Omaha Beach

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Image:1944 NormandyLST.jpg

Omaha Beach was the Allied codename for one of the principal landing points during the Normandy landings on June 6 1944. The beach is about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) long, from Sainte-Honorine-des-Pertes to Vierville-sur-Mer.

The untested 29th Infantry Division, joined by 8 companies of Rangers redirected from Pointe du Hoc, were to land on the west side of the beach. The 1st Infantry Division was given the eastern approach. This was their third amphibious assault of the war, after Africa and Sicily. The principal objective of the Omaha Beach landing was to secure the line between Port-en-Bessin and the Vire River, before pushing south towards Saint-Lô.

1 "Bloody Omaha"
2 Breakthrough
3 German Beach Defenses
4 Dramatizations
5 See also
6 External links

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"Bloody Omaha"

Image:Omaha beachhead 6 June 1944.jpg The Germans had adequately prepared their Atlantic Wall defenses along the obstacle-strewn beach, and the gentle downward slope gave them an excellent field of fire. The German 352nd Division defending Omaha Beach was one of the better trained German units in the area. About half of the swimming Sherman DD Tanks intended to give armoured support swamped and sank before reaching shore, due to adverse weather conditions and deployment orders that were inappropriate for such conditions -- half the tanks were launched as planned, from 6 kilometers out. The Allied air bombardment of the beach defenses prior to the landings was largely ineffective: most of the bombs fell too far inland. The initial naval bombardment was also ineffective, due to the short time allotted to the naval guns (40 minutes). The German defenses were largely intact when the first assault waves hit the beach. The assault troops had almost no cover or craters on the 400-yard deep beach at low tide. Many American soldiers also had a lack of vision of the Germans at the end of the beach due to weather. Carefully planned assault waves turned into chaos as wind, waves, and current scattered most of the landing craft far from their assigned targets. Tired and seasick troops, weighed down by wet and sand-filled gear, could not run across the open sand (as often portrayed in movies). Most could only walk or trot across the exposed sand.

The landings at Omaha Beach resulted in heavy American casualties. The official record of the 1st Infantry Division stated that "Within 10 minutes of the ramps being lowered, [the leading] company had become inert, leaderless and almost incapable of action. Every officer and sergeant had been killed or wounded... It had become a struggle for survival and rescue". The invaders suffered over 2,400 casualties, most in the first few hours.

Casualties per unit varied widely. Squads landing directly in front of the most fortified German positions were wiped out as the landing craft ramps dropped. The small opening of the Higgins craft allowed for the bottle-necking of the troop complement by extremely deadly MG42 fire. Other units, lucky to land between bunkers or on portions of the beach obscured by smoke, made it onto the beach with few losses. Another factor was the skill and courage of landing craft coxswains. Some emptied their boats too far off the beach, after hitting sandbars, and the soldiers had to drop their weapons and supplies or drown in the surf. Other coxswains made every effort to land the troops right on the beach with multiple attempts and risking their craft. The first wave was hit the hardest. Image:Normandy7.jpg

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Breakthrough

Commanders offshore considered abandoning the attack, and redirecting the Omaha forces to Utah Beach. However, several small groups of surviving rag-tag infantry, initially pinned down on the beach behind the cover of the seawall or the shingle, eventually abandoned their original plans to move up through the fortified beach exits and improvised a direct attack up the steep bluffs through minefields between the bunkers, resulting in the first breakthroughs. German trenches and pillboxes were then attacked from the rear. Also, several Allied destroyers helped turn the battle in favor of US forces by improvising an attack on the German positions. The ships had to nearly run aground to get past the smoke to rain their guns on the bluffs.

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German Beach Defenses

Hedgehogs - 3 pronged tank barriers
Element C (Belgian Gates) - Gates made from metal brought from Belgium
Wooden Stakes - Large stakes with mines on top, angled toward the sea to stop approaching landing craft
Wooden Ramps - Ramps angled toward the bluffs with mines on top, angled so that approaching landing craft would knock them over and detonate the mines
Mines

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