Invasion! Canadians and the battle of Normandy, 1944

The Beginning of the End

The D-Day landings and the Battle of Normandy opened another front in the war against Germany — an important step towards the Allies’ May 1945 victory in Europe.

On 6 June 1944, Canadian, British, American, and Free French forces landed in Normandy. Canadians, serving in army, navy, air force, and medical units, played key roles throughout the campaign that followed, from 6 June to 21 August 1944.

The Germans had spent years preparing to counter this invasion. The battles for the beaches and beyond were hard-won. Allied victory came through skill and tenacity.

The Canadian War Museum marks the service and sacrifice of these Canadians 80 years later.

June 1944

Preparation for Battle

June 1944

The Allied invasion of Europe was the most complex amphibious military operation in human history. Some 150,000 soldiers — including almost 15,000 Canadians — would disembark on the beaches of Normandy or land by parachute or glider in nearby areas on 6 June 1944.

Black-and-white photograph of soldiers and officers in uniform at left and lower right, sitting on the deck and a wooden bench on a military ship, listening to a briefing by an officer crouched next to a blackboard at the upper right with a white chalk diagram. — Reconnaissance group on a ship before landing

Naval Support

5–6 June 1944

An armada of 6,900 warships, operated by nearly 200,000 sailors, guarded and supported the Allied infantry and armoured forces, and transported them to the landing beaches in Normandy. The naval vessels were protected by thousands of aircraft and barrage balloons.

Black-and-white photograph of an overcast sky filled with barrage balloons. Two rows of landing craft head across the sea towards the horizon. On the landing craft in foreground, some soldiers look out over the rail at left, while others look up at the camera. — The Allied armada

D-Day

6 June 1944

Six Allied divisions landed on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. The 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, with support from armoured regiments, went ashore under fire and fought its way forward off Juno Beach, advancing more than 11 kilometres inland by the end of the day.

Black-and-white photograph of soldiers walking in a long column from left to right up a beach on a bright sunny day at low tide, with a landing craft behind them at right centre. — Canadians on Juno Beach

Leading Telegrapher James Grant

James Grant was part of the crew of landing craft LCI(L) 249, which carried British troops to Juno Beach on D-Day. During the action, he used his personal camera to take the photographs seen here.

Grant and other Canadians helped transport Allied reinforcements to France after 6 June. He survived the war and continued to serve in the navy, rising to the rank of captain.

Faded black-and-white photograph of a man, hatless in military uniform, perched on steel bars while operating a signal lamp from the deck of a ship on a sunny day. A white label on black background reads, “Yours truly in Ouistrèham.” — Leading Telegrapher James Grant aboard a ship at Ouistreham, France

Page from photo album with nine faded black-and-white snapshots on black paper background showing images from the Normandy landings, including scenes on the water, soldiers in landing craft and walking across sand, and vehicles on the beach. — Photo Album of Leading Telegrapher James Grant, Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve

Sergeant John P. Downing

Sergeant John Percival Downing, of the 5th Field Company, Royal Canadian Engineers, was killed in combat on D-Day. He died on the beach as he exited his landing craft.

In the aftermath, this telegram was sent to his widow, Mina. Such messages informed hundreds of families across Canada of the death of a son, husband, or father on D-Day.

Hand-coloured black-and-white studio photograph of smiling man with a moustache in military uniform, wearing a necktie and a wedge-shaped cap perched at an angle. — Portrait of Sergeant John P. Downing

Telegram Sent to Mina I. Downing

Defending the Bridgehead

7–10 June 1944

In the days following 6 June, the Allied forces were vulnerable to a German counterattack that sought to drive them back into the English Channel. The Canadians faced sustained attacks. Despite heavy losses, they held the bridgehead.

Black-and-white photograph of a helmeted soldier in a shallow trench, facing the camera while reaching into a high stone wall. The rifle beside him points through a narrow opening. In the background, a second rifle leans against the wall, with a metal wheel in the distance. — Canadian infantry

The Enemy

June 1944

The Canadians fought a series of battles against the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth). The German soldiers were young and heavily indoctrinated, and gained a reputation for killing prisoners after battle. By the end of the Normandy campaign, the 12th SS was annihilated as a fighting unit.

