US Navy US Coast Guard Commandos Royal Navy Royal Air Force Royal Canadian Navy
157-399: Airborne assault British Sector American Sector Normandy landings American Sector Anglo-Canadian Sector Logistics Ground campaign American Sector Anglo-Canadian Sector Breakout Air and Sea operations Supporting operations Aftermath Omaha Beach was one of five beach landing sectors of the amphibious assault component of Operation Overlord during
314-648: A spelling alphabet —from Able, west of Omaha , to Roger on the east flank of Sword. Eight further sectors were added when the invasion was extended to include Utah on the Cotentin Peninsula. Sectors were further subdivided into beaches identified by the colours Green, Red, and White. The Anglo-Canadian assault landings on D-Day were to be carried out by the British Second Army , under Lieutenant General Miles Dempsey . The Second Army's I Corps , commanded by Lieutenant General John Crocker ,
471-666: A Royal Engineers team of Captain Logan Scott-Bowden and Sergeant Bruce Ogden-Smith showed him a sample of sand from the beach. They had swum ashore in Normandy from midget submarines over thirty times, to obtain sand samples to see whether the beaches would support tanks. Scott-Bowden said to him "Sir, I hope you don't mind me saying it, but this beach is a very formidable proposition indeed and there are bound to be tremendous casualties." Bradley put his hand on Scott-Bowden's shoulder and replied, "I know, my boy. I know." Omaha
628-439: A badly scattered drop) but two of its groups concentrated on glider missions. By the end of April joint training with both airborne divisions ceased when Taylor and Ridgway deemed that their units had jumped enough. The 50th TCW did not begin training until April 3 and progressed more slowly, then was hampered when the troops ceased jumping. A divisional night jump exercise for the 101st Airborne scheduled for May 7, Exercise Eagle,
785-782: A blocking position on the northern approaches to Sainte-Mère-Église with a single platoon while the rest reinforced the 3rd Battalion when it was counterattacked at mid-morning. The 1st Battalion did not achieve its objectives of capturing bridges over the Merderet at la Fière and Chef-du-Pont, despite the assistance of several hundred troops from the 507th and 508th PIRs. Sword Beach Airborne assault British Sector American Sector Normandy landings American Sector Anglo-Canadian Sector Logistics Ground campaign American Sector Anglo-Canadian Sector Breakout Air and Sea operations Supporting operations Aftermath Sword , commonly known as Sword Beach ,
942-625: A compromise was reached. Because of the heavier German presence, Bradley, the First Army commander, wanted the 82nd Airborne Division landed close to the 101st Airborne Division for mutual support if needed. Major General J. Lawton Collins , commanding the VII Corps , however, wanted the drops made west of the Merderet to seize a bridgehead. On May 27 the drop zones were relocated 10 miles (16 km) east of Le Haye-du-Puits along both sides of
1099-581: A day-long battle failed to take Saint-Côme-du-Mont and destroy the highway bridges over the Douve. The glider battalions of the 101st's 327th Glider Infantry Regiment were delivered by sea and landed across Utah Beach with the 4th Infantry Division. On D-Day its third battalion, the 1st Battalion 401st GIR, landed just after noon and bivouacked near the beach. By the evening of June 7, the other two battalions were assembled near Sainte Marie du Mont . The 82nd Airborne's drop, mission "Boston", began at 01:51. It
1256-421: A few hundred yards off target, and in an intricately planned operation where each section on each boat had been assigned a specific task, this was enough to throw the whole plan off. Like the infantry, the engineers had been pushed off their targets, and only five of the 16 teams arrived at their assigned locations. Three teams came in where there were no infantry or armor to cover them. Working under intense fire,
1413-616: A few key officers were held over for continuity. The 14 groups assigned to IX TCC were a mixture of experience. Four had seen significant combat in the Twelfth Air Force . Four had no combat experience but had trained together for more than a year in the United States. Four others had been in existence less than nine months and arrived in the United Kingdom one month after training began. One had experience only as
1570-554: A flooding tide, preceded by a 40-minute naval and 30-minute aerial bombardment of the beach defenses, with the DD tanks arriving five minutes before H-Hour. The infantry were organized into specially equipped assault sections, 32 men strong, one section to a landing craft, with each section assigned specific objectives in reducing the beach defenses. Immediately behind the first landings the Special Engineer Task Force
1727-497: A headquarters company of up to 180 men. The tank battalions consisted of three companies, A through C, each of 16 tanks, while the Ranger battalions were organized into six companies, A through F, of around 65 men per company. V Corps ' 56th Signal Battalion was responsible for communications on Omaha with the fleet offshore, especially routing requests for naval gunfire support to the destroyers and USS Arkansas . The 116th RCT of
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#17327724583831884-410: A mile away near St. Germain-de-Varreville. The team was unable to get either its amber halophane lights or its Eureka beacon working until the drop was well in progress. Although the second pathfinder serial had a plane ditch in the sea en route, the remainder dropped two teams near DZ C, but most of their marker lights were lost in the ditched airplane. They managed to set up a Eureka beacon just before
2041-546: A plane load of troops numbering 15-18 men. To achieve surprise, the parachute drops were routed to approach Normandy at low altitude from the west. The serials took off beginning at 22:30 on June 5, assembled into formations at wing and command assembly points, and flew south to the departure point, code-named "Flatbush". There they descended and flew southwest over the English Channel at 500 feet (150 m) MSL to remain below German radar coverage. Each flight within
2198-701: A powerful fighting force. Most of the German divisions along the French coast in late 1943, however, were either formations of new recruits or battered veteran units still resting and rebuilding after service on the Eastern Front; altogether some 856,000 soldiers were stationed in France, predominantly along the Channel coast. They were supported by an additional 60,000 Hilfswillige (Russian and Polish conscripts to
2355-502: A result, there was little or no damage to the beach defenses. Because sea conditions were so rough, the decision was made for the 116th LCT to carry the DD tanks of the 743rd Tank Battalion all the way to the beach, after 27 of the initial 29 DD tanks of the 741st Tank Battalion were swamped while wading to shore. Coming in opposite the well-defended Vierville draw, Company B of the 743rd Tank Battalion lost all but one of its officers and half of its DD tanks. The other two companies landed to
2512-484: A route that avoided Allied naval forces and German anti-aircraft defenses along the eastern shore of the Cotentin. On April 12 a route was approved that would depart England at Portland Bill , fly at low altitude southwest over water, then turn 90 degrees to the southeast and come in "by the back door" over the western coast. At the initial point the 82nd Airborne Division would continue straight to La Haye-du-Puits, and
2669-464: A serial by chalk numbers (literally numbers chalked on the airplanes to aid paratroopers in boarding the correct airplane), were organized into flights of nine aircraft, in a formation pattern called "vee of vee's" (vee-shaped elements of three planes arranged in a larger vee of three elements), with the flights flying one behind the other. The serials were scheduled over the drop zones at six-minute intervals. The paratroopers were divided into sticks ,
