3rd Canadian Infantry Division

Division commander: Major-General Roderick Keller
(Seriously wounded August 8, 1944 by American bombing.)
Major-General D. C. Spry 18 August, 1944
Major-General R. H. Keefler 23 March, 1945

Component units:

7th Canadian Infantry Brigade: Brigadier Harry W. Foster

The Royal Winnipeg Rifles (The "Little Black Devils")

The Regina Rifle Regiment (The "Johns")

1st Battalion, The Canadian Scottish Regiment (The "Scots")

8th Canadian Infantry Brigade: Brigadier Kenneth G. Blackader

The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada (The "Queen's")

Le Régiment de la Chaudière

The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment

9th Canadian Infantry Brigade: Brigadier D. G. "Ben" Cunningham

The Highland Light Infantry of Canada ("HLI")

The Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry Highlanders ("SDGH")

The Nova Scotia Highlanders ("NNSH")

Divisional Royal Canadian Artillery: Brigadier P. A. S. Todd

12th Field Artillery Regiment (3 bttys of 8-105mm "Priest" SPA in two troops)

14th, 16th and 43rd Batteries

13th Field Artillery Regiment (3 bttys of 8-105mm "Priest" SPA in two troops)

22nd, 44th and 78th Battteries

14th Field Artillery Regiment (3 bttys of 8-105mm "Priest" SPA in two troops)

34th, 66th, and 81st Batteries

The US-built M-7 "Priests" were used by the 3rd Division from D-Day until August, 1944. Prior to Operation "Totalize" (7 August), the Priests were converted to Armored Personnel Carriers variously called "Kangaroos", "Holy Rollers", or "Unfrocked Priests". Each vehicle could carry 20 equipped infantrymen and had a crew of two. The artillery units were then equipped with towed 25pdr field guns. The Kangaroos were in effect the first modern tracked Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs).

3rd Anti-Tank Rgt

4th, 52nd, 94th, 105th AT Batteries. There were three troops per battery, each with 1 Troop US M10 (3"), replaced by M10 (17pdr) about Dec '44.
The other two troops were towed 17pdr AT guns.

4th Light AA Rgt (3 bttys of 18 4Omm AA guns in 3 troops each)

32nd (Kingston) Light Anti-Aircraft Battery
69th Light Anti-Aircraft Battery
100th Light Anti-Aircraft Battery

Machine Gun Battalion:

The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa (MG)

(3 coy. machine guns, 1 coy. 4.2" mortars)

Divisional Royal Canadian Engineers: Lt. Col R. S. Cassidy

6th Field Coy.

16th Field Coy.

18th Field Coy.

3rd Field Park Coy.

7th Recce Rgt: The 17th Duke of York's Royal Canadian Hussars.

HQ Squadron
3-Recce Squadrons
1-Assault Troop

Attached units:

D-Day: The Division was to land on 'Mike' and 'Nan' assault beaches on Juno Beach.

26th and 80th Assault Squadrons from 5th and 6th Assault Regiments, RE. (Churchill AVRE tanks)
2 detachments 22nd Dragoons, 79th Armoured Division. ("Crab" flail tanks)
3rd and 4th batteries from 2nd RM Armoured Support Regiment (Centaurs).
2nd Armoured Brigade :

6th Canadian Armoured Rgt. (1st Hussars) Sherman DDs.
10th Canadian Armoured Rgt. (The Fort Garry Horse) Sherman DDs.
27th Armoured Rgt. (The Sherbrooke Fusiliers)

19th Canadian Field Regiment (Self-propelled)
C Squadron of the Inns of Court Regiment (Armoured Recce)
No. 48 Royal Marine Commando, 4th Special Service Brigade

24 officers and 440 other ranks in 3 troops of 3 officers and 60 other ranks.

"Totalize" :

2nd Armoured Brigade

Bibliography:

Georges Bernage, The D-Day Landing Beaches, Editions Heimdal, Bayeux, France, 2001. ISBN 2 84048 137 5

Christopher Chant, Order of Battle, Operation Overlord, Gold & Juno Beaches, 6 June, 1944, Ravelin Limited, Lincolnshire, UK, 1994.
ISBN 1 898994 01 3

Paul Schipper, Jr., The 3rd Canadian Infantry Division on D-Day, Militaria Magazine, No. 17, July , 1995.

J. L. Granatstein and Desmond Morton, Bloody Victory, Lester Publishing Ltd, Toronto, Canada, 1984. ISBN 1-895555-56-6

Winston G. Ramsey,ed., D-Day Then And Now, Vol 2, Battle of Britain Prints Intl, Ltd., London, England, 1995. ISBN 0-900913-89-4.

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Pictures: 3rd Canadian Infantry Division