The 14th Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery supported the 8th Canadian Infantry Brigade’s landings on Juno Beach. The regiment was commanded by Lt.-Col H. S. Griffin.
The regiment was made up of a Regimental Headquarters, 34th Field Battery, 66th Field Battery, and 81st Field Battery.
The 105mm self-propelled guns of the 14th Field Regiment fired on the Bernières-sur-Mer strongpoint from their landing craft. They opened fire on the German defences at 0744 Hours. The resulting fire was, as per their War Diary, “NOT as tight as had been attained in some training exercises due to the running sea.”
The regiment began to land on the beach at 0925 Hours. By 1130 Hours, they had 18 guns in action near Bernières, just 200 yards from the beach itself. They took casualties from German artillery fire. The first self-propelled guns to move out of Bernières were hit by fire from an 88mm gun, some of which exploded due to carrying extra ammunition.
As the Canadian infantry battalions and armoured regiments began to move inland, Forward Observation Officers (FOO) from the regiment moved with them. The FOOs called in many important targets for the guns of the regiment to hit. The guns of the 14th supported units from the 8th and 9th Infantry Brigades.
By the evening the 14th Field Regiment had moved forward to their planned area, codenamed JANE, on the road to Bény sur Mer. The 14th Field Regiment suffered 10 killed and 14 wounded on D-Day. 399 gunners of the regiment came ashore at Juno Beach on June 6th.
Roll of Honour
BARCLAY JAMES MORLEY
BIRSS JOHN ROBERT
CLAVELLE ALFRED F.
DUPUIS WALTER J.
GOFF ROBERT
HOOTON JOHN KITCHENER
MASSEY CHARLES A.
PURCELL GEORGE EDWARD
SCIBERAS ROBERT
WARUN WILLIAM ALEXANDER
Research and writing by Brad St.Croix, PhD