2826-425: A serial was 1,000 feet (300 m) behind the flight ahead. The flights encountered winds that pushed them five minutes ahead of schedule, but the effect was uniform over the entire invasion force and had negligible effect on the timetables. Once over water, all lights except formation lights were turned off, and these were reduced to their lowest practical intensity. Twenty-four minutes 57 miles (92 km) out over
2983-617: A series of military operations carried by the United States as part of Operation Overlord , the invasion of Normandy by the Allies on June 6, 1944, during World War II . In the opening maneuver of the Normandy landings , about 13,100 American paratroopers from the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions , then 3,937 glider infantrymen , were dropped in Normandy via two parachute and six glider missions. The divisions were part of
3140-581: A sixth beach, code-named Band. Taking Sword was to be the responsibility of the British Army with sea transport, mine sweeping and a naval bombardment force provided by the British Royal Navy as well as elements from the Polish , Norwegian and other Allied navies. Among the five beaches of the operation, Sword is the nearest to Caen , about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the goal of
3297-477: A transport (cargo carrying) group and the last had been recently formed. Joint training with airborne troops and an emphasis on night formation flying began at the start of March. The veteran 52nd Troop Carrier Wing (TCW), wedded to the 82nd Airborne, progressed rapidly and by the end of April had completed several successful night drops. The 53rd TCW, working with the 101st, also progressed well (although one practice mission on April 4 in poor visibility resulted in
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#17327724583833454-796: The Luftwaffe , they too suffered losses to Allied aircraft. When 250 gliders of the British 6th Airlanding Brigade overflew their positions, on their way to reinforce the Orne bridgehead in Operation Mallard , the Germans, believing they were about to be cut off, retired. The Luftwaffe was particularly weak in this sector but tried to support the attack with a few of the rare daylight appearances it made on D-Day. Generalfeldmarschall Hugo Sperrle , commanding Luftflotte 3 (Air Fleet 3)
3611-408: The 18th RCT of the 1st Infantry Division were to land, with the 26th RCT of the 1st Infantry Division to be landed on the orders of the V Corps commander. The objective was for the beach defenses to be cleared by H+2 hours, whereupon the assault sections were to reorganize, continuing the battle in battalion formations. The draws were to be opened to allow traffic to exit the beach by H+3 hours. By
3768-431: The 1st Infantry Division was also to land two battalions with the third following 30 minutes after, on Easy Red and Fox Green at the eastern end of Omaha. Their tank support was to be provided by the 741st Tank Battalion , again two companies swimming ashore and the third landed conventionally. Three companies of the 2nd Ranger Battalion were to take a fortified battery at Pointe du Hoc , five kilometers (3.1 miles) to
3925-400: The 29th Infantry Division was to land two battalions in the western four beaches, to be followed 30 minutes later by the third battalion. Their landings were to be supported by the tanks of the 743rd Tank Battalion ; two companies swimming ashore in amphibious DD tanks and the remaining company landing directly onto the beach from assault craft. To the left of the 116th RCT the 16th RCT of
4082-523: The 4th Special Service Brigade , Royal Marine armoured support, additional artillery and engineers, and elements of the 79th Armoured Division . 6th Beach Group was deployed to assist the troops and landing craft landing on Sword and to develop the beach maintenance area. The 3rd Infantry Division was ordered to advance on Caen, 7.5 miles (12.1 km) from Sword, with the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division advancing on its western flank to secure Carpiquet airfield, 11 miles (18 km) from Juno Beach, on
4239-568: The Allied Expeditionary Air Force , approved the use of the recognition markings on May 17. For the troop carrier aircraft this was in the form of three white and two black stripes, each two feet (60 cm) wide, around the fuselage behind the exit doors and from front to back on the outer wings. A test exercise was flown by selected aircraft over the invasion fleet on June 1, but to maintain security, orders to paint stripes were not issued until June 3. The 300 men of
4396-528: The Atlantic Wall over 156,000 men had been landed in France on the first day of the campaign." British losses in the Sword area amounted to 683 men. The British and Canadians were able to link up and resume the drive on Caen the following day, but three days into the invasion, the advance was halted. On 7 June, Operation Perch , a pincer attack by the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division and XXX Corps
4553-767: The Battle of the Atlantic to its closure, the lack of landing craft, invading Sicily in July 1943 , and Italy in September following the defeat of Axis forces in North Africa in May 1943 resulted in the postponement of any assault on northern Europe till 1944. Having succeeded in opening up an offensive front in southern Europe, gaining valuable experience in amphibious assaults and inland fighting, Allied planners returned to
4710-542: The River Seine there were a total of 32 batteries capable of firing on to the five invasion beaches; half of them were positioned in casemates of 6-foot (1.8 m) reinforced concrete. Since the spring of 1942, Generalleutnant Wilhelm Richter's 8,000-man strong 716th Infantry Division had been positioned to defend the Calvados coast of Normandy. In March 1942, the 352nd Infantry Division assumed control of
4867-540: The Satterlee and Talybont , elsewhere the air and naval bombardment was not so effective, and the German beach defenses and supporting artillery remained largely intact. Later analysis of naval support during the pre-landing phase concluded that the navy had provided inadequate bombardment, given the size and extent of the planned assault. Kenneth P. Lord, a U.S. Army planner for the D-Day invasion, says that, upon hearing
Omaha Beach - Misplaced Pages Continue
5024-536: The Second World War . On June 6, 1944, the Allies invaded German-occupied France with the Normandy landings . "Omaha" refers to an 8-kilometer (5 mi) section of the coast of Normandy , France, facing the English Channel , from east of Sainte-Honorine-des-Pertes to west of Vierville-sur-Mer on the right bank of the Douve river estuary. Landings here were necessary to link the British landings to
5181-603: The TO&;E of the C-47 Skytrain groups would be increased from 52 to 64 aircraft (plus nine spares) by April 1 to meet his requirements. At the same time the commander of the U.S. First Army , Lieutenant General Omar Bradley , won approval of a plan to land two airborne divisions on the Cotentin Peninsula , one to seize the beach causeways and block the eastern half at Carentan from German reinforcements,
5338-529: The U.S. Fifth Army during the Salerno landings , codenamed Operation Avalanche, in September 1943. However, a shortcoming of the system was that within 2 miles (3.2 km) of the ground emitter, the signals merged into a single blip in which both range and bearing were lost. The system was designed to steer large formations of aircraft to within a few miles of a drop zone, at which point the holophane marking lights or other visual markers would guide completion of
5495-580: The invasion of Normandy went through several preliminary phases throughout 1943, during which the Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) allocated 13½ U.S. troop carrier groups to an undefined airborne assault. The actual size, objectives, and details of the plan were not drawn up until after General Dwight D. Eisenhower became Supreme Allied Commander in January 1944. In mid-February Eisenhower received word from Headquarters U.S. Army Air Forces that
