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The Landing Beaches DDAYMAP:JanFeb 4/20/09 2:54 PM Page 20 65 TH ANNIVERSARYOFTHENORMANDYINVASION “The Allied victory in Northwest Europe...will lead to the end of the German military domination of France; it is the beginning of the end of the war.” – Part of a directive issued by General Bernard Montgomery, Aug. 20, 1944 Numbers can be interesting, but they don’t tell the THE LANDING BEACHES BY THE NUMBERS whole story. To get that, it is best to read the various histories or, better yet, talk to those who were there during that Normandy summer 65 years ago. We present the following for quick reference, noting that in some cases the numbers are approximations. FÉCAMP CHERBOURG Date of Allied Allied minesweepers deployed to UTAH OMAHA Normandy Landings 4TH4TH US DIVISIONDIVISION 1ST1ST US DIVISIONDIVISION 06/06/44 247 ‘sweep’ 10 approach channels to 2929THTH U USS DI DIVISIONVISION JUNO the Normandy beaches 3RD CANADIAN INF. DIV. VALOGNES 2ND CANADIAN ARMD. BDE. LE HAVRE Allied invasion beaches or sectors, 5 codenamed—from west to east— Allied men landed STE. MÈRE-ÉGLISE GOLDGOLD SWORD Utah (US), Omaha (US), Gold (Brit.), Juno 132,000 on D-Day 50TH50TH B BRITISHRITISH D DIVISIONIVISION 3RD3RD BRITISHBRITISH DIVISIONDIVISION SEINE (Cdn.) and Sword (Brit.) 82ND US AIRBORNE DIVISION GRANDCAMP 101ST US MAISY Troops landed by sea or by AIRBORNE DIVISION ST. LAURENT DEAUVILLE ARROMANCHES Panzer or panzer-grenadier (armoured air by day’s end on D-Day CARENTAN COURSEULLES- 155,000 ÈVES SUR-MER 10 infantry) divisions in the West by D-Day. S HOULGATE PONT LESSAY BAYEUX OUISTREHAM Six were considered battle-ready 6TH BRITISH L’ÉVÊQUE E Vehicles, including tanks, AY LES AIRBORNE DIVISION MUM PÈRIERS UL 6,000 landed on D-Day OME DR SE RE Tonnage of bombs dropped by AU ODON CAEN the RAF Bomber Command in SAINT-LÔ TO LISIEUX 6,000 UQ Air force squadrons of fighters and CE the final hours prior to the invasion UE fighter bombers that attacked the VILLERS-BOCAGE S 171 MUAN Luftwaffe or ground positions UNITED KINGDOM L S BELGIUM A ONO VE IZE I IS D Allied paratroopers, CHANNEL GERMANY LA VIE LUX. 23,400 including Canadians, who ENGLISH O jumped or landed in gliders behind German Tonnage of stores or R NNE supplies required per day PARIS ESCAPE ROUTE coastal defences 26,000 FALAISE OF GERMAN ARMY to sustain Allied armies in Normandy VIRE TRUN FRANCE SWIT. Allied vessels employed in the FALAISE POCKET CHAMBOIS D-Day fleet commanded by German soldiers squeezed (16-21 AUGUST, 1944) 7,016 ATLANTIC OCEAN ARGENTAN Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, including six 100,000 by Allied forces into the Falaise pocket, an area that measured 30 kilo- ITALY SÉE battleships, two monitors, 22 cruisers, 93 destroyers, 71 corvettes, and various types metres long by 20 wide on Aug. 16, 1944 of landing craft, numbering in the thousands SPAIN MEDITERRANEAN SEA German casualties between SÉLUNE 0 10 20 30 RENNE 400,000 June and late August 1944 VA KILOMETRES Allied naval personnel, 195,701 including merchant navy that supported the invasion Allied casualties between June and late August 1944 OPERATION OVERLORD Codename for the 1944 Allied D-DAY Allied staff term for the unnamed day on which an 206,000 invasion of occupied Northwest Europe. operation commences or is to commence. The letter D is a mili- For a bird’s eye view of Juno Beach on the morning of June 6, 1944, Sources: Bloody Victory: Canadians and the D-Day Campaign 1944 by tary symbol standing for the day the operation is to happen. please see our illustrated pullout poster in the centre of the magazine. J.L. Granatstein and Desmond Morton; D-Day: The Illustrated History by OPERATION NEPTUNE Codename for the assault phase Stephen Badsey; Juno: Canadians At D-Day, June 6, 1944 by Ted Barris; Legion Magazine; Normandy 1944: The Canadian Summer by Bill (the Normandy landings and associated operations) of the JUNO The Allied codename given to the Normandy beach For a timeline on the Normandy Campaign, please visit McAndrew, Donald E. Graves and Michael Whitby; Oxford Companion 1944 Allied invasion of Normandy. where Canadians landed on June 6, 1944. Legion Magazine’s website at www.legionmagazine.com To World War II; The Victory Campaign: The Operations In North-West Europe, 1944-1945 by C.P. Stacey; Veterans Affairs Canada..
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