A collection of exposés on various topics:
Banksy
Biography :
-Banksy is a street art artist whose identity remains unknown. His name is probably Robin Gunningham or Robert Banks. We are not sure about his birthday, he may have been born in 1974 in England. He is famous for his street art. He is also a director and a painter. Banksy’s artwork is characterized by striking images, often combined with slogans. His work often engages political themes, satirically critiquing war, capitalism, hypocrisy and greed.
Nympheas :
-It’s an artwork inspired by Claude Monet in 2005, from the » Crude Oils » exhibition dedicated to the artist Banksy in Bristol (UK) to include the drift of garbage. -On the artwork of Claude Monet, the landscape is green, it’s natural whereas on the artwork of Banksy we can see garbage such as shopping carts and road signs. Nature is less beautiful. -Banksy has added to artwork of 1926 contemporary objects as 2 trollies and a road sign. So it shows the vision of a garden of the 19th century polluted by the presence of 3 items of the 20th/21st century -The work of Monet by Banksy was chosen because this work is very famous, the addition of the pollution to this artwork will therefore mark the viewer. That is the goal of Banksy through this reproduction.
One Nation Under CCTV :
– It’s another artwork of Banksy,painted in 2008 in London. Letters are painted in white, we can read « One Nation Under CCTV ». It means : « Une nation sous vidéosurveillance » (cctv-> closed-circuit televison). In the bottom right corner, there is a little boy who is painting and on the other side we can see a policeman with a dog. Moreover this artwork is situated on the left of a videosurveillance camera of and it was covered one year later, in 2009.
Banksy in Calais :
-Banksy went to Calais, in France to illustrate the crisis of migrants. He carried out 4 artworks about migrants.
-The first one is situated in the entrance of the « jungle » where 4500 migrants are living. We can recognize Steve Jobs with a backpack and a computer, it’s a old model of Apple.
-The second artwork is drawn on a wall of a building. It represents « Le Radeau de la Méduse » / « The raft of Medusa» painted by Gericault in which there were also migrants.
-The third is a little girl who is looking through a telescope. Maybe it’s England. A vulture is on her telescope and she doesn’t notice it.
-The last one is an inscription. It means : « Peut-être que tout ceci se résoudra tout seul ».
Coraline & Lise
http://www.banksy-art.com/videos.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Nation_Under_CCTV
Edward Hopper
Edward Hopper (22 juillet 1882-15 mai 1967)Edward Hopper
Edward Hopper (July 22, 1882 – May 15, 1967) was a prominent American realist painter and printmaker. While he was most popularly known for his oil paintings, he was equally proficient as a watercolorist and printmaker in etching. Both in his urban and rural scenes, his spare and finely calculated renderings reflected his personal vision of modern American life
Edward Hopper is widely acknoledged as the most important realist painter of twentieth-century America. But his vision of reality was a selective one, reflecting his own temperament in the empty cityscapes, landscapes, and isolated figures he chose to paint. His work demonstrates that realism is not merely a literal or photographic copying of what we see, but an interpretive rendering.
Edward Hopper was born in 1882, in NY, into a middle class family. From 1900 to 1906 he studied at the NY School of Art, and while in school, shifted from illustration to works of fine art. Upon completing his schooling, he worked as an illustrator for a short period of time; once this career path ended, he made three international trips, which had a great influence on the future of his work, and the type of art he would engage in during the course of his career. He made three trips to Europe between 1906 and 1910. In retrospect, Europe meant France, and more specifically, Paris, for Edward Hopper. This city , its architecture, light, and art tradition, decisively affected his development.
When he arrived in 1906, Paris was the artistic center of the Western world; no other city was as important for the development of modern art. The move toward abstract painting was already underway; Cubism had begun.
Automat is an Edward Hopper painting painted in 1927. This painting is part of American realism. The years 1920-1930 are very conducive to the art market, which considerably expands in the United States. This « fever of art », found Hopper, and his silent and melancholy realism. In all his paintings, some themes recur, such as isolation, humans gloomily watching something or very small US cities. The only human figure in the painting, a woman sits at a table. Her gaze is fixed on her cup of coffee. She wears a hat and a fur coat, which seem a bit like her, « tired. » Indeed, the two do not go together: the clothes and the hat fall on both sides of her head.