5652-543: The pathfinder companies were organized into teams of 14-18 paratroops each, whose main responsibility would be to deploy the ground beacon of the Rebecca/Eureka transponding radar system, and set out holophane marking lights. The Rebecca, an airborne sender-receiver, indicated on its scope the direction and approximate range of the Eureka, a responsor beacon. The paratroops trained at the school for two months with
5809-422: The 101st Airborne Division would make a small left turn and fly to Utah Beach . The plan called for a right turn after drops and a return on the reciprocal route. However the change in drop zones on May 27 and the increased size of German defenses made the risk to the planes from ground fire much greater, and the routes were modified so that the 101st Airborne Division would fly a more southerly ingress route along
5966-478: The 101st at Portbail , code-named "Muleshoe", was approximately 10 miles (16 km) south of that of the 82d, "Peoria", near Flamanville . Despite precise execution over the channel, numerous factors encountered over the Cotentin Peninsula disrupted the accuracy of the drops, many encountered in rapid succession or simultaneously. These included: Flak from German anti-aircraft guns resulted in planes either going under or over their prescribed altitudes. Some of
6123-410: The 16th RCT front, the landing boats passed struggling men in life preservers and on rafts, survivors of the DD tanks which had sunk in the rough sea. Navigation of the landing vehicles was made difficult by the smoke and mist obscuring the landmarks they were to use in guiding themselves in, while a strong current pushed them continually eastward. As the boats approached to within a few hundred yards of
6280-447: The 16th RCT front, where parts of E/16, F/16 and E/116 had intermingled, making it difficult for sections to come together to improvise company assaults that might have reversed the situation caused by the mis-landings. Those scattered sections of E/116 landing at Easy Red were able to escape heavy casualties, although, having encountered a deep runnel after being landed on a sandbank, they were forced to discard most of their weapons to make
6437-456: The 352nd Infantry Division captured on D-Day as reported by the 16th Infantry S-3 D-Day Action Report. In fact, Allied intelligence had already become aware of the relocation of the 352nd Infantry Division on June 4. This information was passed on to V Infantry Corps and 1st Infantry Division HQ through 1st Army, but at that late stage in the operations, no plans were changed. When General Omar Bradley expressed concern about Omaha Beach in January,
Omaha Beach - Misplaced Pages Continue
6594-421: The 352nd also took under its command two battalions of the 726th Grenadier Regiment (part of the 716th Static Infantry Division) as well as the 439th Ost-Battalion, which had been attached to the 726th. Omaha fell mostly within 'Coast Defense Sector 2', which stretched westward from Colleville and allocated to the 916th Grenadier Regiment , with the third battalion 726th Grenadier Regiment attached. Two companies of
6751-501: The 3rd Infantry Division. The landings were achieved with low Allied casualties but the advance from the beach was slowed by traffic congestion and resistance in defended areas behind the beach. Further progress towards Caen was halted by the only armoured counter-attack of the day, mounted by the 21st Panzer Division . Following the Fall of France , British Prime Minister Winston Churchill vowed to return to continental Europe and liberate
6908-493: The 4th Division had already seized the exit. The 3rd Battalion of the 501st PIR, also assigned to DZ C, was more scattered, but took over the mission of securing the exits. A small unit reached the Pouppeville exit at 0600 and fought a six-hour battle to secure it, shortly before 4th Division troops arrived to link up. The 501st PIR's serial also encountered severe flak but still made an accurate jump on Drop Zone D. Part of
7065-688: The 4th comprising nine Royal Navy minesweepers; the 31st comprising nine minesweepers of the Royal Canadian Navy; the 104th comprising ten Royal Navy inshore minesweepers; and the 167th comprising ten Royal Navy coastal minesweepers. Bombarding Force C comprised two battleships, three cruisers (two Free French and one Royal Navy), and 13 destroyers (three of which were provided by the Royal Navy). While reviewing Allied troops in England training for D-Day, General Omar Bradley promised that
7222-448: The 501st PIR before the changes of May 27). Those of the 82nd were west (T and O, from west to east) and southwest (Drop Zone N) of Sainte-Mère-Eglise. Each parachute infantry regiment (PIR), a unit of approximately 1800 men organized into three battalions, was transported by three or four serials , formations containing 36, 45, or 54 C-47s, and separated from each other by specific time intervals. The planes, sequentially designated within
7379-595: The 726th manned strongpoints in the Vierville area while two companies of the 916th occupied the St. Laurent area strongpoints in the center of Omaha. These positions were supported by the artillery of the first and fourth battalions of the 352nd Artillery Regiment (twelve 105 mm and four 150 mm howitzers respectively). The two remaining companies of the 916th formed a reserve at Formigny , three kilometers (1.9 miles) inland. East of Colleville, 'Coast Defense Sector 3'
7536-401: The 82nd Airborne Division, also wanted a glider assault to deliver his organic artillery. The use of gliders was planned until April 18, when tests under realistic conditions resulted in excessive accidents and destruction of many gliders. On April 28 the plan was changed; the entire assault force would be inserted by parachute drop at night in one lift, with gliders providing reinforcement during
7693-510: The British LSI(L) carried 900 to 1,400 troops and 18 Landing Craft Assault (LCA). The infantry transports of Assault Group O4 – all Royal Navy ships – comprised three LSI(S) and three LSI(H), all converted fast North Sea ferries. Each of them carried 200 to 250 troops and eight LCA. The Support Group operated a mixture of gun, rocket, flak, tank, and smoke landing craft, totaling 67 vessels. The Minesweeper Group comprised four flotillas,
7850-404: The British were able to quickly secure the immediate area. By 09:30 the engineers had cleared seven of the eight exits from the beach, allowing the inland advance to begin. British and French commandos encountered tough resistance in the seaside town of Ouistreham , on Sword's eastern extremity, but were able to clear it of enemy strongpoints. By 13:00, the 1st Special Service Brigade had reached
8007-523: The British. Trained crews sufficient to pilot 951 gliders were available, and at least five of the troop carrier groups intensively trained for glider missions. Because of the requirement for absolute radio silence and a study that warned that the thousands of Allied aircraft flying on D-Day would break down the existing system, plans were formulated to mark aircraft including gliders with black-and-white stripes to facilitate aircraft recognition. Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory , commander of
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#17327724583838164-537: The DZ was covered by pre-registered German fire that inflicted heavy casualties before many troops could get out of their chutes. Among the killed were two of the three battalion commanders and one of their executive officers. A group of 150 troops captured the main objective, the la Barquette lock, by 04:00. A staff officer put together a platoon and achieved another objective by seizing two foot bridges near la Porte at 04:30. The 2nd Battalion landed almost intact on DZ D but in
