The Omaha Beach Landings
Omaha Beach, Fox Sector
It was on this four and a half mile (7km) stretch of sand that the two American Assault Divisions accompanied by two Battalions of US Rangers and ten thousand US Army Combat Engineers landed in the face of withering fire on June 6th, 1944. D-Day. That fire was coming from the German defenders, shooting from their well protected positions in concrete bunkers that had been largely untouched by the pre-dawn D-Day bombardment which had fallen as much as three miles (5km) off target.
German Bunker on Omaha Beach, Dog sector
While the US High Command was considering a halt to further landings on the Omaha Beach altogether, the troops already on the beach, having suffered appalling casualties and their assault plan already in tatters, improvised themselves into ad hoc Combat Groups. By moving off the beach like this and helped by the direct fire of Navy Destroyers and Cruisers brought in to as close as 1000 yards off-shore, these impromptu patrols made their way inland and by midday several inland penetrations had been made. The beach remained a dangerous place until late afternoon when finally all of the heights overlooking the beach were cleared of German defenders and except for the occasional shots from isolated German soldiers missed in the clearing of the German positions, direct fire could no longer be called onto the US Ships and reinforcements landing on the beach. This isolated German fire on the beach was not finally fully cleared until June 8th, however, and at nightfall on June 6th the Omaha Beach Head was by no means secure. Along the whole length of the Omaha invasion beach the Americans had only pushed inland between one and two miles (1.5 to 3km) from the coast. The cost of this four and a half mile stretch of sand was over three thousand casualties, of whom more than eight hundred paid the ultimate price.
The Battle Sites/Sights
Omaha Beach, Dog Green Sector
Saving Private Ryan
Come and see Dog Green Sector of Omaha Beach where the famed landing Scene of the film “Saving Private Ryan” was set. The barbed wire and beach obstacles are long since removed, the defense ditches and trenches all filled in, but the bunkers built by the Germans are too big to get rid of and the bullet pock marks and shell holes made in them on D-Day by the assaulting American forces are still there to be seen. Hear the real story of how on this section of the beach on D-Day the tattered remnants of several different units from the Navy, Rangers, Engineers and Infantry formed ad hoc Battle Groups and how two of these, led principally by Colonel Canham and General Norman Cota of the 29th Division, managed to break through a weak spot in the German defenses at the tops of the bluffs and come down to take the main defenses on the beach from behind, thus relieving pressure on the assaulting troops.
Come and see Dog Green Sector of Omaha Beach where the famed landing Scene of the film “Saving Private Ryan” was set. The barbed wire and beach obstacles are long since removed, the defense ditches and trenches all filled in, but the bunkers built by the Germans are too big to get rid of and the bullet pock marks and shell holes made in them on D-Day by the assaulting American forces are still there to be seen. Hear the real story of how on this section of the beach on D-Day the tattered remnants of several different units from the Navy, Rangers, Engineers and Infantry formed ad hoc Battle Groups and how two of these, led principally by Colonel Canham and General Norman Cota of the 29th Division, managed to break through a weak spot in the German defenses at the tops of the bluffs and come down to take the main defenses on the beach from behind, thus relieving pressure on the assaulting troops.
WN 62
Concelaed Anti-tank gun, WN 62, Omaha Beach
On this sector of Omaha Beach, Easy Red Sector, you can see where the battle hardened First Infantry Division suffered some 700 casualties on the beach on D-Day. In amongst the numerous and well preserved bunkers and pillboxes that made up this German defensive position known to the defenders as WN 62, you can see how the American Assault Forces were pinned down on the beach below the Axis forces, caught in a virtual shooting gallery for the German machine guns positioned on the heights above. These First Division Troops were unlucky indeed, having landed opposite the strongest German resistance point on the whole length of the Omaha landing sector. Finally by 2:30 pm most of the Germans had withdrawn from the position and the beach had become free of direct German fire. However, these Germans had not withdrawn because they had been beaten but because they had by and large simply run out of ammunition. You will see where these German soldiers hid as they made their way inland, trying to link up with the German reinforcements they expected to be coming up to their rescue. The following morning, instead of the German Panzer counterattack that they had expected to find coming towards them, these retreating Germans discovered American Forces had already infiltrated past the German beach defenses and were forced to surrender.
WN65, Ruquet Valley
The bunker knocked out by the 467th AAA Batt.
Here you can see the remarkable German defensive position of WN65 on the western side of the Ruquet valley, this valley being know on D-Day as Exit Easy 1. The bunker here still has its gun, put there by the Germans in 1943. It also still has the marks of the shots fired by Sgt Haas of the 467th Anti Aircraft Artillery Battalion that knocked out the gun in position. It was here that the Allied Supreme Commanded, General Eisenhower, first came ashore shortly after the landings in June of 1944. Several famous photos of Omaha Beach were taken around this spot subsequent to the successful establishment of the beach head and most of the landmarks in these photos can still be seen.
The American Military Cemetery in Normandy
Normandy American Cemetery, Omaha Beach
Situated overlooking Easy Red Sector of Omaha Beach, the Sector of the Beach where the highest casualties were taken on D-Day, the cemetery is a peaceful place today. You can see how immaculately its 9,387 graves and surroundings are kept, a worthwhile expenditure of tax dollars even in these currently lean financial times. Here amongst the tranquil surroundings you can see the Graves of three Medal of Honor Recipients, one of whom is no less that Brigadier General Teddy Roosevelt Jr, son of the President of the same name. Also, the graves of the Niland brothers, who's story Steven Spielberg used to base his film “Saving Private Ryan” on. There is also a recently opened visitors center in the Cemetery that is free and open to visit where there are displays, testimony and films. The Cemetery and Visitors Center are run by the American Battle Monuments Commission.
Longues sur Mer Gun Battery
German Gun Battery at Longues sur Mer
Situated about 6 miles (10 km) east of Omaha Beach and 4 miles (6 km) west of Gold Beach, this gun battery was perfectly positioned to fire on the landing fleets of both of these landing beaches. Despite 1,200 tons of bombs dropped on this position by the Allies in the run up to D-Day, they had succeeded in hitting only one of the four massive bunkers. Even this hit did not knock the gun out though and on the morning of D-Day this was the very first German coastal battery to engage the Allied Landing fleet, opening fire at about 5:30am. Fortunately for the Allies the Germans had more than enough of their own problems that day and even with the guns firing for a total of over four hours on D-Day, the German gunners did not succeeded in hitting a single Allied ship. The battery was finally knocked out in the evening of D-Day by Allied Naval gunfire and it's demoralised garrison surrendered to the advancing British forces the next day. Today, you can still see the gun battery installed at Longues sur Mer by the Germans in early 1944. The guns are still in the bunkers, left much as they were in 1944 after the fighting was over. All of the guns and their bunkers still show the scars of battle from 1944 except for one which is in almost perfect condition. The footprints of a German soldier who stepped onto the concrete floor while the cement was still wet can also still clearly be seen.