There is no other presence , no friends or other customers, or even a waiter, since it is in an « automat » those restaurants that give entries automatically, desserts and drink through the machine …
The table title is ambiguous: it can refer to where the scene is taking place, but can also call to make the connection between the woman and ATM, as if she had herself become a machine.
The artist leads us to ask how the woman got here. The fact that she has removed one glove suggests that she is in a hurry, while the empty plate in front of her and the cup suggest that they are long gone.
This is the woman who served as Hopper’s model. As she was older than what was sought for the model, Hopper has altered her features in the painting. The restaurant here is completely empty, except for the woman; and yet the painter has chosen to highlight an empty chair in front of the model. He again reminded us that she is alone. The cut fruit, which range from bright colors, seem the only sign of life in the whole room.
The woman kept her coat, hat and gloves, which may mean on the one hand, the small heater on the side is not enough to warm it, and secondly that we are in winter. The cold that emerges from the table makes the woman even more vulnerable.
Like many paintings of Hopper, no door is visible. The woman seems stuck in her pain. Only a large window is visible, which also looks a lot like other paintings of Hopper such as Party People. With the reflection of the glass, Hopper removes the huge black expanse of the night by getting all lamps to reflect the automat.
Conclusion: Automat is a typical picture of Hopper, which is also an example of urban alienation, ie, in this case, a place possessed by the machine and missing life. The huge black background of the night is reinforced by all the lamps reflecting on the automat .(bastien)
I like this work because I have discover a good painter and he delivers a message with this painting.(Hugo)
perriand-euro.etab.ac-lille.fr/…/Edward-Hopper1.pptx
Bastien-Hugo 1°es4
Norman Rockwell
Norman Rockwell was born in New York City on February 3, 1894.Norman Rockwell knew at the age of 14 that he wanted to be an artist, and began taking classes at The New School of Art . Talented at a young age, he received his first commission at age 17. In 1916, he created the first of 321 covers for The Saturday Evening Post , the beginning of a 47-year relationship with the iconic American magazine.
Rockwell’s Americana images were loved by the public, but not embraced by critics. He created World War II posters and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977. He died on November 8, 1978
He painted events taken from the news like Neil Armstrong’s first step on the moon , in 1969
He painted with a certain simple charm and sense of humor like in his « Triple Autoportrait » . And he depicted American traditional life , like Thanksgiving
In the early 1930 , he also made posters for Coca-Cola or McDonald’s
Still, Rockwell In 1943, inspired by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, painted the Four Freedoms: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want and Freedom from Fear.
The paintings also toured the United States and raised in excess of $130 million toward the war effort. In 1953 the Rockwells moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where Norman would spend the rest of his life.
In 1959 Rockwell ended his relationship with The Post and began doing covers for Look. His focus also changed, as he turned more of his attention to the social issues facing the country. Much of the work centered on themes concerning poverty, race . For example school desegregation like in « the problem We all Live With » which appeared in Look magazine January 14, 1964 during the Civil Rights Movement in the United States of America .We can see a little black girl attacked when she was on her way to school , and she needed protection . He also criticized the Vietnam war . Then , the Rockwells moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where Norman would spend the rest of his life.
In the final decade of his life, Rockwell created a trust to ensure his artistic legacy His work became the centerpiece of what is now called the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge. In 1977—one year before his death—Rockwell was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Gerald Ford. In his speech, Ford said : « Artist, illustrator and author, Norman Rockwell has portrayed the American scene with unrivaled freshness and clarity. Insight, optimism and good humor are the hallmarks of his artistic style. His vivid and affectionate portraits of our country and ourselves have become a beloved part of the American tradition. » Norman Rockwell died at his home in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, on November 8, 1978.
