Canadian and British Forces Land at Juno Beach through Operation Overlord

Juno Beach was one of the five main landing sites of the Allied invasion of the coast of Normandy on D-Day during World War II. It was situated between Sword Beach and Gold Beach.

It is also known as the Canadian beach, as it was assigned to the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division. Juno Beach stretched from Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer on the east to Courseulles-sur-Mer on the west. The 3rd Canadian Division was placed under the command of British I Corps for the initial phase of the invasion, and did not come under Canadian command again until July 1944 and the establishment of II Canadian Corps headquarters in Normandy. Despite being assigned to the Canadians, significant British forces were also present at Juno Beach. The naval component of the invasion force was known as Force J.

Juno was the second beach from the left. The main thing the landing troops had to worry about was not the German troops, but the offshore reefs and shoals. The Landing craft were running late, so most of the water defense was already at least partially submerged. The ships paid a heavy price for being late, with over 30% of the landing craft being destroyed. 1200 out of the 21,400 troops that landed perished in taking Juno beach.