Black-and-white photograph of a stern Canadian soldier on the left with a rifle and binoculars, grasping the arm of tall German soldier on the right with a bruised face and dirty fatigues. A smiling soldier holding a rifle stands in the background. — A Canadian soldier (left) and a German prisoner (right)

July 1944

Capturing Caen

8–10 July 1944

The Allies had planned to reach and possibly take Caen on D-Day, but the Germans held it fiercely. After a month-long battle, much of the French city was destroyed. It was finally cleared of Germans in a Canadian and British operation starting on 8 July 1944.

Black-and-white photograph of a wide road in a bombed-out town. In the distance, numerous soldiers and military vehicles stand next to large piles of rubble and a row of intact buildings, including a church with twin spires. — Caen in ruins

Private Arthur Wilkinson and Alta Wilkinson

On 14 June 1944, Arthur Wilkinson wrote his last letter to his mother, Alta. In it, he was aware of the coming danger, which “made [him] realize just what a wonderful family [he had] and what a swell place home was.” He died in Caen just over four weeks later. The letter was found on his body and sent to his grieving mother.

Sepia photograph outside a brick house of serious man on the left in military cap and greatcoat, standing beside a smiling woman on the right in dark coat with an arm tucked through his. Handwriting around the edges lists names, the place, and the date. — Private Arthur Wilkinson and his mother, Alta Wilkinson, 7 December 1939

Handwritten letter in cursive, using dark blue ink on light blue paper. — Letter from Arthur Wilkinson to Alta Wilkinson, 14 June 1944

Handwritten letter in cursive, using dark blue ink on light blue paper, with address and mailing information at right centre. — Letter from Arthur Wilkinson to Alta Wilkinson and envelope, 14 June 1944

Praying for Survival

July 1944

For soldiers in Normandy, conditions were often uncomfortable, unsanitary, and unnerving. Narrow slit trenches provided some protection against shells and snipers, but casualty rates remained high. Almost everyone turned to a higher power for solace.

Black-and-white photograph of an outdoor church service. A chaplain at left holds a Bible above a small table with a white cloth. Two rows of soldiers kneel behind him in long grass, with trees, tents, and military vehicles in the near distance. — Religious service

Air Power

July 1944

By D-Day, much of the German air force had been destroyed. This gave the Allies command of the air throughout the Battle of Normandy. Royal Canadian Air Force fighters roamed the skies, attacking German forces from above, while bombers struck strategic and tactical targets.

Black-and-white photograph of two Supermarine Spitfire fighter planes taking off from right to left over dusty open ground on a sunny day, with a line of trees in distance. — Canadian Spitfires take off from a Normandy airfield, around June 1944.

Flight Lieutenant Douglas Sam

Flight Lieutenant Kam Len Douglas Sam served as a rear gunner with the 426th Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force. On 29 June 1944, while on a sortie over France, his Halifax bomber was shot down. For more than two months he avoided capture, working with the French Resistance until Allied troops arrived.

Sam remained in the military postwar. Retiring as a lieutenant-colonel in 1967, he was the most decorated and highest-ranking Chinese Canadian officer in history.

Blurry black-and-white photograph of a bareheaded aviator with a slight smile, wearing full flight gear and standing near the gun turret of plane behind him, with a packed parachute at his feet. — Flight Lieutenant Douglas Sam

Black-and-white photograph of a large, relaxed group in suits and dresses, standing outdoors in front of trees, with a bareheaded and smiling young Chinese Canadian man in military uniform second from the right. — Douglas Sam (*second from right*) and two other RCAF evaders with a French family and Resistance members, summer 1944.

Bloody Battle at Verrières Ridge

25 July 1944

Following their liberation of Caen, Canadian and Allied forces continued to push south. A Canadian operation at Verrières Ridge on 25 July 1944 against well-fortified German units suffered heavy losses and ended in defeat. The Canadians regrouped and continued to drive ahead.

Atmospheric black-and-white photograph of soldier in a helmet with a rifle, silhouetted in a dark landscape against a bright light in the distance. — Canadian infantry at Verrières Ridge

August 1944

Saving the Wounded

August 1944

By late August, thousands of Canadian soldiers fighting in Normandy had been wounded or killed. The injured and sick were transported from the front to medical units for surgery and care. This rapid medical intervention saved lives.

