Fighting was intense in the towns and villages behind Juno Beach. Here, 3rd Canadian Infantry Division soldiers defend their position in a French town. Three of the soldiers are equipped with Lee Enfield Mk I rifles while the soldier at right is firing a Bren .303 Mk II machine gun.

Special Service Brigade

Soldiers of Juno: The Canadian Invasion of Normandy

By Dorothy Brotherton

As John Wesley Pointon jumped into the cold English Channel water with the Royal Canadian 7th Brigade Signal Corps and struggled with a heavy radio strapped to his back toward the beach that was being torn apart by shot and shell, the farm boy from Saskatchewan tried to make his mind go blank. Read more

Special Service Brigade

Commandos Crack Hitler’s Atlantic Wall

By Mark Simmon

After successfully fighting seasickness during the crossing of the English Channel, Lance-Corporal Ted Brooks of Number 48 (Royal Marine) Commando arrived on Nan Red Beach—which formed the left flank of Juno Beach—on the morning of June 6, 1944. Read more

Special Service Brigade

The St. Nazaire Raid

By Flint Whitlock

Britain badly needed a victory. As if to underline Britain’s difficult fortunes, on May 21, 1941, the German battleship Bismarck and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen dealt the island kingdom a serious blow by sinking the battlecruiser HMS Hood and severely damaging the new battleship HMS Prince of Wales during a furious engagement in the Denmark Strait.  Read more

From Around the Network

  • German sailors in winter camouflage man a position on the hills overlooking Narvik. The Germans claimed victory at Narvik, but the Allies withdrew their forces primarily to cope with the German victory in the Battle of France.

    Military History

    Operation Weseruebung: the German Invasion of Norway & Denmark
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  • Wary Marines in a jeep watch the air war erupt above them in another diorama in the World War II Gallery.

    Military History

    The National Museum of the Marine Corps
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  • A 1942-vintage M5A1 Stuart tank was one of the first vehicles acquired for Jacques Littlefield’s private collection.

    Military History

    Private Military Collector Jacques Littlefield
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  • Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant watches as his troops march into the Wilderness south of the Rapidan River. The commander of all Union forces accompanied the Army of the Potomac on its 1864 spring campaign.

    Civil War

    Recollections of The Fighting at Spotsylvania Court House
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