administrative Platoon
SUPPORT COMPANY:
No. 3: Mortar Platoon (3-inch)
No. 4: Bren Carrier Platoon
No. 5: Assault Pioneer Platoon
No. 6: Antitank Platoon (6-pounder)
A COMPANY:
No. 7 Platoon
No. 8 Platoon
No. 9 Platoon
B COMPANY:
No. 10 Platoon
No. 11 Platoon
No. 12 Platoon
C COMPANY:
No. 13 Platoon
No. 14 Platoon
No. 15 Platoon
D COMPANY:
No. 16 Platoon
No. 17 Platoon
No. 18 Platoon
APPENDIX E:
CANADIAN ARMY ORDER OF RANK (LOWEST TO HIGHEST)
Private
Rifleman (rifle regiment equivalent of private)
Gunner (artillery equivalent of private)
Trooper (armoured equivalent of private)
Lance Corporal
Corporal
Lance Sergeant
Sergeant
Company Sergeant Major (CSM)
Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM)
Lieutenant
Captain
Major
Lieutenant Colonel
Colonel
Brigadier
Major General
Lieutenant General
General
APPENDIX F:
GERMAN ARMY ORDER OF RANK (LOWEST TO HIGHEST)
Because the German Army had a ranking system where rank also usually indicated the specific type of unit in which one served, only basic ranks are given here. The translations are roughly based on the Canadian ranking system, although there is no Canadian equivalent for many German ranks.
APPENDIX G:
THE DECORATIONS
Canadian military personnel won many military decorations on June 6, 1944. The decoration system that Canada used in World War II, like most other aspects of its military organization and tradition, derived from Britain. A class-based system, most military decorations can be awarded either to officers or to “other ranks,” but not both. The Canadian army, navy, and air force also have distinct decorations. Only the Victoria Cross—the nation’s highest award—can be won by personnel from any arm of the service or rank.
The decorations and qualifying ranks are:
VICTORIA CROSS (VC): Awarded for gallantry in the presence of the enemy. Instituted in 1856. Open to all ranks. The only award that can be granted for action in which the recipient was killed, other than Mentioned in Despatches—a less formal honour whereby an act of bravery was given specific credit in a formal report. No Victoria Crosses were awarded to Canadian military personnel on D-Day.
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE ORDER (DSO): Army officers of all ranks, but more commonly awarded to officers with ranks of major or higher.
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSS (DSC): Navy officers ranging in rank from commander down to lieutenant.
MILITARY CROSS (MC): Army officers with a rank normally below major and, rarely, warrant officers.
DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS (DFC): Air force officers and warrant officers for acts of valour while flying in active operations against the enemy.
AIR FORCE CROSS (AFC): Air force officers and warrant officers for valour while flying, but not while in active operations against the enemy.
DISTINGUISHED CONDUCT MEDAL (DCM): Army warrant officers and all lower ranks.
CONSPICUOUS GALLANTRY MEDAL (CGM): Navy chief petty officers, petty officers, and men.
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE MEDAL (DSM): Navy chief petty officers, petty officers, and men.
MILITARY MEDAL (MM): Army warrant officers and all lower ranks.
DISTINGUISHED FLYING MEDAL (DFM): Air force non-commissioned officers and men for valour while flying in active operations against the enemy.
AIR FORCE MEDAL (AFM): Air Force non-commissioned officers and men for valour while flying, but not in active operations against the enemy.
NOTES
INTRODUCTION: GREEN ON
1 Lochie Fulton, interview by Ken MacLeod, Victoria, BC, 9 February 1998.
2 Col. C.P. Stacey, The Victory Campaign: The Operations in North-West Europe, 1944–1945, vol. 3 (Ottawa: Queen’s Printer, 1960), 38.
3 Fulton interview.
4 John R. Madden, recorded recollections, 1987, University of Victoria Special Collections.
5 Brian Nolan, Airborne: The Heroic Story of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion in the Second World War (Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995), 79.
6 Madden reminiscences.
1: MAXIMUM FORCE NEEDED
1 Col. C.P. Stacey, The Victory Campaign: The Operations in North-West Europe, 1944–1945, vol. 3 (Ottawa: Queen’s Printer, 1960), 4.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid., 5–6.
