9. Omaha Beach
Omaha Beach is 8 km long, the landings were necessary in order to link up the British landings to the east at Gold beach and the American landing to the west at Utah beach,
thus providing a continuous lodgement on the Normandy coast.
29th Infantry Division, joined by nine companies of U.S. Army Rangers, assault the western half of the beach. 1st Infantry Division assault the eastern half of the beach.
Opposing the landings was the German 352nd Infantry Division, and the German strategy was to defeating any seaborne assault at the water line.
It begin with the air bombing of German fortifications at Omaha Beach by 450 B-24 Liberator bombers which had failed, with all of the ordnance landing well behind the beach.
The naval bombardment, by 18 warships and various landing craft outfitted with rockets and guns , began at 5:50 a.m. and ended at 6:30 a.m, was ineffective.
The German positions were well-camoflauged and protected, and the early morning light made it difficult to spot and correct naval fire.
The air bombardment and naval gunfire had failed to softened German defences.
The first wave assault landings
At 0630 hrs, when the first ramps of the landing craft opened at Omaha beach, the German open fire.
The landing troops were stopped at water's edge even before they have chance to touch the shore.
Within 15 minutes of landing , the first waves have been cut into pieces, many were killed or wounded, while the survivors reduced to seeking cover at the water's edge or behind obstacles.
The defenses were unexpectedly strong, and inflicted heavy casualties on landing US troops.
The second wave assault landings
At 0700 hrs, with the initial targets unaccomplished, the second and larger wave of assault landings started bringing in reinforcements, support weapons and headquarter elements,
only to face nearly the same difficult situation as the first wave.
The survivors of the first wave were mostly unable to provide effective covering fire, and, in places, the fresh landing troops suffered casualty rates as high as those of the first wave.
Many groups were leaderless and witness to the fate of neighboring troops and landings coming in around them.
Wounded men on the beach were drowning in the incoming tide, and, out at sea, landing craft were being pounded and set ablaze.
All the companies were, at best, disorganized, mostly leaderless and pinned down behind with no hope of carrying out their assault missions.
At worst, they had simply ceased to exist as fighting units.
In spite of these problems, the scattered units that survived quickly began to take stock of the situation and began organized efforts to attack the beach defenses and move inland.
Initially, the German was reporting that the assault had been hurled back into the sea.
From their vantage point, overlooking the whole beach from the western end, the German perception was that the assault had been stopped at the beach.
An German officer noted that troops were seeking cover behind obstacles, and counted ten tanks burning.
However, as early as 07:35, the Germans defending Fox Green beach, was reporting that 100–200 American troops had penetrated the front,
with troops inside the wire at WN-62 and WN-61 attacking the Germans from the rear.
Breakthrough
Survivors led the charge by forcing gaps in the wire with a Bangalore torpedo and wire cutters. The remaining troops joined the advance, and blew more openings.
The terrain at the very eastern end of Omaha, however, gave GIs enough protection to allow the 125 survivors to organize and begin an assault.
They were the very few in the first wave able to operate as an assault unit.
Through individual leadership, training and perseverance, the men at Omaha were able to break through the German defenses.
By 09:00 more than 600 American troops, in groups ranging from company sized to just a few men, had reached the top of the bluff opposite Dog White and were advancing inland.
By the end of the day, two small isolated footholds had been won, which were subsequently exploited against weaker defences further inland, thus achieving the original D-Day objectives over the following days.
Following the penetrations inland, casualties were estimated at 3,000 killed, wounded and missing. The heaviest casualties of all the five landing beach.
Omaha Beach is 8 km long, the landings were necessary in order to link up the British landings to the east at Gold beach and the American landing to the west at Utah beach,
thus providing a continuous lodgement on the Normandy coast.
29th Infantry Division, joined by nine companies of U.S. Army Rangers, assault the western half of the beach. 1st Infantry Division assault the eastern half of the beach.
Opposing the landings was the German 352nd Infantry Division, and the German strategy was to defeating any seaborne assault at the water line.
It begin with the air bombing of German fortifications at Omaha Beach by 450 B-24 Liberator bombers which had failed, with all of the ordnance landing well behind the beach.
The naval bombardment, by 18 warships and various landing craft outfitted with rockets and guns , began at 5:50 a.m. and ended at 6:30 a.m, was ineffective.
The German positions were well-camoflauged and protected, and the early morning light made it difficult to spot and correct naval fire.
The air bombardment and naval gunfire had failed to softened German defences.
The first wave assault landings
At 0630 hrs, when the first ramps of the landing craft opened at Omaha beach, the German open fire.
The landing troops were stopped at water's edge even before they have chance to touch the shore.
Within 15 minutes of landing , the first waves have been cut into pieces, many were killed or wounded, while the survivors reduced to seeking cover at the water's edge or behind obstacles.
The defenses were unexpectedly strong, and inflicted heavy casualties on landing US troops.
The second wave assault landings
At 0700 hrs, with the initial targets unaccomplished, the second and larger wave of assault landings started bringing in reinforcements, support weapons and headquarter elements,
only to face nearly the same difficult situation as the first wave.
The survivors of the first wave were mostly unable to provide effective covering fire, and, in places, the fresh landing troops suffered casualty rates as high as those of the first wave.
Many groups were leaderless and witness to the fate of neighboring troops and landings coming in around them.
Wounded men on the beach were drowning in the incoming tide, and, out at sea, landing craft were being pounded and set ablaze.
All the companies were, at best, disorganized, mostly leaderless and pinned down behind with no hope of carrying out their assault missions.
At worst, they had simply ceased to exist as fighting units.
In spite of these problems, the scattered units that survived quickly began to take stock of the situation and began organized efforts to attack the beach defenses and move inland.
Initially, the German was reporting that the assault had been hurled back into the sea.
From their vantage point, overlooking the whole beach from the western end, the German perception was that the assault had been stopped at the beach.
An German officer noted that troops were seeking cover behind obstacles, and counted ten tanks burning.
However, as early as 07:35, the Germans defending Fox Green beach, was reporting that 100–200 American troops had penetrated the front,
with troops inside the wire at WN-62 and WN-61 attacking the Germans from the rear.
Breakthrough
Survivors led the charge by forcing gaps in the wire with a Bangalore torpedo and wire cutters. The remaining troops joined the advance, and blew more openings.
The terrain at the very eastern end of Omaha, however, gave GIs enough protection to allow the 125 survivors to organize and begin an assault.
They were the very few in the first wave able to operate as an assault unit.
Through individual leadership, training and perseverance, the men at Omaha were able to break through the German defenses.
By 09:00 more than 600 American troops, in groups ranging from company sized to just a few men, had reached the top of the bluff opposite Dog White and were advancing inland.
By the end of the day, two small isolated footholds had been won, which were subsequently exploited against weaker defences further inland, thus achieving the original D-Day objectives over the following days.
Following the penetrations inland, casualties were estimated at 3,000 killed, wounded and missing. The heaviest casualties of all the five landing beach.
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