The story of Omaha Beach has an undisputed place in the most dramatic pages of military folklore. It has been the subject of numerous books, countless television documentaries and of course reached a wider audience in Holywood epics such as 'The Longest Day' and 'Saving Private Ryan'. St Laurent sur Mer, facing Omaha Beach As Stephen Ambrose notes in perhaps the definitive account of the D-Day landings, amphibious operations are traditionally the most problematic of all military undertakings. Gallipoli in 1915 was a prime example, while the Allied raid on Dieppe in August 1942 had also been a dismal failure. In fact, the assault on Omaha Beach was to be the first successful attack on a fortified coastline of World War 2. Though the operation was fraught with danger, hampered by potentially catastrophic setbacks and witnessed an appalling number of casualties, within a matter of hours the primary objectives had been secured and the first step on the road to the liberation of Western Europe had been taken. The landscape around Omaha is characterised by sheer limestone cliffs rising up to thirty metres above the sea. In front of the villages of  Vierville, Saint-Laurent and Colleville, however, the cliffs give way to irregular, grass-covered bluffs intersected by gullies allowing access to the beaches. For the Germans, Omaha Beach was an ideal defensive position where numerous defenders could be deployed in concrete bunkers, fox-holes and trenches. Looking towards 'Dog Red' with the Pont du Hoc visible in the distance A shingle bank offered the only possible cover on the otherwise-exposed beach, which had been additionally fortified with mines, barbed-wire entanglements and anti-tank ditches. Allied Commanders had foreseen the problems an assault here would entail, but the gap was too great between Utah and the British beaches for Omaha not to be secured. Intelligence estimated that only around 800 'low-grade' conscripts of the 716th Infantry Division defended the position; in reality, three battalions of the experienced and very capable 352nd Division were in place. The preliminary bombardment - both from the air and from the sea - had made little impression on the beach defences. The 8-kilometre stre tch of beach had been divided up into 8 sectors, each with its' own code name - Charlie, Dog Green, Dog White, Dog Red, Easy Green, Easy Red, Fox Green and Fox Red. This view is taken from 'Easy Green' looking westwards The assault was to be spearheaded by men of the 116th Regiment (29th Division) on the 'west' side of the beach supported by C Company of the 2nd Ranger Battalion; the 'east' side was to be taken by the 16th Regiment (1st Division). In support would be engineers and demolition teams whose job would be to clear the many beach obstacles and open the beach to the waves of troops who would follow the initial landings. H-Hour was to be 06.30. It was estimated that within two hours, the beach and surrounding heights would be secured enabling American forces to advance inland to capture the coastal villages. The total force required to execute this plan numbered some 34,000 men and 3,500 vehicles, with naval support provided by the American, British and French navies. As history has shown, little went to plan at Omaha on the morning of 6th June. A combination of bad weather and navigational problems caused the majority of landing craft to miss their targets. Ten of the 200 craft were submerged in the rough  seas before even reaching the beach. The first waves to hit the beach met a terrible wall of machine gun, mortar and artillery. Sergeant Thomas Valance of Company A recounts how of the 200 men on his Higgins boat, barely two dozen survived and almost all were injured. American Memorial, Omaha Beach: St Laurent Among the heaviest casualties were at Fox Green and Easy Red, where scattered elements of three companies were reduced to half strength by the time they gained the relative safety of the shingle. It was a similar story at Dog Green where small bands of survivors, many without officers, saught meagre cover behind beach obstacles and battlefield wreckage. For many, this was their first combat experience. Under heavy fire, engineers struggled to clear the beach obstacles, causing delays, confusion and bunching of men making easy targets for the deadly machine-gun fire from the bluffs above. By the time the second waves came in at 07.30, the beach was littered with casualties. As time ticked on, with the tide rising and casualties mounting at an alarming rate, the men trapped on Omaha faced a stark choice. To stay where they were and face almost certain death by artillery and mortar or try somehow to advance ag ainst the wall of machine-gun and rifle fire in front of them. As one unnamed lieutenant at Easy Red bluntly put it, "Are you going to lay there and get killed, or get up and do something about it?" View from the bluff overlooking the beach at Fox Green Slowly, leaders began to emerge, men such as Lt John Spaulding of E Company who took charge of the seemingly hopeless situation. They organised survivors into small units and using improvised tactics began to scale the bluffs. By about 08.00 Spalding's men had managed to reach the top of the heights and had knocked out several enemy positions. It was this kind of small action that gradually won the day at Omaha. By 09.00, around 600 American troops had reached the top and some were already advancing inland. As the morning progressed, the scene was still one of confusion; many beach obstacles had not been cleared, exit roads had not been opened. At 08.30 the decision was taken to temporarily close the beach to avoid further congestion.  