Location 5 – NAN Green Sector, JUNO Beach, Courseulles-sur-Mer East

Directions – Return to the car and rejoin the D514 following it into Courseulles-sur-Mer and around the dock basin. As you turn towards the sea again, on the other side of the dock, you might decide to take advantage of one of the excellent restaurants that line the quayside. Continue on towards the seafront and park in one of the bays on the left. There are a number of points of interest here including a German gun, which defended the harbour entrance, and a Duplex Drive Sherman tank. If you continue along the mole you will have a good seaward view of MIKE Red Sector on the left and NAN Green Sector on the right.

What Happened on D-Day? – Although smaller than WN31, WN29 nethertheless dominated NAN Green Sector which was assaulted by the Regina Rifles of the 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade on D-Day. The beach defences here were subjected to the same combination of aerial and naval bombardment as MIKE Red Sector and, as with MIKE Red, the armoured engineer teams arrived after the leading waves of infantry. What was different, however, was that the DD tanks of 1st Hussars made it to the beach ahead of the infantry of A and B Companies.

It was their 75mm gunfire that was vital in helping subdue the WN29 defences by firing into the gun embrasures and the rear doors of the casemates before the infantry arrived. Even so, many machine-gunners remained firing from their concrete Tobuk pits and the fortified beachfront houses as A Company landed at 0809 hours. As the Regina's crossed the beach casualties mounted, but the Canadian's, led by the DD tanks were soon amongst the defences. As with the fighting at MIKE Red Sector the battle was fierce and uncompromising with the German defenders having to be winkled out position by position. By mid-morning, WN29 was secure and the armoured engineers had begun clearing the beach for reinforcements to move inland. B Company landed further east along the beach and managed to avoid the worst of the fire from WN29 and continued on into the town.

The fighting at NAN Green Sector, proved once again the limitations of medium calibre naval gunnery against thick concrete casemates and the vital importance of having armour on the beach with the infantry to bring direct fire to bear against the beach defences.