Juno Beach: Canadian 3rd Infantry Division - Normandy

by Tim Saunders

By June 1944, Juno Beach, backed by a string of coastal resort towns and the small fishing port of Courseulles was a key part of Hitler's vaunted Atlantic Wall, with no less than four major strong points along its length. Centered on antitank guns, German pillboxes were sited to sweep the beaches with machine gun fire and were surrounded by belts of barbed wire and mines.

Leading the attack were the 3rd Canadian Division, supported by the specialist assault tanks of the 79th Armoured division (Hobart s 'Funnies'!). The need for massive supporting firepower had been identified following the disaster that befell the Canadians during the Dieppe Raid.

Despite careful planning and rehearsal, poor D Day weather led to a piecemeal landing and heroic individual battles in the streets of the seaside towns. Royal Marine Commandos distinguished themselves in the fight to link up the beachhead and overcome the massive defenses of the German Radar Station at Douvres.

Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Tim Saunders MBE MA (1956 - ????) served in the British Army as an officer in the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment and The Rifles for over 30 years before leaving to become a full time military historian. In his second career he brings together the overlapping spheres of writing, battlefield guiding and military history film making. His intuitive knowledge of warfare and soldiers that is abundantly clear from his insightful and entertaining writing is a result, of his military training, service across the world and his operational experience.
Tim's portfolio of work is wide, with videos from Vikings to WW2 being made with Battlefield History TV and Pen & Sword Digital, variously as presenter, director and editor, His books, now totalling more than twenty title, however, are mainly focused on the Napoleonic Wars and the battles of the Second World War
Tim lives on the edge of the Army's Salisbury Plain Training area and often finds himself writing to the accompaniment of the sound of real tanks and gunfire.

Reviews

[Arnold T. Blostein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great

The book gives a comprehensive look at what the Canadian forces were able to accomplished during b the X-Ray invasion.. It is well written.