Canada's D-Day: The Invasion Of Normandy

Normandy was chosen to be the location due to its proximity to Great Britain, as well as its beach and tide characteristics. Normandy also had weaker defenses than other areas on northern France’s coast. Concerning the scope of the operation, the plan originally called for three attacking sites. Eventually it was agreed that five would be necessary; consequently, there were five beaches, Omaha and Utah going to America, Gold and Sword being assigned to Britain, and Canada receiving Juno.
Good planning and leadership alone would not win this impending attack. Allied deception tactics would also aid the efforts of the Americans, British, and Canadians. Adolf Hitler and many other German leaders believed the assault would come in the Pas de Calais
region, northeast of Normandy. Counterfeit radio transmissions and phantom armies supposedly waiting in eastern England confirmed Hitler’s beliefs. Remarkable portions of German troops were moved to the Calais region and could not play a role in D-Day because of this – this and the paratroopers sent in as a prologue for D-Day.
As found in the article “D-Day”, an American paratrooper said, “We had about eighty pounds of equipment – grenades, food, everything that we were going to need on our own. We’re not gonna have any aid, any connection with anybody until the people from the shore – the fellas that break through – come up and relieve us.” (“D-Day”) This paratrooper, and all the other thirteen thousand to twenty thousand men, had no guarantee of surviving their dangerous mission. Tasked to sabotage railroads and other transportation targets, these men made certain that the German troops stationed in the Pas de Calais region could not backup the German forces in Normandy during the initial D-Day attack.
This operation was incredibly important, but dangerous indeed. If the invasion did not succeed, the men would be trapped behind enemy lines, and even if D-Day succeeded, it could take weeks for the Allied forces to meet up with the paratroopers. Most everything about this operation was dangerous, and numerous men lost their lives. One of these men was Lieutenant Den Brotheridge, who is considered the first Allied casualty of D-Day.
Brotheridge, a twenty-six-year-old, led twenty-eight men of the first platoon, D Company, the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry Regiment, British 6th Airborne Division. He had trained for two years, spending six months specifically training for the assignment during which he died: The seizing of a bridge defended by a machine-gun pillbox with fifty Germans defending it. Before joining the army, Brotheridge had been at home with his wife, Margaret. Many predicted that after the war, the athletic lieutenant would play professional soccer, or football as he would have called it. Conscientious and driven, Brotheridge was a popular fellow, and he would talk soccer with the “lads” while polishing his boots. While taking the bridge and pillbox, he only lasted seconds, although he was not found until after the bridge was secured. (Ambrose 19-21)
Brotheridge was only one of many casualties, and the bulk of the losses occurred on the beaches, not behind enemy lines. As the paratroopers landed, the rest of the troops prepared for the battle of their lives. More than five thousand ships were used to carry approximately one hundred fifty thousand soldiers across the English Channel to their assigned landing sites. By daylight on D-Day, June 6, 1944, the beginning of the end had arrived. From the sky, fighter planes and bombers flew overhead, and from the sea, warships continually pounded the German fortifications with artillery. Ground forces inched forward. Lives were lost. Comrades fell. Despite the losses, the Allies pushed the Germans further and further back. Germany’s troops were spread too thinly, but this did not keep them from doggedly defending their hold on France. Despite the Nazi’s efforts, the troops at D-Day made respectable progress, although the Americans at Omaha Beach faced powerful opposition and only pushed two kilometers inland. The Canadians at Juno made the most progress, pushing ten kilometers inland.
For the Canadians, D-Day had an especially personal meaning.
On August 19, 1942, the 2nd Canadian Division, with some American and British aid, had made a disastrous attack on Dieppe, which was on the upper Norman coast. It had been a poorly conceived raid, and three-fourths of the troops involved found themselves captured, wounded, or dead. On June 6, 1944, the Canadians, with British aid, launched an attack that was superior to the raid from two years before, this time on code named Juno Beach. The casualties from Dieppe were avenged. This attack on Juno was by any aspect considered well done. Although the forces in Juno faced stronger opposition than those in Gold, Sword, or Utah, the Canadians pushed the farthest into France of all the beaches. This was a proud moment for the Canadians, despite the fact that they did not achieve their goal of meeting up with the British forces at Sword Beach. (Ambrose
548)
The Canadians were not the only ones who had a good day, as the British at Gold Beach had fought their way into France almost as far inland as the troops at Juno. The British had, in fact, linked up with the Canadians at Cruelly, and they were in a position where Bayeux would be taken the next day. About twenty-five thousand soldiers landed on Gold, and an estimated four hundred men were killed. (Ambrose 530) This casualty number seemed small, for the Americans at Omaha were not as fortunate. Staff Sergeant John Robert Slaughter, from Company D, 116th Infantry, 29th Division, as quoted in the article “D-Day”, can show a bit of the troubles which occurred on Omaha Beach:
“Five of nine of our officers were killed including the captain. All of our leaders were gone. It was just a bunch of privates and sergeants and corporals trying to get something going and trying to get it to succeed. Nobody could possibly be trained for what we found that day. But you learn fast, you know. It’s a quick study when your life’s on the line.” (“D-Day”)

The losses at Omaha were the worst, estimated to be around two thousand, but historians do not know what the official number of casualties was for both Omaha and the rest of the beaches.
There is too much incomplete data to say for certain, although numerous sources suggest roughly ten thousand men from both sides died on D-Day June 6. Other sources suggest far less, with the casualty numbers amounting to roughly five thousand. Eisenhower referenced sixty thousand casualties within the first three weeks of the Invasion of Normandy, but D-Day, the single day of June 6, 1944, was far from the entire invasion. A good beginning is important for all invasions, and D-Day was certainly a strong start to the imperative attack on France. During the invasion, Eisenhower and Montgomery had multiple disagreements, especially over the attack of Caen. Despite the difficulties and large death tolls, Operation Overlord eventually succeeded. France was liberated after a four-year occupation by the Nazis, and Berlin fell in May 1945. The estimated two hundred thousand men who died between D-Day and VE Day died so the world could be free of the Nazi’s tyranny. That was an honorable way to
go. Truly, D-Day was the beginning of the end. Humans will always continue to fight and war, but the men who gave their lives on June the 6 died for a just cause. Men similar to Den Brotheridge and John Slaughter made up the forces on both sides of the battle, and both sides lost many men. When people read history books, they see the significant numbers of troops without any explanation of the people they represent. The numbers cannot truly tell the stories, and every story cannot – and logically should not – be told, regardless of any attempt a person might make. However, it is important to understand the loss that people felt. The next generations must be educated of the why’s and the what’s and the how’s. The next generations must understand the cost.