Norman Rockwell painted with a style so realistic you think that’s a photograph
I think this is a very important painter of the 20th century
Maxime & Albert
Andy Warhol and Pop Art
Andy Warhol and the Pop Art / Pop Art
Célia 1ère ES3
Shepard Fairey
Biography : Frank alias “Shepard Fairey” is a very famous graphic artist, muralist, and overall artist. He was born on February the fifteen , nineteen seventy in Charleston, in South Carolina in the United States. In nineteen eighty eight, the artists graduated from Idyllwild Arts Academy in Palm Springs, California. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island in nineteen nighty two.
As a young adult, Shepard Fairey became very interested in art. He soon began to use his drawings in T-shirts and skateboards. He was a skateboard-obsessed art student. While in school, Shepard Fairey held a part-time job in a skateboarding shop. Soon after, he hit the skateboard community hard by pasting homemade stickers all over the place. It was then that he realized his desire and interest in the street art culture and graffiti movement. Another strong influence was his love for punk music, which he demonstrated stencils.
Context : Fairey’s “Obey” series stands out as an example of the authoritarian influence of propaganda poster art. In Mussolini’s fascist Italy (1922-43) the credo of the Fascist party was “believe, obey, fight” (Credere, Obbedire, Combattere in Italian).
Fairey’s posters combine elements of world history, blending fascist symbols with the communist propaganda art of the former Soviet Union for example.
War by numbers : His poster art reminds viewers of the 1960’s mythology of a peaceful and bountiful life style in America, which was envied by some and despised by others less fortunate. It takes time to digest the contradictions of Fairey’s sweet young girl in “War by Numbers” (2007). The girl is holding a hand grenade topped with a bright red rose. She smells the rose’s scent while bombers fly overhead. This poster contains psychological tension created by the conflicting images of sight, smell, and sound. Fairey successfully blends and bonds contradictory elements in his posters.
Conclusion : I like this work because it represent the war and the way of life of childrens at the epoque.
And this work delivers a message with the propaganda communist.
Manon, Pauline 1ES4
Dangers of the internet
SNAGGY & NITROZAC
They are the creators of GeekCulture.com, a high-tech humor website and online community for geeks and geek wannabes. It’s also the home of our hit webcomic The Joy of Tech, and the remarkable cartoon epic After Y2K.
Inspired by our teaching experience at Steve Wozniak’s computer class, they’ve decided to try to use some of our « web celeb » status to help those students who desperately need some basic computer technology.
SLANE
Freelance cartoonist, illustrator and comic creator. Contributes to a wide range of websites, books, magazines and newspapers. Political cartoons and illustrations have appeared in the NZ Listener magazine since 1991. Comic work includes the books ‘Maui: Legends Of The Outcast’, ‘Nice Day For A War: Adventures of A Kiwi Soldier in WW1′ , Maori history, legends and a contribution to Dark Horse Comics’ Star Wars Tales.Co-creator of the puppet troupe ‘Hands Up’ Slane wrote, constructed and performed satirical items for Television New Zealand’s ‘Tonight Show’, designed, built and performed puppet characters for the children’s series ‘Space Knights’.Works as a commercial storyboard artist .Specialises in cartoons about privacy, freedom of information, security and ombudsmen. Cartoon books as sole author: ‘Sheep Thrills’ and ‘Blokes, Jokes & Sheds’.Slane was born in 1957 and currently lives in Auckland, New Zealand. Graduated from Auckland University with a Bachelor of Town Planning while drawing cartoons for the student magazine Craccum.Winner NZPost Children’s Book of the Year Award 2012, Children’s Non-Fiction Award 2012, , LIANZA Non Fiction Award – Elsie Locke Medal Winner 2012, for ‘Nice Day For A War’ with Matt Elliott.Canon Cartoonist Of The Year, 2010. Qantas Cartoonist of the Year, 1986, 1988. Qantas Editorial Graphic Artist 1990, 1994.
« I shop therfore i am»
Barbara Kruger, born on January 26th 1945 in Newark, in USA. She’s an american abstract artist. She lives between New York and Los Angeles, where she also works. She was made famous thanks to her photos-assembly of photos of press in black and white juxtaposed with slogans concise and aggressive, drafted in white on red bottom, in speciallies polices.
For more than twenty years the American artist Barbara Kruger explores and reveals the power of the language in the relations human as in the media.