8321-458: The Division would not have been able to move off the beach without effective naval gunfire. Despite these preparations, very little went according to plan. Ten landing craft were swamped by the rough seas before they reached the beach, and several others stayed afloat only because their passengers bailed water out with their helmets. Seasickness was prevalent among the troops waiting offshore. On
8478-476: The Douve River (which would also provide a better visual landmark at night for the inexperienced troop carrier pilots). Over the reluctance of the naval commanders, exit routes from the drop zones were changed to fly over Utah Beach, then northward in a 10 miles (16 km) wide "safety corridor", then northwest above Cherbourg . As late as May 31 routes for the glider missions were changed to avoid overflying
8635-568: The German army). Under the command of Field Marshals Erwin Rommel and Gerd von Rundstedt , the defences of the Atlantic Wall were heavily upgraded; in the first six months of 1944, 1.2 million tons of steel and 17.3 million cubic yards of concrete were laid. The coast of northern France was also studded with four million antitank and anti-personnel mines, and 500,000 beach obstacles. On and behind Sword, twenty strongpoints, including several artillery batteries, were constructed. The coastline
8792-412: The Germans on the beach would be blasted with naval gunfire before the landing. "You men should consider yourself lucky. You are going to have ringside seats for the greatest show on earth," he said, referring to the naval bombardment. However, Rear Admiral John L. Hall strongly disapproved of what he considered to be the small amount of air and naval bombardment used, saying "It's a crime to send men on
8949-526: The Merderet. The 101st Airborne Division's 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), which had originally been given the task of capturing Sainte-Mère-Église , was shifted to protect the Carentan flank, and the capture of Sainte-Mère-Église was assigned to the veteran 505th PIR of the 82nd Airborne Division. For the troop carriers, experiences in the Allied invasion of Sicily the previous year had dictated
9106-625: The Nazi German-occupied nations. The Western Allies agreed to open a Second Front in northern Europe in 1942 to aid the Soviet Union . However, with resources for an invasion lacking, it was postponed but planning was undertaken that in the event of the German position in western Europe becoming critically weakened or the Soviet Union's situation becoming dire, forces could be landed in France; Operation Sledgehammer . At
9263-570: The Rangers and the Special Engineer Task Force at Pointe du Hoc and Dog Green, comprised only six smaller infantry transports. The infantry transports of assault groups O1 and O2 comprised two US Navy Attack Transport (APA or AP) ships and a Royal Navy Landing Ship, Infantry (Large) (LSI(L)). All three infantry transports of Assault Group O3 were US Navy AP ships. Each US transport typically carried 1,400 troops and 26 Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel (LCVP, popularly known as "Higgins Boats"), while
9420-466: The River Orne around Caen to provide an immediate counter-attack force should a landing take place. In May 1944, two Panzergrenadier battalions and an antitank battalion from the 21st Panzer Division were placed under Richter's command; this deployment eliminated 21st Panzer as a mobile reserve. One of these battalions, along with the division's anti-tank guns and several mobile 155 mm guns,
9577-431: The U.S. VII Corps , which sought to capture Cherbourg and thus establish an allied supply port. The two airborne divisions were assigned to block approaches toward the amphibious landings at Utah Beach , to capture causeway exits off the beaches, and to establish crossings over the Douve river at Carentan to help the U.S. V Corps merge the two American beachheads . The assaulting force took three days to block
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#17327724583839734-491: The aerial and naval bombardment of German coastal defences and artillery sites. The landing was to be concentrated on Queen Red and Queen White in front of Hermanville-sur-Mer , other approaches having proven impassable due to shoals. At 07:25, the first units set off for the beach. These were the amphibious DD tanks of the 13th/18th Hussars; they were followed closely by the 8th Infantry Brigade, and by Royal Engineers in AVREs and
9891-527: The approaches to Utah, mostly because many troops landed off-target during their drops. Still, German forces were unable to exploit the chaos. Despite many units' tenacious defense of their strongpoints, all were overwhelmed within the week. [Except where footnoted, information in this article is from the USAF official history: Warren, Airborne Operations in World War II, European Theater ] Plans for
10048-402: The area the "bloodiest square mile in Normandy". Norman Scarfe]] wrote in 1947 that, had the operation gone more smoothly, further elements of the division and elements of the 3rd Canadian Division would have launched Operation Aberlour, an ambitious plan to capture several villages north of Caen but the attack was cancelled by Lieutenant-General John Crocker. Several days later I Corps launched
10205-412: The assault force arrived but were forced to use a hand held signal light which was not seen by some pilots. The planes assigned to DZ D along the Douve River failed to see their final turning point and flew well past the zone. Returning from an unfamiliar direction, they dropped 10 minutes late and 1 mile (1.6 km) off target. The drop zone was chosen after the 501st PIR's change of mission on May 27 and
10362-432: The bad weather, but navigating errors and a lack of Eureka signal caused the 2nd Battalion 502nd PIR to come down on the wrong drop zone. Most of the remainder of the 502nd jumped in a disorganized pattern around the impromptu drop zone set up by the pathfinders near the beach. Two battalion commanders took charge of small groups and accomplished all of their D-Day missions. The division's parachute artillery experienced one of
10519-488: The beach was left uncovered, and the disposition of weapons meant that flanking fire could be brought to bear anywhere along the beach. Allied intelligence had identified the coastal defenders as a reinforced battalion (800–1000 men) of the 716th Infantry Division . This was a static defensive division estimated to consist up to 50% of non-German troops, mostly Russians and Ukrainians, and German Volksdeutsche . The recently activated but capable 352nd Infantry Division
10676-402: The beach. The battle-hardened 1st Infantry Division was given the eastern half. Opposing the landings was the German 352nd Infantry Division . Of its 12,020 men, 6,800 were experienced combat troops, detailed to defend a 53-kilometer (33 mi) front. The German strategy was based on defeating any seaborne assault at the water line, and the defenses were mainly deployed in strongpoints along
10833-471: The beaches, six artillery batteries had been positioned, three of which were based within three strongpoints; these latter batteries had four 100 mm guns and up to ten 155mm guns. In addition, positioned east of the River Orne was the Merville Gun Battery , containing four Czechoslovakian 100 mm howitzers which were within range of Sword and the invasion fleet. Between Cherbourg and
10990-508: The biggest amphibious attack in history with such inadequate naval gunfire support." Just after 05:00 the Germans at Port-en-Bessin reported ships off the coast, and at 05:30 opened artillery fire on the destroyer USS Emmons . The destroyer was joined in returning fire by the Free French Georges Leygues , and later by the battleship USS Arkansas . At 05:50 the planned naval bombardment began. Pointe-du-Hoc
