Courseulles-sur-Mer
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Courseulles-sur-Mer is a commune of the Calvados département, in the Basse-Normandie région, in France. Its postal code is 14470. The INSEE code is 14191. Population: 3,923.
A popular tourist destination not only with locals but also with international visitors who come to tour the Normandy landing beaches. The population of the town can reach 15,000 people in the summer months due to a large number of summer homes owned for the most part by Parisians.
The town is separated in two by the river Seulles. Today the port of Courseulles bustles with fishing boats and pleasure craft, coming as far away as the Netherlands, yet in the summer of 1944, the Canadian military used it to unload upwards of 1,000 tons of material a day for the first two weeks following D-Day (June 6th, 1944).
More than 14,000 Canadians would storm the 8 kilometre (5.5 mile) stretch of beach between Graye-sur-Mer and St. Aubin-sur-Mer on June 6, 1944. They would be followed by 150,000 additional Canadian troops over the next few months. 159 Canadian soldiers lost their lives on the beach and in the country-side on the first day of the invasion. The Canadians would reach almost 10km inland the first day of fighting. The Canadian military cemetery of Beny-Reviers is the resting place of 2,043 Canadians and 1 Frenchman. The land for this cemetery was donated by the French Republic to the Government of Canada after the Second World War and is located 4 km inland from Courseulles-sur-Mer just off the Route 79.
The Juno Beach Centre is a museum located at Courseulles-sur-Mer, immediately behind the Juno invasion beach on which 14,000 Canadian troops landed on D-Day June 6, 1944. The museum opened on the 6th of June, 2003 - the 59th anniversary of the D-Day landings.
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