Resistance continued throughout the morning, but became more sporadic as tanks began to clear out isolated pockets. By around 11.30, the worst of the fighting appeared to be over. Even so, the beach remained under artillery fire for much of the day. Mussee Omaha 6 June 1944, St Laurent A Mulberry harbour was constructed off-shore and became operational within ten hours of the initial landings; 11,000 troops, 2,000 vehicles and 9,000 tons of equipment and supplies were brought ashore before a storm completely wrecked the harbour 3 days later. By the end of the day, American forces had made small advances inland where pockets of German resistance still fought on. Over 50 tanks, 50 landing craft and 2,300 tons of supplies had been lost. Around 3,000 men had been killed, wounded and missing, the greatest losses taken by the infantry, engineers and tank crews in the first waves. The 16th and 116th Infantry Regiments lost about 1,000 men each. The German 352nd division suffered 1,200 killed, wounded and missing. If you visit Omaha Beach at low tide as I did, it resembles any other beach on a sunny July day - a huge expanse of flat, sandy beach with small clusters of sunbathers soaking up the mid-morning sun and a few children splashing around happily by the water's edge. It takes a bit of imagination to contemplate a very different scene with the tide almost up to the seawall; suddenly, the far-away bluffs  and gullies on the far side of the road take on a much more immediate effect, enclosing the beach with menacing intent. The remains of bunkers and trench positions can still be seen in the heights above; on the beach itself, there is little evidence of the carnage that ensued although the occasional battlefield debris can still be found. Pont du Hoc American Ranger Memorial Inevitably, as the morning progresses, a succession of coach parties arrive. This is Omaha post- 'Private Ryan' and visitor numbers are substantial. Before making a tactical retreat in the face of overwhelming tourist numbers, however, there is time to appreciate Omaha in something like its original form. Perhaps the main difference between the beach today and in 1944 is the absence of the shingle seawall that on 6th June offered the only real protection to soldiers stranded on the beach (this was cleared by engineers to allow vehicle access). There is now a concrete promenade, beyond which lies a car park, beach-front homes, holiday cottages and the odd cafe or two. A sturdy memorial stands in honour of those who fell during the battle. Just up the road is the excellent Musée Omaha 6 Juin 1944 where  the story of D-Day unfolds via a large array of photographs, dioramas, weapons and military vehicles. Site of German gun emplacement: Pont du Hoc Other nearby places to visit include the German gun emplacements at Pont du Hoc, 6 kilometres west of Omaha. On the morning of 6th June, 3 companies of Rangers commanded by Lt. Colonel James E. Rudder scaled the cliffs using grappling irons, ladders and ropes only to find the gun batteries had been moved further inland. Nonetheless, the capture of Pont du Hoc was a significant action, giving the Americans a foothold on the heights above both Omaha and Utah beaches (it lies between the two) and diverting German troops who might otherwise have been deployed in defence of these beaches. The site has been left more or less inta ct, the ground still pocked by bomb craters from the aerial bombardment prior to the invasion. There is a needle-shaped memorial to the Rangers who captured the gun emplacements and fought off fierce counter-attacks over the following two days. Close inspection of the monument is discouraged by barbed wire, due to its precarious position on the very edge of the cliff face. American Military Cemetery, Omaha Beach The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial is built on the site of a burial ground established by American forces on June 8, 1944. This was, of course, the cemetery made famous by the opening and closing scenes of Saving Private Ryan, and is located east of St Laurent, directly overlooking the Easy Red and Fox Green sectors of the beach. It contains the graves of 9,387 US Soldiers, most of whom lost their lives in the D-Day landings and ensuing operations. Inscribed on the Memorial Walls are the names of the 1,557 'missing'. There is an an orientation table overlooking the beach, a memorial chapel and a new visitors centre. The American Cemetery is undeniably impressive, a fitting backdrop for the thousands of visitors who come here each year, many in search of lost relatives. |