11147-415: The bluffs between the most well-defended points. By the end of the day, two small isolated footholds had been won, which were subsequently exploited against weaker defenses further inland, achieving the original D-Day objectives over the following days. The coastline of Normandy was divided into sixteen sectors, which were assigned code names using a spelling-alphabet - from Able, west of Omaha, to Roger on
11304-542: The boats ran in and more as they crossed the 200 yards (180 m) of beach. The terrain at the very eastern end of Omaha gave them enough protection to allow the 125 survivors to organize and begin an assault of the bluffs. They were the only company in the first wave able to operate as a unit. All the other companies were, at best, disorganized, mostly leaderless and pinned down behind the shingle with no hope of carrying out their assault missions. At worst, they had ceased to exist as fighting units. Nearly all had landed at least
11461-595: The bridges on the River Orne and the Caen Canal , linking up with paratroops of the 6th Airborne Division, who were holding the bridges, after earlier disabling German gun batteries in a fierce night-time battle at Merville . On the western flank of Sword, commandos of the 4th Special Service Brigade advanced to secure Lion-sur-Mer and meet Canadian forces at Juno Beach but encountered strong resistance and were pinned down by heavy fire for several hours. Around
11618-540: The channel, the troop carrier stream reached a stationary marker boat code-named "Hoboken" and carrying a Eureka beacon, where they made a sharp left turn to the southeast and flew between the Channel Islands of Guernsey and Alderney . Weather over the channel was clear; all serials flew their routes precisely and in tight formation as they approached their initial points on the Cotentin coast, where they turned for their respective drop zones. The initial point for
11775-570: The city must be either captured or "effectively masked" with troops based north-west of the city and Bénouville . Sword stretched about 5 miles (8.0 km) from Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer in the west to the mouth of the River Orne in the east. It was further sub-divided into four landing sectors; from west to east these sectors were 'Oboe' (from Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer to Luc-sur-Mer ), 'Peter' (from Luc-sur-Mer to Lion-sur-Mer ), 'Queen' (from Lion-sur-Mer to La Brèche d'Hermanville), and finally 'Roger' (from La Brèche d'Hermanville to Ouistreham ). Each sector
11932-453: The coast. The Allied plan called for initial assault waves of tanks , infantry , and combat engineer forces to reduce the coastal defenses, allowing larger ships to land in follow-up waves. But very little went as planned. Difficulties in navigation caused most of the landing craft to miss their targets throughout the day. The defenses were unexpectedly strong, and inflicted substantial casualties on landing U.S. troops. Under intense fire,
12089-450: The commander of the 82nd Airborne Division Artillery who had also been temporary assistant division commander (ADC) of the 82nd Airborne Division, replacing Major General William C. Lee , who suffered a heart attack and returned to the United States. Bradley insisted that 75 percent of the airborne assault be delivered by gliders for concentration of forces. Because it would be unsupported by naval and corps artillery, Ridgway, commanding
12246-526: The day. The Germans, who had neglected to fortify Normandy, began constructing defenses and obstacles against airborne assault in the Cotentin, including specifically the planned drop zones of the 82nd Airborne Division. At first no change in plans were made, but when significant German forces were moved into the Cotentin in mid-May, the drop zones of the 82nd Airborne Division were relocated, even though detailed plans had already been formulated and training had proceeded based on them. Just ten days before D-Day,
12403-400: The defenders. Some sections of G/116 and F/116 were able to reach the shingle bank relatively unscathed, though the latter became disorganized after the loss of their officers. G/116 was able to retain some cohesion, but this was soon lost as they made their way westwards under fire along the shingle in an attempt to reach their assigned objectives. The scattering of the boats was most evident on
12560-409: The drop. Each drop zone (DZ) had a serial of three C-47 aircraft assigned to locate the DZ and drop pathfinder teams, who would mark it. The serials in each wave were to arrive at six-minute intervals. The pathfinder serials were organized in two waves, with those of the 101st Airborne Division arriving a half-hour before the first scheduled assault drop. These would be the first American and possibly
12717-763: The east at Gold with the American landing to the west at Utah , thus providing a continuous lodgement on the Normandy coast of the Baie de Seine (Bay of the Seine river). Taking Omaha was to be the responsibility of United States Army troops, with sea transport, and a naval bombardment force provided predominantly by the United States Navy and Coast Guard , with contributions from the British , Canadian and Free French navies. The primary objective at Omaha
12874-513: The east flank of Sword . The area of beach that would become Omaha was originally designated X-Ray , from the phonetic alphabet of the day; the name was changed on 3 March 1944. The names of both Omaha and Utah were probably suggested by Omar Bradley , as two privates fitting out his London headquarters were from Omaha, Nebraska (Gayle Eyler) and Provo, Utah ; they were not named after the corps commanders, who were from Virginia (Gerow) and Louisiana (Collins). Eight further sectors were added when
13031-478: The end of the day, the forces at Omaha were to have established a bridgehead 8 kilometers (5.0 miles) deep, linked up with the British 50th Division landed at Gold to the east, and be in position to move on Isigny the next day, linking up with the American VII Corps at Utah to the west. Task Force O, commanded by Rear Admiral John L. Hall Jr. , was the naval component responsible for transporting
13188-485: The end of the month with simulated drops in which pathfinders guided them to drop zones. The 315th and 442d Groups, which had never dropped troops until May and were judged the command's "weak sisters", continued to train almost nightly, dropping paratroopers who had not completed their quota of jumps. Three proficiency tests at the end of the month, making simulated drops, were rated as fully qualified. The inspectors, however, made their judgments without factoring that most of
13345-482: The engineers set about their task of clearing gaps through the beach obstacles—work made more difficult by loss of equipment, and by infantry passing through or taking cover behind the obstacles they were trying to blow. They also suffered heavy casualties as enemy fire set off the explosives they were working with. Eight men of one team were dragging their pre-loaded rubber boat off the LCM when artillery hit; only one survived
13502-416: The engineers struggled to clear the beach obstacles; later landings bunched up around the few channels that were cleared. Weakened by the casualties taken just in landing, the surviving assault troops could not clear the exits off the beach. This caused further problems and consequent delays for later landings. Small penetrations were eventually achieved by groups of survivors making improvised assaults, scaling
13659-425: The first Allied troops to land in the invasion. The three pathfinder serials of the 82nd Airborne Division were to begin their drops as the final wave of 101st Airborne Division paratroopers landed, thirty minutes ahead of the first 82nd Airborne Division drops. Efforts of the early wave of pathfinder teams to mark the drop zones were partially ineffective. The first serial, assigned to DZ A, missed its zone and set up