She made famous by her photos-assemblies juxtaposing a photo of recycled press and an explosive slogan. Slogans which also invade the public place.
The former graphic designer of the New York magazine(review) « Miss », Barbara Kruger diverts the advertising image, which she exposes enlarged, and adds him a slogan written in block capitals.
Intimidating by the violence of the images and the sorts subjected to the authority and to the social stereotypes, His images take for frame the consumer society as well as the minorities of all kinds subjected to the authority and to the social stereotypes.
Barbara Kruger resumed the expression » I think therfore I am » of Descartes by changing « think » by « shop ». She denounces the society which does not think any more, we live with regard to what we consume.
» I shop therefore I am » appears as an advertising poster of square size. Red border frames a photography black and white with a hand holding a business card white with rectangular size, on which gets loose a slogan in red letters : I shop therefore I am (J’achète donc je suis). This sentence is a misappropriation of the famous formula of the French philosopher of the XVIIth century René Descartes : « I think so i am » .Violent criticism of the consumer society, this Barbara Kruger’s work borrows the codes of the advertising to subvert them better: Number limited by colors like red, white, black and various values of grey, simple picture who catches the eye of the spectator, slogan positioned in the center of the image and getting loose on white bottom. » I shop therefore i am » knock down the Cartesian proposal which wants from now on that the human existence judges itself in its capacity to consume the properties. This slogan leaves no doubt on the meaning of the work: she is intended to grasp visually the spectator, to call out him or to shock him to bring him to think his being. If for Descartes, it is the fact of thinking who makes us become aware of our existence, Barbara Kruger seems to say that in our time of wild consumption, It is our faculty to buy which gives us an identity. This work is to be moved closer, by its use of the method of the misappropriation of pre-existing images, John Heartfield’s anti-Nazi collages, for example.
- Other abstract artists associated to Barbara Kruger: At USA there are Jenny Holzer, Bruce Nauman and Joseph Kosuth. In Germany there is Hans Haacke.
About his artistic approach, said Barbara Kruger: » not, I do not make politics strictly speaking, I question the language in all its situations… I try especially to introduce the doubt in mind of the spectator, and I fight against the established certainties such as I am right and you are wrong you, OK? » She said » I do not say that my art has of the effect on others, but simply every day, in Los Angeles where I lived, but also in Paris or London, on the television and in the street, i see images and words which strike people, which influence them. Expressions and cut-and-dried opinions, common places, modes. It is necessary to be crazy not to believe in the power of the language. We make all the daily exprérience. »
Critic : we think that she denounces well the company in a simple and understandable way avce of the symbolic images and few words which have a lot of sense.
I SHOP THERFORE I AM diapo
By Pauline et Elise
Pearl Harbor
Introduction
While World War II was wreaking havoc in Western Europe, the great American power decided not to intervene in order to impose less consequences on its country. An important event would soon come and disrupt this decision. Therefore the future of the country would never be the same since The United States would finally join the war.
Through this work we will try to better understand the real reasons of that famous attack.
First of all, we will recall in a chronological way the story of this event that tipped the fate of many Americans. Secondly, we will see that this attack became a source of inspiration of many artists.
I/A terrible attack which will stay in the American minds for a long time
A/ The background
At the end of World War One, in 1919, the League of Nations called LN in English and SDN in French, were created in order to maintain peace over the world and thus avoid the beginning of a possible new war. This international organization had about 63 members. Among them were countries such as Japan. But, On March 27th 1933, Japan withdrew from the LN in which it was blamed for the invasion of China. Indeed, Japan had an expansionist policy and wanted to conquer many countries from the Asian continent or even from other continents . So Japan started to invade China since they were following their political ways and also because they considered them as an « under race ». That’s why, in July of 1941, the United States and Great Britain agreed on an oil embargo because of these actions. This embargo whose aim was to condemn Japan played a large part in the attack. During months of negotiations between Tokyo and Washington, D.C., neither side would budge. It seemed as if war was inevitable but no one believed the Japanese would start the war with an attack on American territory.
