(Assault Phase Grouping)
HQ 3rd Canadian Division
3rd Canadian Divisional Signals Regiment
HQ 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade (Under Command)
2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade Signal Squadron
HQ 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade (Mike and Nan Green)
J Section Signals 3rd Canadian Infantry
Division
7th Canadian Infantry Brigade Defence Platoon
The Royal Winnipeg Rifles
The Regina Regiment
1st Canadian Scottish Regiment
B Squadron, 22nd Dragoons (Two Troops) -
Flails
6th Canadian Armoured Regiment (1st Hussars) – DD Tanks
54th Canadian Light Aid Detachment (RCEME)
A & D Coys, Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa (MMG & mor)
12th Canadian Field Regiment - SP artillery
13th Canadian Field Regiment - SP artillery
94th Canadian Anti-tank Battery
248th Battery, 62nd Anti-Tank Regiment (M10 SP guns)
246th Battery, 62nd Anti-Tank Regiment (17-pounder guns)
26th Assault Squadron Royal Engineers - AVRE
6th Canadian Field Company - Engineers
5th Canadian Field Company - Engineers
Canadian Field Ambulance
36th Canadian Light Aid Detachment (RCEME)
F Section 9th Canadian Provost Company
7th Beach Group
HQ 8th Canadian Infantry Brigade (Nan Red and White)
K Section Signals 3rd Canadian Infantry
Division
8th Canadian Infantry Brigade Defence Platoon
The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada
Le Regiment de la Chaudiere
The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment
10th Canadian Armoured Regiment (Fort Garry’s Horse)
55th Canadian Light Aid Detachment (RCEME)
B Squadron, 22nd Dragoons (Two Troops) -
Flails
B Coy Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa (MMG and mortars)
14th Canadian Field Regiment - SP artillery
19th Canadian Field Regiment - SP artillery
52nd Canadian Anti-tank Battery (M 10 SP guns)
247th Battery, 62nd Anti-Tank Regiment (17-pounder guns)
80th Assault Squadron Royal Engineers - AVRE
5th Canadian Field Company - Engineers
16th Canadian Field Company - Engineers
37th Canadian Light Aid Detachment (RCEME)
C Section, 4th Canadian Provost Company
Canadian Field Ambulance
8th Beach Group
HQ 9th Canadian Infantry Brigade
L Section Signals 3rd Canadian Infantry
Division
9th Canadian Infantry Brigade Defence Platoon
The Highland Light Infantry of Canada
The Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry
Highlanders
The North Nova Scotia Highlanders
27th Canadian Armoured Regiment (Sherbrook Fusiliers Regiment)
85th Canadian Light Aid Detachment (RCEME)
C Company Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa (MMG and mortars)
105th Anti-tank Battery, 3 Canadian Anti-tank
Regiment (M10 SP guns)
38th Canadian Light Aid Detachment (RCEME)
D Section, 4th Canadian Provost Company
Canadian Field Ambulance
Detachments 103 Sub Area Beach Group
Royal Marines
48 Commando Royal Marines
1st Section Royal Marines Engineer Commando
3 and 4 Batteries 2nd Royal Marines Assault
Regiment
Detachment 30 (Commando) Assault Unit
Royal Marines
Divisional Troops 3rd Canadian Infantry Division
Headquarters, 62 Anti-Tank Regiment
32 Battery, 4th Canadian Light Anti-Aircraft
Regiment
Headquarters, Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa (mediums machine guns and mortars)
I Corps Troops
C Squadron Inns of Court Yeomanry (Armoured cars)
21st Army Group
79th Armoured Division
5th Assault Regiment Royal Engineers
Tactical Headquarters 80th Anti-Aircraft
Brigade
474th Search Light Battery (two troops)
A Flight 652nd Air Observation Post Squadron (Ground crew)
103 Beach Group (under command for landing)
Advice to Visitors
Preparation and planning are important prerequisites for an enjoyable and successful tour. This section aims to give some advice to those who are travelling to Normandy for the first time and acts as a checklist for the more seasoned battlefield visitor.
Travel to Normandy
Most visitors travelling to the Normandy battlefields do so by car. However, with the area’s proximity to ports, an increasing number of hardy souls are cycling around the battlefields. However one chooses to travel around Normandy, a journey originating in the UK has to cross the Channel A wide range of options available. The nearest ferry service to Juno is the Brittany Ferries route which delivers the visitor from Portsmouth to Ouistreham, less than an half an hour’s drive from Juno Beach. This crossing is slightly longer than others, being six hours during the day or six hours thirty minutes overnight. Further away, just over an hour to the west, is the port of Cherbourg, which is served by sailings from Portsmouth, Southampton and Poole (three and a half hours by hydrofoil or express craft to five hours by conventional ferries). Two hours to the east is le Havre, which is served by ferries from Portsmouth and Southampton. Choice for most visitors depends on the convenience of the sailing times and, of course, relative costs. To the east of Normandy are the shorter, and consequently cheaper, crossings in the Boulogne and Calais area. For those who dislike ferries there is the Channel Tunnel, but this option, though quicker, is usually more expensive. From the Calais area, Arromanches can be easily reached via the new autoroutes in just over four hours but bear in mind tolls cost up to £15. This can be reduced to about £10 by avoiding the new Pont de Normandie. It is worth checking out all the options available and make your selection of routes based on UK travel, ferry times and cost. French law requires you to carry a full driving licence and a vehicle registration document. Do not forget your passport and a GB sticker if you do not have EU number plates with the blue national identifier square.
