D-DAY TOURS Half Day Tours : AFTERNOON Tour C-2 Juno Beach
TOUR C-2 : JUNO BEACH SECTOR (Afternoon Tour)
Just before 8 o’clock in the morning of June 6 1944, 21 400 soldiers, of whom 14 000 were Canadian, under the command of General KELLER, landed on Juno Beach. Re-live the pitiless battles fought by the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division in the different villages between the beaches and the town of Caen and visit those who remain here buried in the soil of France, in the military cemeteries where these soldiers are honoured.
JUNO BEACH CENTER :
The only museum in the Canadian sector, the Juno Beach Center retraces the implementation of the Canadian Army during the fighting in Europe. It concentrates on the Second World War, most notably the Raid on Dieppe in August 1942 as well as the landings up to the closure of the Falaise Pocket and the advance of the Canadian Army up through Belgium, Holland and into Germany.
COURSEULLES :
Located in the heart of Juno beach, the fishing and leisure port of Courseulles-sur-Mer was liberated by the Canadian forces in the early morning of D-Day. The town and its inhabitants, still very grateful to the soldiers who came from overseas to free them from the Germans, are nowadays taking care of the numerous monuments honoring the different regiments involved in the liberation of the Courseulles area. A large and high Cross of Lorraine is also overlooking Juno between Courseulles and Graye-sur-Mer to remember the landing of Charles de Gaulle on the 14th of June 1944.
BERNIERES-SUR-MER :
See at Bernières the sector of Juno Beach where the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada and le Regiment de La Chaudière landed on the 6th of June 1944. This sector is very special for the Quebecois who, for the most part, had come to liberate the home of their ancestors. You will see along the length of the beach the remains of the defences built by the Germans, and especially “the Hotel”, the famous house seen in so many newsreel clips of the landings, known now as “The Canadian House”.
CANADIAN CEMETERY :
The Canadian cemetery at Bény-Reviers is situated inland from Juno Beach between Bernières and Courseulles. 2 048 soldiers are buried in the cemetery, they are all Canadian except for 4 English and 1 French soldiers who rest there. All of these young Canadians who died for the liberty of Europe still show us today, more than 60 years later, a lesson of courage and commitment to duty.
THE ARDENNE ABBEY :
A masterpiece of architectural design dating from the 12th century, this Norman Abbey was, in the early years of the German occupation, a focal point for the local French Resistance. But situated between the strategic points of Caen and Carpiquet airfield, the Abbey was fortified and used by the 12th SS Hitlerjugend Panzer Division as their headquarters during the early part of the Battle of Normandy. Its unfortunate reputation nowadays, however, is as the site of execution of Canadian prisoners of war by the child soldiers of the Hitler Youth Division.
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