Royal Air Force Soldiers | Exploring SMALL TOWN Canada at War

The barrage balloons seen in the background of this photograph were an important weapon during the invasion at Normandy. Their purpose was to make low-level attacks by the Germans difficult and force enemy aircraft to higher altitudes. During the Invasion of Normandy, some 4,000 soldiers were specially tasked with operating these balloons to protect artificial harbours and Allied ammunition dumps.

Major George Cassidy wrote about the Algonquin landing on Juno Beach on July 25, 1944: “We were off Courseulles, where an emergency harbour had been made by sinking a sizeable number of smaller craft. Behind the beach you could see the church steeple of Courseulles, and to the east the shattered outlines of Bernieres and St. Aubin, all now historic landmarks of the initial landing. Above, glistening like newly caught trout, swung the barrage balloons.”

Royal Air Force soldiers

Date: 1944

Image Description:

Two Royal Air Force soldiers doing their laundry on the Normandy front