13816-894: The first wave. Failure to clear paths through the beach obstacles also added to the difficulties of the second wave. In addition, the incoming tide was beginning to hide the remaining obstacles, causing high attrition among the landing craft before they had reached the shore. As in the initial landings, difficult navigation caused disruptive mislandings, scattering the infantry and separating vital headquarters elements from their units. American airborne landings in Normandy Airborne assault British Sector American Sector Normandy landings American Sector Anglo-Canadian Sector Logistics Ground campaign American Sector Anglo-Canadian Sector Breakout Air and Sea operations Supporting operations Aftermath American airborne landings in Normandy were
13973-461: The holiday homes and tourist facilities lining the shore. To reinforce the defences, six strongpoints had been constructed, each with at least eight 5 cm Pak 38 50 mm anti-tank guns, four 75 mm guns, and one 88 mm gun. One of the strongpoints (codenamed Cod by the British), faced directly on to Queen sector. Exits from the beaches had been blocked with various obstacles, and behind
14130-470: The immediate Omaha area. The failure to identify the reorganization of the defenses was a rare intelligence breakdown for the Allies. Post-action reports still documented the original estimate and assumed that the 352nd had been deployed to the coastal defenses by chance, a few days previously, as part of an anti-invasion exercise. The source of this inaccurate information came from German prisoners of war from
14287-456: The initial targets unaccomplished, the second and larger wave of assault landings brought in reinforcements, support weapons and headquarters elements at 07:00 to face nearly the same difficulties as had the first. The second wave was larger, and so the defenders' fire was less concentrated. The survivors of the first wave were unable to provide effective covering fire, and in places the fresh landing troops suffered casualty rates as high as those of
14444-473: The invasion was extended to include Utah on the Cotentin Peninsula . Sectors were divided into beaches identified by the colors Red, White and Green, corresponding to the colored lights used on naval craft to designate the port (left), amidships, and starboard (right) sides. Omaha was bounded at either end by large rocky cliffs. The crescent-shaped beach presented a gently sloping tidal area averaging 300 m (330 yd) between low and high-water marks. Above
14601-407: The lack of any defense in depth indicated that their plan was to stop the invasion at the beaches. Four lines of obstacles were constructed in the intertidal zone . The first, a non-contiguous line with a small gap in the middle of Dog White and a larger gap across the whole of Easy Red, was 250 m (270 yd) out from the highwater line and consisted of 200 Belgian Gates with mines lashed to
14758-406: The largest amphibious operation in military history. After delays, due to both logistical difficulties and poor weather, the D-Day of Overlord was moved to 6 June 1944. Eisenhower and Bernard Montgomery , commander of 21st Army Group , aimed to capture Caen within the first day, and liberate Paris within 90 days. The coastline of Normandy was divided into seventeen sectors, with codenames using
14915-406: The left of B/743 without initial loss. On the 16th RCT front, the two DD tanks from the 741st Tank Battalion that had survived the swim ashore were joined by three others that were landed directly onto the beach because of their LCT's damaged ramp. The remaining tank company managed to land 14 of its 16 tanks (although three of these were quickly knocked out). I was the first one out. The seventh man
15072-420: The lighter guns were housed in 35 pillboxes . Obsolete VK 30.01 (H) tank turrets (from a panzer development program ) armed with 75mm L/24 guns were re-used in permanent fortified bunkers . A further 18 anti-tank guns completed the disposition of artillery targeting the beach. Areas between the strongpoints were lightly manned with occasional trenches, rifle pits, and 85 machine-gun emplacements. No area of
15229-421: The main landing area, the men of the 3rd Infantry Division had secured Hermanville-sur-Mer by 10:00, but were finding tougher going as they slowly fought their way up Périers Ridge and moved inland. Congestion as more men, vehicles and equipment arrived on the beach further complicated matters. It was gradually becoming apparent that the British would not be able to meet the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, to protect
15386-410: The men who jumped from planes at lower altitudes were injured when they hit the ground because of their chutes not having enough time to slow their descent, while others who jumped from higher altitudes reported a terrifying descent of several minutes watching tracer fire streaking up towards them. Of the 20 serials making up the two missions, nine plunged into the cloud bank and were badly dispersed. Of
15543-626: The most accurate of the D-Day drops, half the regiment dropping on or within a mile of its DZ, and 75 percent within 2 miles (3.2 km). The other regiments were more significantly dispersed. The 508th experienced the worst drop of any of the PIRs, with only 25 percent jumping within a mile of the DZ. Half the regiment dropped east of the Merderet, where it was useless to its original mission. The 507th PIR's pathfinders landed on DZ T, but because of Germans nearby, marker lights could not be turned on. Approximately half landed nearby in grassy swampland along
15700-420: The most effective use of the Eureka beacons and holophane marking lights of any pathfinder team. The planes bound for DZ N south of Sainte-Mère-Église flew their mission accurately and visually identified the zone but still dropped the teams a mile southeast. They landed among troop areas of the German 91st Division and were unable to reach the DZ. The teams assigned to mark DZ T northwest of Sainte-Mère-Église were
15857-587: The naval gunfire support plan for Omaha, which limited support to one battleship, two cruisers and six destroyers, he and other planners were very upset, especially in light of the tremendous naval gunfire support given to landings in the Pacific. Historian Adrian R. Lewis postulates that American casualties would have been greatly reduced if a longer barrage had been implemented, although the First Infantry Division Chief of Staff said that
16014-412: The night formation training. As a result, 20 percent of the 924 crews committed to the parachute mission on D-Day had minimum night training and fully three-fourths of all crews had never been under fire. Over 2,100 CG-4 Waco gliders had been sent to the United Kingdom, and after attrition during training operations, 1,118 were available for operations, along with 301 Airspeed Horsa gliders received from
16171-523: The offensive but to do so, they were obliged to commit all their available strength. On 27 June, the 3rd Infantry Division and its supporting tanks launched Operation Mitten . The objective was to seize two German-occupied châteaux , la Londe and le Landel. The initial evening assault was repulsed but the following morning, attacks gained the objectives and destroyed several German tanks. Operation Mitten cost at least three British tanks and 268 men. In 2003 Copp wrote that fighting for these châteaux made
16328-529: The official creation of the Atlantic Wall —a line of concrete gun emplacements, machine-gun nests, minefields and beach obstacles stretching along the French coast. Fortifications were initially concentrated around ports, but were extended into other areas beginning in late 1943. While the German Army had seen its strength and morale heavily depleted by campaigns in Russia, North Africa and Italy, it remained
16485-443: The only ones dropped with accuracy, and while they deployed both Eureka and BUPS, they were unable to show lights because of the close proximity of German troops. Altogether, four of the six drops zones could not display marking lights. The pathfinder teams assigned to Drop Zones C (101st) and N (82nd) each carried two BUPS beacons. The units for DZ N were intended to guide in the parachute resupply drop scheduled for late on D-Day, but