B/ The attack on Pearl Harbor
Early in the morning, at 6 am, hundreds of Japenese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. The attack was a surprise that Americans did not expect. According to them, if an attack should happen, they thought it would take place on the Maldives or Philipines. Unfortunately, Yamamoto (the head of the Japanese fleet) had decided to erase the American naval base. They didn’t want the American army to intervene during their expansion in Asia. The attack lasted only 2 hours but killed roughly 2000 Americans and wounded 1000. Japan planned this attack strategically. For example, the fact that the attack happened on a Sunday wasn’t by chance. Indeed, Japan knew that on Sunday especially in the morning, the soldiers were resting and therefore weren’t at their battle stations.
C/ The consequences
After that tragedy of Pearl Harbor, an important wave of patriotism took place in the USA which forced them to join the war with more desire to out fight all the other armies in the world. The attack had an impact on The United States in two major ways. It unified the Americans in a purpose of revenge and woke the giant America up. The United States, always in a spirit of revenge, launched two atomic bombs above Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6th and 9th 1945 killing thousands of Japanese even after WW2 ended…
As we stated before, the betrayal of the Japanese gave a blow to the Americans’ pride and made it hard for them to live. Many American artists decided to pay tribute to all the victims and victims’ families by painting pictures and shooting movies. For example, the movie Pearl Harbor by Michael Bay.
II/ The tribute from the artists
A/ The summary of the movie « Pearl Harbor »
The classic story of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor is told through the eyes of two boyhood friends, now serving as officers in the Army Air Corps. Rafe is an energetic young pilot who is selected to fly with the British in Europe while America is still not at war. After Rafe is shot down and presumed killed, Danny comforts Rafe’s former lover, Evelyn a nurse on the naval base, and the two became closer. But, when Rafe turns up alive, the two former friends become enemies. And it is through the attack of Pearl Harbor that each of them will live that the two reconcile their differences.
B/ The poster of the movie : a harsh work
This photograph is the poster of the movie « Pearl Harbor » directed by Michael Bay and released in 2001. The advertising poster aims at standing out, at intriguing or catching the spectators’ eyes to give the desire to see the movie. The poster of the movie associates a scene of a daily life with a historic event. Indeed, as we can see, the young woman spreads her clothes as the Japanese squadron show up. The photography includes two levels. In the foreground, we can see the only young woman on the grass who hangs out to dry her clothes. In the second level, there is the black sky full of planes. These allow the artist to highlight the solitude of the woman in front of this situation. The dark colors of the poster such as the black sky show us a cold atmosphere which reminds us of death. However, only one part of the poster has a light colour which allows us to see once again the solitude of the woman. This picture is a low angle shot which gives an impression to the viewer to be in the place of the young woman. We can suppose that the decision from the photographer was on purpose. He maybe wants the spectator to feel what the inhabitants of Pearl Harbor felt when they saw all those planes turning up. Furthermore, the facial expression of the woman and her actions prove that it was an outright surprise attack. Nobody would have wanted to be there during the attack. Then, the picture is a portrait format and a master plan. These choices taken by the photographer aim at showing that it was not a banal problem of a woman or even about a plane crashing. Here, the woman and her common place activity are in touch with the planes representing the war. Everything is linked as well as the deserted ground, the sky sinking and the wind.
C/ Our feelings about the movie and the poster
As far as I’m concerned, I had already seen the movie before working on it and my opinion is the same. It is one of my favourite movies without a doubt because of the way it deals with the war. Michael Bay did such a great job because he succeeded to talk about the war without showing a lot of blood or dead bodies. Also, the friendship and the love story in the movie allows for anyone to watch the movie. It makes it easier for us to understand the attack. As regards the poster, I think the photographer whose name was untraceable did an excellent job. He succeeded by not putting much of his feelings about the attack in the picture. We can find in the picture the main feelings of those who were involved in the attack like fear, surprise, incomprehension and pain.
On my part, I have never seen the movie before and to be honest I didn’t know there was a movie about this event. This project was a big opportunaty for me to see the movie. I loved it, even though it was a bit long for me. The love story and the friendship between two childhood friends are very touching. Also, the special effects were well put together. For the poster, as Edwina said, the photographer did an incredible job because just by seeing the poster I wanted to see the movie as soon as possible. The photographer was very professional on this work because he didn’t express his own feelings about the event. He only portrayed the feelings of others during that terrible day.
