Normandy Landing Photo

Above is an aerial reconnaissance photo of the Normandy coast near Juno Beach dated May 1944, just weeks before the D-Day Landing on 6 June 1944, with annotated remarks from the 74th Anti-Tank Battery, part of the 6th Anti-Tank Regiment, stating: “Approx 1 ½ mi. W of where we landed 8 Jul. 44.”  The photo taken at low tide includes beach obstacles, the famous Czech hedgehogs, ramps, and beams (Hemmbalken), to hinder the Allies from an amphibious landing. 

“Sand normally produces plants of a pale and sickly variety which usually wither and die before bearing fruit.  However, the 6 Cdn A Tk Regt was born in the sands of Petawawa and was never known to be pale or sickly” — Quoted from the official unit history of the Sixth Anti-Tank Regiment, RCA.  During the Second World War, the 6th Anti-Tank Regiment became a well-trained and respected unit of Canadian Gunners.

The 3rd Canadian Infantry Division landed on Juno Beach, starting Canada’s involvement in the Battle of Normandy on 6 June 1944, with the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division landing in the first week of July 1944.  Gunners from the 6th Anti-Tank Regiment, part of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division, with self-propelled Ram Tanks and towed 17 Pounder Anti-Tank guns, landed at Juno Beach on 8 July 1944. 

The 6th Anti-Tank Regiment, part of II Canadian Corps and the First Canadian Army, helped liberate Caen and end the Battle of Normandy with the surrender of the German Seventh Army.  From September to November 1944, the 6th Regiment participated in the Battle of the Scheldt in northern Belgium and southwest Netherlands.  They fought with Allied forces in the Nijmegen Salient and the Rhineland, then pushed further into Germany until the unconditional surrender of German forces on 7 May 1945.