British units who landed with the Canadians on Juno beach

Hi, my Father landed with the Canadians on Juno beach he was in the 120th Light AA Regiment I think, he passed away in 1982 and he never really gave me any info, I have tried to contact the Royal Artillery and without his Army number they cannot help me.
The only info I do have is that he landed in the second wave and was a Sergeant of a Bofors gun mounted on a Crusader Tank. Any info would be great.
Thanks Yan.

 

Can't get my books,sorry mate

 

No probs, Michelle from Canada has given this,

• Elements of 114th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, RA
• Elements of 93rd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, RA

He must have been in one of these Regiments.

 

Yan,

I have the war diary of 120 LAA Regiment and have sent you a PM, so I can give you the information you require.

If he were with 120 LAA Regt, they landed on Jig and King Sectors of GOLD beach. In order to firmly establish which LAA Regt he served with, I recommend applying for his service records. You don't have to have a service number. Date of birth & death, plus a copy of the Death certificate when you apply to the MOD in the UK.

120 LAA Regt did land on D-Day and there is mention of Crusader AA Tanks.

Cheers - Rob

 

As far as I am aware 120 LAA Regiment were part of 76 AA Bde and responsible for the Beach groups in 30 Corps Sector - i.e. Gold and the British Mulberry Harbour. The AA Brigade responsible for protecting the beaches in I Corps Sector was 80 AA Bde.

On Gold Beach
394 Bty of 120 LAA and 320 Bty of 893LAA landed in the first 90mins on Gold beach. However, there were hold ups unloadighn AA guns and for much of the day the gunners fought as infantry. By night only 17x 40mm and 8 x 20mm guns were ashore.


On Sword and Juno.
80 AA bde had more problems on Gold and Juno Beach. The Regiments assigned were 73, 92 and 114 LAA and they landed parts of six troops of 40mm and four of 20mm. However there was a lot of confusion and problems such as the enemy holding the planned gun positions. Two members of 114 were awarded George medals for their courage rescuing men from Rhino ferry with burning fuel and ammunition vehicles on board.

It may not be impossible for your relative to have landed on the "Wrong beach". He would not have been the only person to do so..

 

Thanks Guy’s, I do remember my Father telling me that his unit landed with the Canadians, but he didn’t mention what AA Unit it was, I know he was based at the TA Barracks in Widnes (before the war) and was stationed in various locations;

Scapa Flow (Orkneys)
Luss (Scotland)
Staffordshire (England)
D Day (Juno Beach, where he was a Sergeant on a Crusader 40mm Bofors AA Tank)
After that he mentioned about moving through northern France (Rouen) and ending up in Osnabruck in 1945.

After the war he stayed in the Royal Artillery reaching the rank of Warrant Officer Class 2, and was based in Golborne Barracks in Warrington.
And that is all I know.

Yan.