16642-570: The other to block the western corridor at La Haye-du-Puits in a second lift. The exposed and perilous nature of the La Haye de Puits mission was assigned to the veteran 82nd Airborne Division ("The All-Americans"), commanded by Major General Matthew Ridgway , while the causeway mission was given to the untested 101st Airborne Division ("The Screaming Eagles"), which received a new commander in March, Brigadier General Maxwell D. Taylor , formerly
16799-422: The outskirts of the city. The 3rd Infantry was also ordered to relieve the elements of the 6th Airborne Division that had secured the bridges over the River Orne and Caen Canal during Operation Tonga , secure the high ground north of Caen, and "if possible Caen itself". The last point was further reinforced when I Corps' commander, General Crocker, instructed the division, prior to the invasion, that by nightfall
16956-525: The pair of DZ C were to provide a central orientation point for all the SCR-717 radars to get bearings. However the units were damaged in the drop and provided no assistance. The assault lift (one air transport operation) was divided into two missions, " Albany " and " Boston ", each with three regiment-sized landings on a drop zone. The drop zones of the 101st were northeast of Carentan and lettered A, C, and D from north to south (Drop Zone B had been that of
17113-563: The peninsula in daylight. IX Troop Carrier Command (TCC) was formed in October 1943 to carry out the airborne assault mission in the invasion. Brigadier General Paul L. Williams , who had commanded the troop carrier operations in Sicily and Italy, took command in February 1944. The TCC command and staff officers were an excellent mix of combat veterans from those earlier assaults, and
17270-545: The plans to invade Northern France. Now scheduled for 5 June 1944, the beaches of Normandy were selected as landing sites, with a zone of operations extending from the Cotentin Peninsula to Caen . Operation Overlord called for the British Second Army to assault between the River Orne and Port en Bessin , capture the German-occupied city of Caen and form a front line from Caumont-l'Éventé to
17427-559: The problem. All matériel requested by commanders in IX TCC, including armor plating, had been received with the exception of self-sealing fuel tanks , which Chief of the Army Air Forces General Henry H. Arnold had personally rejected because of limited supplies. Crew availability exceeded numbers of aircraft, but 40 percent were recent-arriving crews or individual replacements who had not been present for much of
17584-468: The resulting detonation of their supplies. Another team had just finished laying its explosives when the area was struck by mortar fire. The premature explosion of the charges killed or wounded 19 engineers, as well as some nearby infantry. Nevertheless, the engineers succeeded in clearing six gaps, one each at Dog White and Easy Green on the 116th RCT front, the other four at Easy Red on the 16th RCT front. They had suffered casualties of over 40 percent. With
17741-587: The right flank in an immediate assault on Caen. Troops of the King's Shropshire Light Infantry continued down the Hermanville-Caen road, reaching Biéville-Beuville , close to Caen, but were supported by only a few self-propelled guns, their flanks exposed. During the afternoon, the 21st Panzer Division, based around Caen, launched the only major German counterattack of D-Day. The 21st Panzer Division, with its formidable inventory of some 127 Panzer IV tanks,
17898-503: The river. Estimates of drowning casualties vary from "a few" to "scores" (against an overall D-Day loss in the division of 156 killed in action ), but much equipment was lost and the troops had difficulty assembling. Timely assembly enabled the 505th to accomplish two of its missions on schedule. With the help of a Frenchman who led them into the town, the 3rd Battalion captured Sainte-Mère-Église by 0430 against "negligible opposition" from German artillerymen. The 2nd Battalion established
18055-487: The rockets of nine Landing Craft Tank (Rocket) , the latter planned to hit as the assault craft were just 300 meters (330 yd) from the beach. At 06:00, 448 Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bombers of the United States Army Air Forces , having already completed one bombing mission over Omaha late the previous day, returned. However, with the skies overcast and under orders to avoid bombing
18212-501: The same time, planning was underway for a major landing in occupied France during 1943; Operation Roundup . In August 1942, Canadian and British forces attempted an abortive landing— Operation Jubilee —at the Calais port-town of Dieppe ; the landing was designed to test the feasibility of a cross-channel invasion. The attack was poorly planned and ended in disaster; 4,963 soldiers were killed, wounded or captured. The decision to prosecute
18369-470: The shingle did so at a walking pace because they were so heavily laden. Most sections had to brave the full weight of fire from small arms, mortars , artillery, and interlocking fields of machine gun fire. Where the naval bombardment set grass fires burning, as it had at Dog Red opposite the Les Moulins strongpoint, the smoke obscured the landing troops and prevented effective fire from being laid down by
18526-401: The shore, they came under increasingly intense fire from automatic weapons and artillery. The force only then discovered the ineffectiveness of the pre-landing bombardment. The bombers, facing overcast conditions, had been ordered to implement a pre-arranged plan to compensate for decreased accuracy. The center of targeting was displaced inland to assure the safety of the landing allied troops. As
18683-414: The six serials which achieved concentrated drops, none flew through the clouds. However, the primary factor limiting success of the paratroop units was the decision to make a massive parachute drop at night, because it magnified all the errors resulting from the above factors. A night parachute drop was not again used in three subsequent large-scale airborne operations. The negative impact of dropping at night
18840-630: The south-east of Caen, in order to acquire airfields and protect the left flank of the United States First Army while it captured Cherbourg . Possession of Caen and its surroundings would give Second Army a suitable staging area for a push south to capture the city of Falaise , which could then be used as a pivot for an advance on Argentan , the Touques River and then towards the Seine River . Overlord would constitute
18997-540: The successful missions had been flown in clear weather. By the end of May 1944, the IX Troop Carrier Command had available 1,207 Douglas C-47 Skytrain troop carrier airplanes and was one-third overstrength, creating a strong reserve. Three quarters of the planes were less than one year old on D-Day, and all were in excellent condition. Engine problems during training had resulted in a high number of aborted sorties, but all had been replaced to eliminate
19154-428: The swim ashore. Casualties were most severe among the troops landing at either end of Omaha. In the east at Fox Green and the adjacent stretch of Easy Red, scattered elements of three companies were reduced to half strength by the time they gained the relative safety of the shingle, many of them having crawled the 300 yards (270 m) of beach just ahead of the incoming tide. Within 15 minutes of landing at Dog Green on
19311-423: The tide line was a bank of shingle 2.5 m (8 ft) high and up to 15 m (49 ft) wide in places. At the western end, the shingle bank rested against a stone (further east becoming wood) sea wall which ranged from 1.5–4 m (5–13 ft) in height. For the remaining two thirds of the beach after the seawall ended, the shingle lay against a low sand embankment. Behind the sand embankment and sea wall
