- Oct 17, 2015
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This being the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy, I thought I would post this. I served with this regiment in the late 50s and early 60s.
On 6 June 1944 the Regina Rifle Regiment (RRR) took part in the D-Day landings. They were part of the 7th brigade of the 3rd Canadian division. They were brigaded with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles and the Canadian Scottish Regiment. They landed in Mike sector of Juno Beach. After a bitter fight on the beach with heavy casualties they broke through and ended up making the deepest penetration of any unit on D-Day. This excludes the airborne units of course! To avoid being exposed and cut off they were ordered to withdraw somewhat.
The following day (D+1) General Kurt Meyer of the 12th SS Panzer Division assembled his unit for a counter attack. This was a veteran, well-tested, well-equipped elite division. His objective was to split the Normandy invasion beachhead into two smaller beachheads each of which to be dealt with individually. In the late evening hours of D+2 his division attacked Bretteville l’Orueilleuse. This position was occupied by the Regina Rifles. During the night the 12th SS Panzers virtually over-ran Bretteville. The 900 prairie boys of the RRR never retreated. At point blank range these young men who had exactly two days of combat experience fought back. They opposed the Panzers with anti-tank guns, sticky-bombs, grenades, and PIAT projectors. Throughout the night the battle cry was “ They shall not pass!” In the morning the badly battered 12th SS Panzers withdrew to fight again another day. The prairie boys had defeated the elite of the German Army and the Normandy beachhead survived.
Although on a smaller scale, this battle ranks with the Battle of the Bulge as a pivotal encounter of WWII. Canadians are perhaps too modest with the result that this battle is almost unrecognized beyond those who fought it. In writing the battle history of the 12th SS Panzer Division General Kurt Meyer certainly recognized his defeat and honoured those who defeated him.
It is also worth noting that the Regina Rifles sustained the highest regimental casualty rate of the Canadian Army in WWII. In eleven months action they suffered 1946 casualties including 458 dead.
On 6 June 1944 the Regina Rifle Regiment (RRR) took part in the D-Day landings. They were part of the 7th brigade of the 3rd Canadian division. They were brigaded with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles and the Canadian Scottish Regiment. They landed in Mike sector of Juno Beach. After a bitter fight on the beach with heavy casualties they broke through and ended up making the deepest penetration of any unit on D-Day. This excludes the airborne units of course! To avoid being exposed and cut off they were ordered to withdraw somewhat.
The following day (D+1) General Kurt Meyer of the 12th SS Panzer Division assembled his unit for a counter attack. This was a veteran, well-tested, well-equipped elite division. His objective was to split the Normandy invasion beachhead into two smaller beachheads each of which to be dealt with individually. In the late evening hours of D+2 his division attacked Bretteville l’Orueilleuse. This position was occupied by the Regina Rifles. During the night the 12th SS Panzers virtually over-ran Bretteville. The 900 prairie boys of the RRR never retreated. At point blank range these young men who had exactly two days of combat experience fought back. They opposed the Panzers with anti-tank guns, sticky-bombs, grenades, and PIAT projectors. Throughout the night the battle cry was “ They shall not pass!” In the morning the badly battered 12th SS Panzers withdrew to fight again another day. The prairie boys had defeated the elite of the German Army and the Normandy beachhead survived.
Although on a smaller scale, this battle ranks with the Battle of the Bulge as a pivotal encounter of WWII. Canadians are perhaps too modest with the result that this battle is almost unrecognized beyond those who fought it. In writing the battle history of the 12th SS Panzer Division General Kurt Meyer certainly recognized his defeat and honoured those who defeated him.
It is also worth noting that the Regina Rifles sustained the highest regimental casualty rate of the Canadian Army in WWII. In eleven months action they suffered 1946 casualties including 458 dead.