6 Ibid., 7.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid., 14.
10 Ibid., 13–15.
11 Ibid., 29.
12 Ibid., 34.
13 Ibid.
14 F.E. Morgan, “War Document, F.E. Morgan to British Chiefs of Staff,” Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 July 1943, 1998–1999., n.p.
15 Stacey, 19–21.
16 Carlo D’Este, Decision in Normandy: The Unwritten Story of Montgomery and the Allied Campaign (London: Penguin Books, 2001), 50–51.
17 Stacey, 21.
18 Maj. J.R. Martin, “Report No. 147 Historical Section Canadian Military Headquarters: Part One: The Assault and Subsequent Operations of 3 Cdn Inf Div and 2 Cdn Armd Bde, 6–30 June 44—N.W. Europe,” Directorate of History, Department of National Defence, 3 December 1945, para. 12.
19 Stacey, 21.
2: THE WEB-FOOTED DIVISION
1 Crerar Papers, “Appointments and Promotions—Officers, Period Feb. 1942 to January 1943,” MG 30 E157, vol. 5, National Archives of Canada.
2 Ibid.
3 Granatstein Papers, newspaper story, n.p, n.d., York University Archives and Special Collections, Scott Library.
4 Granatstein Papers, “Royal Military College of Canada Report of Gentleman Cadet R.F.L. Keller of the 3rd Class for the Term ending 20 July, 1918,” York University Archives and Special Collections, Scott Library.
5 Granatstein Papers, “Royal Military College of Canada Report of Gentleman Cadet R.F.L. Keller of the 1st Class for the Term Xmas, 1919.”
6 J.L. Granatstein, The Generals: The Canadian Army’s Senior Commanders in the Second World War (Toronto: Stoddart, 1993), 16–17.
7 Ernest Côté, interview by Michael Boire, Ottawa, 14 November 2003.
8 Harold Bertrand Gonder, interview by Mark C. Hill, 23 July and 7, 8, 9 August 1985, University of Victoria Special Collections.
9 Granatstein, The Generals, 166.
10 Gonder interview.
11 Canadian Operations in North–West Europe, June 1944: Extracts from Memoranda (Series 1), R.F.L. Keller, “The Techniques of the Assault: Comments on Operation ‘Overlord’,” 21 June 1944, Directorate of Heritage and History, Department of National Defence, 1.
12 Will R. Bird, The Two Jacks: The Amazing Adventures of Major Jack M. Veness and Major Jack L. Fairweather. (Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1954), 2.
13 Bird, 3.
14 Lochie Fulton, interview by Ken MacLeod, Victoria, BC, 9 February 1998.
15 Dave Kingston, interview by John Gregory Thompson, Mississauga, ON, 10 September 2003.
16 Rolph Jackson, interview by John Gregory Thompson, Toronto, 2 September 2003.
17 James Douglas Baird, interview by William S. Thackray, 17, 27 June and 18 July 1980, University of Victoria Special Collections.
18 Maj. H.S. Patterson, “Artillery Communications in Operation Overlord, Account by Maj. H.S. Patterson, OC 2 Coy, 3 CDN INF DIV SIGS,” 018(D2), Directorate of History, Department of National Defence, 6.
19 Baird interview.
20 Patterson, 7–8.
21 Col. C.P. Stacey, The Victory Campaign: The Operations in North-West Europe, 1944–1945, vol. 3 (Ottawa: Queen’s Printer, 1960), 35–36.
22 N.a., “Second Canadian Armoured Brigade: Operation Overlord—The Assault on the Beaches of Normandy, 6–11 June 1944—Sequence of Events and Lessons Arising Therefrom,” vol. 104S5, RG24, National Archives of Canada, n.p.
23 Ibid.
24 Phil Cockburn, interview by John Gregory Thompson, Ravenswood, ON, 11 August 2003.
25 Jim Simpson, interview by John Gregory Thompson, Windsor, ON, 13 September 2003.
26 Keller, “The Technique of the Assault: Comments on Operation ‘Overlord,’” 21 June 1944, 1.
27 Don Mingay speech, 2002, copy in possession of the author.
3: LEARNING NEW SKILLS
1 Peter Hinton, interview by Mark Hill, 22 July 1985, University of Victoria Special Collections.
2 “The Royal Canadian Navy’s Part in the Invasion,” Directorate of History, Department of National Defence, 27.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.
