Juno Beach Centre: Canadian Memorial - Courseulles sur mer (France)

Historical information

The Juno Beach Centre is a museum and cultural centre, which opened at Courseulles-sur-Mer, France on June 6, 2003. The Centre presents the war effort made by all Canadians, civilian and military alike, both at home and on the various fronts during the Second World War, as well as the manifold faces of contemporary Canadian society.

The Juno Beach Centre was established in Canada as a non-profit organization. A Board of Directors based in Burlington, Ontario runs the Association. The President is Garth Webb, a D-Day veteran.
The Minister of Canadian Heritage has designated the Juno Beach landing site to be a site of national historic significance to Canada.
“A Learning Centre and Tribute to Canadians”

A permanent exhibit consisting of 7 exhibit rooms, which draws upon documents, photogr aphs, maps, artefacts, audiovisual and audio accounts, which allow specific atmospheres to be created. The Centre alternates between areas of emotion, reflection, discovery and information, eliciting the visitor’s participation.

A new temporary exhibit entitled “The Royal Canadian Air Force during World War I This unique exhibit was created in cooperation with Mike Bechthold, a military historian at the Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada and Jean-Pierre Bénamou, President of the D-Day Academy. The Juno Beach Centre's temporary exhibits alternate between Canadian historical and cultural themes.

The official website stands here. The same website provides a dedicated section about Canada in WW2 there.

Location information

The Canadian Memorial is located in Courseulles sur mer (France). A second Canadian Memorial is located at St Aubin (France).

Most of visited beaches are located at Courseulles sur mer, Longues sur mer as weel as Utah and Juno beaches.