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Second World War (1939-1945)
The Navy in European Waters  - D-Day and the Normandy Landings

Over 100 Canadian warships and some 10,000 Canadian sailors supported D-Day, the 6 June 1944 landings in Normandy. Canadian ships and sailors helped protect the invasion fleet, cleared German minefields, and ferried Allied troops across the Channel.

Oropesa Minesweeping Float
Oropesa Minesweeping Float

Oropesa floats (sometimes called paravanes) were essential minesweeping equipment.

Minesweepers used Oropesa floats to support one end of a cable fitted with specialized devices, including cutters that severed the lines attaching underwater mines to the seabed. The cable, attached to a U-shaped towing bracket (bottom) could be more than a kilometre long. A flag attached to a small pole (top) indicated the float's position at the end of the cable and one edge of the area cleared of mines. When not in use, the large floats, over three metres long, were prominent objects on a minesweeper's deck.

Minesweeping Float
CWM 19660074-016





HMCS Caraquet Model
Oropesa Minesweeping Float
Tangled Float, No.2
Chaudières Embarking for Normandy Assault
Third Canadian Division Assault Troops
260th Landing Craft Flotilla, Southampton, England
Officers of the 260th and 262nd Flotillas
The Crew of LCI(L) 135
D-Day
LCI(L) 249, Bernières-sur-Mer, 6 June 1944
LCI(L) 249 at Bernières-sur-Mer, 6 June 1944
LCI(L) 135 on Juno Beach
LCI(L) 249 in Drydock, Portsmouth, England
White Ensign, LCI(L) 250
Chaplain James Harold Graven's Pyx
Royal Canadian Navy Beach Commando Battle Dress Blouse
Lanchester Sub-Machine-gun
Southampton Pub, D-Day Plus One
Rescue at Sea
The Gale of Hurricane Force on the Normandy Beach