Black-and-white photograph of two soldiers in uniform, each tended by a military nurse, in front of medical vehicles with crosses. The soldier on the left wears an open jacket with his arm in sling. The soldier on the right wears combat fatigues and a metal helmet. — British nurses and wounded Canadian soldiers

Nursing Sister Winnie Burwash

Casualties from the Battle of Normandy were treated in France, with more serious cases sent to Britain. Nursing Sister Winnie Burwash wrote that her hospital in England was filled with Normandy soldiers. Though she was working long hours, she knew it was even more intense at the front: “We don’t really mind [the hours] when I think of how hard the [nursing sisters] are working in France.”

Black-and-white photograph of a laughing woman in a military nurse’s uniform with a dark skirt and jacket, a dark belt with metal clasp, white cuffs and collar, standing on a light concrete step in a dark doorway. — Nursing Sister Winnie Burwash

Handwritten letter in cursive, using black ink on light grey paper. — Letter from Winnie Burwash to Della Allen, Marion MacArthur and Bea Trout, 25 July 1944

Handwritten letter in cursive, using black ink on light grey paper, with address and mailing information at right centre. — Letter from Winnie Burwash to Della Allen, Marion MacArthur and Bea Trout; with envelope, 25 July 1944

Lieutenant Barney Danson

In late August 1944, a German rocket launcher warhead fragment severely wounded Barney Danson, a lieutenant in the Queen’s Own Rifles. He sent this telegram to his wife, Isobel, from hospital, downplaying the injuries as a “slight head wound.”

Danson, later Minister of National Defence, was an influential supporter of the Canadian War Museum. His medals are displayed near the entrance of the Museum’s theatre that bears his name.

Faded black-and-white photograph of a smiling man with a patch over his left eye, in military uniform with a tie. Part of a house with a curved window is visible in the background. — Lieutenant Barney Danson after being wounded

Telegram from Barney Danson to Isobel Danson, 31 August 1944

Breakout to Victory

8–14 August 1944

In August 1944, Canadian, Polish, and British tanks, armoured personnel carriers, and troops smashed through weakened German formations in two major battles known as Operation Totalize and Operation Tractable. The Germans fought tenaciously, and the Allies progressed slowly.

Black-and-white photograph of Allied tanks driving through rolling landscape with line of trees in distance. The tank in the foreground has equipment for a minesweeping flail in the front, with a helmeted soldier in the turret and two seated soldiers on either side of the gun. — Armoured operations

Defeating the Germans

21 August 1944

By the second week of August, the German army in Normandy was on the verge of defeat. American, British, Canadian, and Polish forces surrounded tens of thousands of Germans in the Falaise Pocket. An estimated 60,000 Germans were killed or captured by the end of the battle, on 21 August 1944.

Black-and-white photograph of two soldiers sitting on a gun carriage with a Nazi flag draped between them and a military truck at the back left. The soldier on the left wears a helmet and holds a sub-machine gun. The soldier on the right wears a beret and holds a rifle. — Two Canadians with a Nazi flag souvenir, 10 August 1944

Major David V. Currie, VC

Major David Currie led from the front in the bitter and costly battle at Saint-Lambert-sur-Dives, from 18 to 21 August 1944. Holding a key position, Currie’s outnumbered battle group defeated multiple enemy attacks.

Lieutenant-General Guy Simonds, commander of the 2nd Canadian Corps, sent this letter of congratulations to Currie after he was awarded the Victoria Cross for his “courageous and effective” leadership during the battle. Currie’s medal set can be seen in Gallery 3 – The Second World War at the Canadian War Museum.

Black-and-white photograph of a road with Canadian soldiers on the left and right, and German soldiers in the centre. In the background, trees stand on left, and ruined buildings and military jeep are visible on the right. In the left foreground, a helmeted soldier films the scene. — Major David Currie (left, with pistol in hand) accepting the surrender of German troops, 19 August 1944

Short typed letter on plain white paper, with signature at bottom. — Letter to Major David Currie from Lieutenant-General Guy Simonds, 23 November 1944

A Long Road Ahead

The defeat of the Germans in Normandy led some Allied leaders to hope Germany might soon surrender. Instead, they faced nine more months of fighting before victory in Europe on 8 May 1945.

The Battle of Normandy was the beginning of the end for the German occupation of western Europe. Some 200,000 Germans were killed or wounded and another 200,000 captured. There were 206,000 Allied casualties, including almost 20,000 Canadians killed or wounded. The fighting devastated large areas of Normandy and killed nearly 20,000 French civilians. The cost of liberation was appallingly high.