Liberation of France

City of Edmonton Archives (Loyal Edmonton Regiment Collection, A98-96, Box 4).

Canadian Soldiers at Juno Beach, Normandy, France, 6 June 1944.

Soldiers leave their landing vessel and prepare to attack the enemy

By the spring of 1944, the Allies where ready to cross the channel and assault “Fortress Europe”. D-Day, 6 June 1944, saw Allied forces gain five beachheads on the coast of Normandy. Fighting inland, the Canadians played a major role in the capture of Caen and then Falaise, which closed a gap trapping thousands of Germans soldiers and their equipment. This effectively ended the battle for Normandy.

On June 6, 1944, Allied forces invaded Europe on the Normandy beaches in France. Five divisions landed across a 50 mile beachfront with the Canadians landing at Juno Beach.

Moving inland from the beaches, the Canadian’s next objective was the city of Caen. Achieving this proved to be a long and costly fight against battle-hardened German forces.

The Canadian forces, now expanded to form the 1st Canadian Army, was next tasked to capture Falaise and help close a circle which would cut off a large segment of Germany's fighting force.