‘Bugger of a Fight’: Historians Question Criticism of Canada’s Normandy Battles

American troops, supporting those already on the coast of Northern France, plunge into the surf and wade shoreward carrying equipment on Utah Beach, Les Dunes de Madeleine, France, on D-Day, June 6, 1944. STF/AFP/Getty Images

OTTAWA—D-Day: the letter stands for nothing, but the term itself represents a great deal more.

It conjures indelible images of landing craft speeding towards the beaches of Normandy. Of ramps lowering and soldiers being mowed down by withering German machine-gun fire. Of troops pressing forward in the face of certain death and driving the Nazis from the beaches.