Edwinda & Léa
Civilians during the war
During World War II, civilians were involved in battles and their consequences. They were not spared by militaries operations but they could be the target of them.
- Civilians were taken for target during fights.
¡ The easiest way to attack civilians was the bombing. The first one took place in London in 1940 where Germans dropped 18 000 tonnes of bombs. The goals were to create the chaos, to break the solidarity between civilians and their leaders and to bring the country to capitulate. In Hamburg, in 1943, the English army killed 40 000 Germans and the city was totally destroyed.
¡ Another way to attack civilians was the siege of a city. For example, in Stalingrad, Russians were surrounded by the German army to affect their moral or to hinder them to live. Sieges were very violent and long but civilians resisted bravely to the brutality of Nazis.
- Populations, victims of politics of terror.
Every countries occupied by the Germans were integrated to the Nazis politic:
¡ It’s a politic of terror where the Gestapo hunted communists, Jews and all of Nazism’s enemies. They were arrested and sent to concentration camps where the physical work and the miss of food killed most of them.
¡ Germany took the agricultural and industrial production of the defeated countries, that caused problems to eat and to heat. Some of civilians died or were injured.
- Propaganda
The World War one developed a new type of conflict that involves civilians.
After this World War, people had a new mentality which involve pacifism and this caused the fear of the war
On the 1st September 1939, the Poland is attacked by the Germany of Hitler and this cause WWII
WWII was an ideological war and all the countries wanted to convince people that the enemy is a beast and that we have to destroy it: they used propaganda to do that.
For example, Great Britain used propaganda to keep the moral of the population.
Besides, in occupied part of the France, Germans distribute as a tract this famous propaganda poster: it was to developed fear, to hate resistant’s, and shown what Germany’s man reserved to resistants.
- Civilians were mobilized in the economic war effort
First, civilians were mobilized to do mass production to help soldiers who were fighting the enemy; they produced weapons like shell or missile.
They also replaced job of the soldiers, for example, women were farmer or train conductor and it’s new in France: before the war, it was very rare to see woman who were working.
Second, German developed the STO which forced young man of occupied country to live in Germany to work for this country
And they also developed camp of concentration where people were forced to work: it was like a jail but you had to work all days: simple civilians could go into this place for anything: for example, innocent Jew was sent every day into this place.
- Civilians were persecuted by Nazis (Jew, Gipsy)
The ideology of Nazi is to exterminate Jew and gypsy. They used 4 differents ways to do that:
→ The ghetto is a place where people are confine and they can die by disease or because they had no food. This method provokes 800k death. We can mention the ghetto of Varsovie which was the biggest.
→ the einsatzgruppen was a section of the SS (German army) which killed Jew in occupied country. This method caused 1.3M death.
→ the extermination centre was a place where Germans killed people with Zyklon B in chamber. This method did 2.7M death. We can mention Auschwitz which was the biggest and the most famous
→ the camp of concentration was a place where people were forced to work and this method did 300 k deaths
In total, 5.1M Jew (⅔ of the European Jew) and 288k gypsy (all of Germany’s gipsy and a big part of the Europe’s gipsy) died
The WWII, as the WWI, but with a stronger intensity deleted the difference between civilians and soldiers. Civilian’s population were totally involved into the war. They were taken for target or were forbidden of good living conditions in occupied countries. The population was exposed permanently to the propaganda of their government to develop patriotism. They were liable to a standing terror and to war effort. In addition, the genocides of Jews and Gipsy enforce the fact that civilians were especially touched.
Finally, Europeans civilians represent a big part of the 35 million of dead people in Europe and a half of the 20 million deaths in URSS.
