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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.

Officers of the 260th and 262nd Flotillas
Officers of the 260th and 262nd Flotillas

In this photograph, officers from two of the three Canadian landing craft flotillas pose in front of HMS Victory in Portsmouth, England.

Lieutenant Young (left), Sub-Lieutenant Dave Moon (second from left), and Lieutenant J.E. O'Rourke (second from right), the commanding officer of LCI(L) 249, stand beside the executive officer of the Canadian 262nd Flotilla. The Victory, Lord Nelson's famous flagship at the battle of Trafalgar, was in Portsmouth's #2 Drydock. Grant took at least three photos of the ship and noted in another caption that these four men were "in the shadow of Nelson."

George Metcalf Archival Collection
CWM 20020039-001_p13h





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