Before the infantry landed on the beach, all artillery launched a saturation barrage against the enemy defences. Destroyers pounded the beaches, large landing crafts fired their 4.7-inch guns and Landing Craft Tanks fired rocket rounds. Four field artillery regiments of the Royal Canadian Artillery, in all 96 guns of 105-mm, embarked on 24 LCTs, moved toward the beaches simultaneously. From its craft the 12th Field Regiment opened fire against a fortified position in Courseulles. At 0655, the 13th Field Regiment attacked another position west of the cliff. At 0744, the 14th Regiment fired on a fortified position at Bernières and at 0739, the 19th Regiment attacked a similar post in Saint-Aubin. For 30 minutes they fired a steady barrage onto the beaches above the heads of the infantry approaching the shore in their LCAs.
The Royal Canadian Artillery field regiments landed on the 7th Brigade front at about 9:00 a.m. Delays in opening exits from the beaches prevented the field artillery from moving inland as soon as had been planned. Lt.-Col. Webb brought the guns of the 12th Field Regiment ashore and put them into action on the beach. The artillery was deployed side by side amid the confusion of men and vehicles, and then opened fire in support of the advancing infantry. In the late afternoon the regiment moved to its planned gun area between Ste. Croix and Banville. The 13th Field Regiment landed later and the first battery to land established itself south of Courseulles. By evening the whole unit was in its designated position adjacent to the 12th Field Regiment's.
On the 8th Brigade front, the self-propelled artillery of the 14th Field
Regiment and the 19th Army Field Regiment, R.C.A., began to land at 9:25
and 9:10 a.m. respectively. They moved off the beach and the 14th had
18 guns in action near Bernières by 11:30 while the 19th had its
first gun in action at 9:20. Both regiments had casualties in men and
guns from enemy artillery fire. The regiments spent most of the day in
action in improvised gun areas close to Bernières. In the evening
the 14th moved forward to a planned area a mile north of Beny.
14th Field Regiment
7th Medium Regiment, 12th Battery, “A” Troop, fire on Germans with 5.5 inch gun, Bretteville-Le-Rabet, Normandy, 16 August 1944. (NAC PA-169331)