Insurance
It is important to check that you are properly insured to travel to France. Firstly, check with your insurance broker to ensure that you are covered for driving outside the UK and, secondly, make sure you have health cover. Form E111, available from post offices; grants the bearer reciprocal treatment rights in France but, even so, the visitor may wish to consider a comprehensive package of travel insurance. Such packages are available from a broker or travel agent. It is a legal requirement for a driver to carry a valid certificate of motor insurance. Be warned that without insurance, repatriating the sick or injured is very expensive, as is return of vehicles.
Accommodation
There are plenty of accommodation options in the resorts of Lagrune, St Aubin, Bernières and Courseulles. These vary from very well run campsites, through B and B accommodation to a variety of good hotels and a wide range of local restaurants. Up to date contact details are available from the French Tourist Office, 178 Picadilly, London W1V 0AL (01891 244 123). Further details of accommodation and travel amenities are available from the office of Calvados Tourisme, Place du Canada, 14000 Caen, France. To telephone from the UK dial 0033, drop the 0 necessary for ringing within France and dial 2 31 86 53 30.
While there is easily accessible information on the variety of hotel accommodation to suit all tastes and pockets, increasing numbers of visitors are using the mobile homes and the campsites in the Juno area. The main mobile park, Camping de la Cote de Nacre, which also offers camping, is located on the outskirts of St Aubin. The self-catering mobile homes can be booked through tour operators such as Canvas and French Life and their packages can cost little more, in May, early June and September than a standard cross Channel ferry fare. This excellent family site is a short walk from Nan Red and restaurants but has all the facilities, such as bar and an excellent swimming complex, which make it attractive for a family group. At the other end of the scale is the Courseulles Municipal campsite ‘Canadian Scottish’, which is located in the dunes immediately behind Mike Green Beach. It has basic but clean camping facilities and is easily accessible, being five minutes walk from Courseulles. Booking is somewhat haphazard, but it is always worth considering if this style of campsite suits your pocket and plans.
Maps
Good maps are an essential prerequisite to a successful battlefield visit. Best of all is a combination of contemporary and modern maps. The Battleground series of course, provides a variety of maps. However, a full map sheet enables the visitor or indeed those who are exploring the battlefield from the comfort of their armchair, to put the battle in a wider context. A contemporary 1:25,000 map sheet (Creully), overprinted with intelligence data, is available from the Keep Military Museum, Bridport Road, Dorchester, Dorset, DT1 1RN (01305264066) for £4.99 including postage and packing. It shows the woods and roads as they were before the intervention of modern agriculture. Overprinted are the German positions that had been located by the Resistance and air reconnaissance prior to the battle.
A number of modern map series are available in both the UK and Normandy. Most readily available in both countries are the Michelin 1:200,000 Yellow Series. Sheet 54 covers the British and US D Day build-up and break-out battle areas and is useful for getting around the Normandy battlefield and its ports. Better still are the Institut Geographique National (IGN) 1:100,000 Serie Vert (Green Series) maps. Sheet 6, Caen-Cherbourg-Normandie, covers most of the Normandy battle area. Normally only available in the UK at a specialist map shop they can, however, be procured as a special order through high street book shops such as Waterstones. The Series Vert maps have the advantage of showing contours and other details such as unmade roads and tracks. Sheet 6 is a good compromise if you are visiting several sites and wish to use a single map. The most detailed maps, readily available in France, are the IGN Serie Bleue in 1:25,000 scale. The Juno area is covered by the sheets: 1512 E Caen, which includes all of the Juno area covered in this book, along with Sword Beach. This map can normally be found in the tourist shops at Arromanches. However, if you are planning your tour well in advance, large retailers in the UK can order Serie Bleue maps, given sufficient notice.
Courtesy
Juno’s coastal area is mainly a resort or residential area but inland the country is mainly open farmland and many of the villages were also a part of the battlefield. Please respect private property in both resort, open country and villages, particularly avoiding driving on unmade up farm tracks and entering non-public areas in villages. Adequate views of the scene of the action can be enjoyed from public land rights of way. In all cases, please be careful not to block roads by careless car parking. The people of Normandy extend a genuine welcome to those who come to honour the memory of the Allied liberators. To preserve this welcome please be courteous to the local people.