5 Hinton interview.
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid.
8 “The Royal Canadian Navy’s Part in the Invasion,” 5–6.
9 Ibid., 20.
10 Ibid., 20–21.
11 Stan Richardson diary, copy in possession of the author.
12 Ibid.
13 “The Royal Canadian Navy’s Part in the Invasion,” 21.
14 Richardson diary.
15 “The Royal Canadian Navy’s Part in the Invasion,” 21.
16 Richardson diary.
17 “The Royal Canadian Navy’s Part in the Invasion,” 21–23.
18 Ibid., 25.
19 Ibid., 25–26.
20 Col. C.P. Stacey, The Victory Campaign: The Operations in North-West Europe, 1944–1945, vol. 3 (Ottawa: Queen’s Printer, 1960), 37.
21 “The Royal Canadian Navy’s Part in the Invasion,” 28.
22 Ibid.
23 Hinton interview.
24 “The Royal Canadian Navy’s Part in the Invasion,” 29.
25 Hinton interview.
26 Lochie Fulton, interview by Ken MacLeod, Victoria, BC, 9 February 1998.
27 Will R. Bird, North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment (Fredericton, NB: Brunswick Press, 1963), 192.
4: DEATH OR GLORY
1 Trafford Leigh-Mallory, “Air Operations by the Allied Expeditionary Air Force in N.W. Europe from November 15th, 1943 to September 30th, 1944,” Fourth Supplement, The London Gazette, 31 December 1946, 37.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid., 38.
4 Ibid., 43.
5 Brereton Greenhous, Stephen Harris, et al., The Crucible of War, 1939–1945: The Official History of The Royal Canadian Air Force, vol. 3 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1995), 288–89.
6 Ibid., 279.
7 Ibid.
8 David Bashow, All the Fine Young Eagles: In the Cockpit with Canada’s Second World War Fighter Pilots (Toronto: Stoddart, 1996), 256.
9 Jean E. Portugal, We Were There: The Navy, the Army and the RCAF—A Record for Canada, vol. 7 (Shelburne, ON: The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box, 1998), 3283.
10 Greenhous et al., 278.
11 Bashow, 263.
12 Greenhous et al., 279.
13 Ibid.
14 Ibid., 289.
15 Ibid., 284.
16 Ibid., 289–90.
17 Bashow, 263.
18 Greenhous et al., 281.
19 Bashow, 264–65.
20 Leigh-Mallory, 42.
21 Ibid., 50.
22 Ibid., 51.
23 Greenhous et al., 805.
24 Don Cheney, interview by Glen Cook, 16 November 2000, Ottawa, Canadian War Museum Oral History Project Collection.
25 Ibid.
5: THE INTELLIGENCE FOG
1 Ralph Bennett, Ultra in the West: The Norm
andy Campaign, 1944–45 (London: Hutchinson & Co., 1979), 49–50.
2 Col. C.P. Stacey, The Victory Campaign: The Operations in North-West Europe, 1944–1945, vol. 3 (Ottawa: Queen’s Printer, 1960), 46.
3 Bennett, 64–67.
4 Ibid., 42.
5 Hans Speidel, “Ideas and Views of Genfldm Rommell, Commander of Army Group B, on Defense and Operations in the West in 1944,” in Fighting the Invasion: The German Army at D-Day, David C. Isby, ed. (London: Greenhill Books, 2000), 41.
6 Ibid., 42.
7 Ibid., 41.
8 Ibid., 42.
9 Stacey, 55.
10 Walter Warlimont, “The Invasion,” in Fighting the Invasion: The German Army at D-Day, David C. Isby, ed. (London: Greenhill Books, 2000), 92.
11 Stacey, 57.
12 Ibid., 59.
13 Ibid., 55.
14 Ibid., 69.
15 Ibid., 56.
16 Roger Chevalier, interview by author, Courseulles-sur-Mer, 23 May 2003.
17 Warlimont, 88.
18 Max Pemsel, “Seventh Army, June 1942–6 June 1944: Report of the Chief of Staff,” in Fighting the Invasion: The German Army at D-Day, David C. Isby, ed. (London: Greenhill Books, 2000), 55.
19 Warlimont, 88.
20 Ibid., 89.
21 Bennett, 50.
22 Speidel, 39.
23 Stacey, 60.