Why did the Canadians win on Juno Beach?

The opposition the Canadians faced was stronger than that of any other beach save Omaha. Unlike Omaha, the naval and air bombardment did hit German positions at Juno.

The Canadians only faced 3 companies of the 716th Infantry Division on the beaches of Juno. The remainder of the 716th ID defended Gold and Sword.

The 716th was a supposed low quality force composed of Poles and Russians. lacked battle experience and throughout that time it had avoided the horrors of the war on the Eastern Front. Instead it had dedicated its time to training and the construction fortifications and strong points along the Atlantic Wall in Normandy.

While it can be said the Canadian 3rd only faced weaker forces than the American, they did account for themselves by blunting the counter attack by the elite 21st Panzer Division soon after D +1.

While at Omaha, the entire 352nd ID faced the Americans. These Germans were veterans from the Russian front. And as stated before, the naval and aerial bombardment overshot the Omaha beaches by at least 5 km.

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