Tom et Clément
Juno Beach /Canadian museum
We were on the morning of June 6th 1944. More than 5000 boats, 130 warships, 12 000 planes and at least ten thousand men were going to make their mark on history by landing on the beaches of Normandy. # The coast was then divided into five sectors : in the west Utah and Omaha beaches which were the American sectors, in the middle and east English sectors with codenames Gold and Sword beaches. And the last one, the Canadian sector : Juno beach. The Allies had to take Caen before nightfall, bridgeheads had to be established to disembark troops. For this purpose they had to face the Atlantic wall, 400 kilometers of barbwire, landmines and several German batteries.
# The middle location made this beach the second most fortified place after Omaha beach. It was protected by nine 75 millimeter cannons, two 155 millimeter ones, five hundred machine guns like MG42 and fifty mortars. 7771 Germans confronted 15 000 Canadians. Furthermore if the Allies succeeded in opening up the German defense line four companies and a Squadron of armoured trucks were kept in hand to fight back.
# Juno beach was divided into two fields. The seventh squad with the sixth armoured regiment took the western part called Mike . The eighth squad with the tenth armoured regiment took the eastern part called Nan.
# Landing was preceded by naval and aerial bombing to weaken the Germans. The bombing also provided shelters in the beach for soldiers. However the weather was really bad and pilots didn’t trust new technology such as radar. The result had a very low impact on the German defenses. Only 14% of facilities were affected.
When the first troops landed in Juno beach it was about 7:30 am. There should have been tank support but most of them couldn’t disembark or sunk before the beach. Only 7 out of 19 succeeded in reaching the land on Mike sector and 15 out of 19 on Nan sector. # In fact lots of soldiers landed with nothing more than their helmet. They lost everything in the chaos. # A survivor testified : « I almost ran five meters and the five other guys behind me had been killed, I was the last one. ». The only way to survive in these circumstances is to protect oneself with anything, even the body of other soldiers. It is the destructive aspect as well that survivors have to bear in their mind. Despite their period of training most soldiers had never fought, used weapons or killed somebody. They would never come back and they knew it… The violence in the battlefield was extreme. In less than two hours the Regina Rifle regiment lost half of its squad. Hundreds of them were injured or killed before fighting. Human remains covered the beach and soldiers, the sand was dyed red. A man related : « We stormed a Gerrman nest with a flamethrower, a bullet hit the fuel tank. Everything flared up, nothing was recognizable. War’s smell is indescribable ». Soldiers had only one advantage : smoke from fires hid them during some moments.
# During the next hours tank support and the valour of the Canadians permitted them to break the German positions and move forward in the hinterland. In this way the Canadians took over St Croix sur Mer, Reviers, Taille Ville, Beny sur Mer, Fontaine Henry, and Pierre Pont. The aim of the Canadian troops was to reach Carpiquet airport. That was a strategic point to deploy troops and gear for both opponents. One Canadian squad reached its D-Day target close to the airport but had to confront an armoured squad of panzers. /// 21 Canadians were captured. Thereafter the Germans interrogated them in their headquarter. The Canadians refused to disclose anything more than their name and rank. So one by one they were shot in the back of the head. They were between 18 and 19 years old.
Eventually thanks to other military support the Allies won Caen in the weeks that followed. Several elements permitted the victory. # Tanks had a huge importance in this war. Those ones are Sherman tanks :the most famous ones. We can notice the importance of blood bags used by the emergency teams in the battlefield to carry out transfusions and save lives. Besides morphine helped a lot to boost troops and remove pain. Moreover the valour and the heroism of those soldiers permitted us to live in this world.
# To pay tribute to these Heroes, volunteers and veterans founded in 1988 the Memorial of Caen. The minister of Canadian heritage nominated Juno Beach as a place of national historical significance. All in all 45 000 Canadians died during the second world war, 5500 during the landing of Normandy, and 359 during D-DAY. The aim of this memorial is to make people know history and never forget what happened there. It is our duty to remember. Soldiers who died on this beach fought to stamp out Nazi tyranny. To make our world free and equal.
Canadians fighters lie now in the cemetery of Bény-Sur-Mer which counts 2049 graves.
Thaddé & Anatole
https://www.wetransfer.com/downloads/c2856b8de79de3b67ea9a669ee4068eb20160418195227/e4269dc0693f5c0fec840d01fd6e79c820160418195227/fece1d