19468-525: The troop carrier crews, but although every C-47 in IX TCC had a Rebecca interrogator installed, to keep from jamming the system with hundreds of signals, only flight leads were authorized to use it in the vicinity of the drop zones. Despite many early failures in its employment, the Eureka-Rebecca system had been used with high accuracy in Italy in a night drop of the 82nd Airborne Division to reinforce
19625-636: The troops across the channel and landing them on the beaches. The task force comprised four assault groups, a support group, a bombarding force, a minesweeper group, eight patrol craft , and three anti-submarine trawlers, numbering in total 1,028 vessels. Assault groups O1 to O3, tasked with landing the main body of the assault, were organized along similar lines, with each comprising three infantry transports and varying numbers of tank landing ships (LST), Landing Craft Control (LCC), Landing Craft Infantry (LCI(L)), Landing Craft Tank (LCT), and Landing Craft Mechanized (LCM). Assault Group O4, tasked with landing
19782-402: The troops which were by then approaching the beach, the bombers overshot their targets and only three bombs fell near the beach area. Shortly after the bombardment began, the German 916th Grenadiers reported their positions to be under particularly intense fire, with the position at WN-60 very badly hit. Although the Rangers at Pointe-du-Hoc were greatly assisted in their assault of the cliffs by
19939-565: The two beaches of the 16th RCT area. G/116, aiming for Dog White, opened up a 1,000-yard (900 m) gap between themselves and A/116 to their right when they landed at Easy Green instead. I/16 drifted so far east it did not land for another hour and a half. As infantry disembarked from the landing craft, they often found themselves on sandbars 50 to 100 yards (50 to 90 m) out. To reach the beach they had to wade through water sometimes neck deep, and they still had 200 yards (180 m) or more to go when they did reach shore. Those that made it to
20096-435: The uprights. 30 meters (33 yd) behind these was a continuous line of logs driven into the sand pointing seaward, every third one capped with an anti-tank mine . Another 30 meters (33 yd) shoreward of this line was a continuous line of 450 ramps sloping towards the shore, also with mines attached and designed to force flat-bottomed landing craft to ride up and either flip or detonate the mine. The final line of obstacles
20253-429: The various odd-looking, specialized vehicles that had been nicknamed ' Hobart's funnies '. The engineers set to work clearing mines and obstacles under a steady hail of small arms fire and artillery fire from Périers Ridge just south of Hermanville. Resistance on the beach was initially fairly strong, with wrecked vehicles piling up and casualties mounting; however, with most of their armoured vehicles successfully landed,
20410-443: The west of Omaha. Meanwhile, C Company 2nd Rangers was to land on the right of the 116th RCT and take the positions at Pointe de la Percée. The remaining companies of 2nd Rangers and the 5th Ranger Battalion were to follow up at Pointe du Hoc if that action proved to be successful, otherwise they were to follow the 116th into Dog Green and proceed to Pointe du Hoc overland. The landings were scheduled to start at 06:30, " H-Hour ", on
20567-403: The west, located primarily around the entrances to the draws and protected by minefields and wire. Positions within each strongpoint were interconnected by trenches and tunnels. As well as the basic weaponry of rifles and machine guns , more than 60 light artillery pieces were deployed at these strongpoints. The heaviest pieces were located in eight gun casemates and four open positions while
20724-500: The western Calvados coast, leaving the 716th in position north of Caen covering an 8-mile (13 km) stretch of coastline. The division comprised four regular infantry battalions, two Ost battalions , and artillery units. Four infantry companies were spread along Sword, with two positioned facing Queen sector—another four were positioned inland behind the beach. Further inland, Generalleutnant' s Edgar Feuchtinger 's 16,297 strong 21st Panzer Division had been positioned on both sides of
20881-418: The western end of the beach, A/116 had been cut to pieces, the leaders among the 120 or so casualties, the survivors reduced to seeking cover at the water's edge or behind obstacles. The smaller Ranger company to their right had fared a little better, having made the shelter of the bluffs, but were also down to half strength. L/16 eventually landed, 30 minutes late, to the left of Fox Green, taking casualties as
21038-485: The worst drops of the operation, losing all but one howitzer and most of its troops as casualties. The three serials carrying the 506th PIR were badly dispersed by the clouds, then subjected to intense antiaircraft fire. Even so, 2/3 of the 1st Battalion was dropped accurately on DZ C. The 2nd Battalion, much of which had dropped too far west, fought its way to the Haudienville causeway by mid-afternoon but found that
21195-426: Was a continuous line of hedgehogs 150 meters (160 yd) from the shoreline. The area between the shingle bank and the bluffs was both wired and mined, and mines were also scattered on the bluff slopes. Coastal troop deployments, comprising five companies of infantry , were concentrated mostly at 15 strongpoints called Widerstandsnester ("resistance nests"), numbered WN-60 in the east to WN-74 near Vierville in
21352-404: Was a level shelf of sand, narrow at either end and extending up to 200 m (220 yd) inland in the center, and behind that rose steep escarpments or bluffs 30–50 m (33–55 yd) high, which dominated the whole beach and were cut into by small wooded valleys or draws at five points along the beach, codenamed west to east D-1, D-3, E-1, E-3 and F-1. The German defensive preparations and
21509-408: Was also a lift of 10 serials organized in three waves, totaling 6,420 paratroopers carried by 369 C-47s. The C-47s carrying the 505th did not experience the difficulties that had plagued the 101st's drops. Pathfinders on DZ O turned on their Eureka beacons as the first 82nd serial crossed the initial point and lighted holophane markers on all three battalion assembly areas. As a result, the 505th enjoyed
21666-446: Was also divided into multiple beaches. The sector chosen for the assault was the 1.8 miles (2.9 km) wide 'White' and 'Red' beaches of 'Queen' sector, as shallow reefs blocked access to the other sectors. Two infantry battalions supported by DD tanks would lead the assault followed up by the commandos and the rest of the division; the landing was due to start at 07:25 hours. On 23 March 1942, Führer Directive Number 40 called for
21823-426: Was assigned to take Sword. To Major General Tom Rennie's 3rd Infantry Division fell the task of assaulting the beaches and seizing the main British objective on D-Day, the historic Norman city of Caen . Attached to the 3rd Infantry Division for the assault were the 27th Independent Armoured Brigade , the 1st Special Service Brigade (which also contained Free French Commandos), No. 41 (Royal Marine) Commando of
21980-406: Was believed to be 30 kilometers (19 mi) inland at Saint-Lô and was regarded as the most likely force to be committed to a counter-attack. As part of Rommel's strategy to concentrate defenses at the water's edge, the 352nd had been ordered forward in March, taking over responsibility for the defense of the portion of the Normandy coast in which Omaha was located. As part of this reorganization,
22137-431: Was divided into ten sectors, codenamed (from west to east): Charlie, Dog Green, Dog White, Dog Red, Easy Green, Easy White, Easy Red, Fox Green, Fox White, and Fox Red. The initial assault was to be made by two Regimental Combat Teams (RCT), supported by two tank battalions, with two battalions of Rangers also attached. The infantry regiments were organized into three battalions each of around 1,000 men. Each battalion
22294-429: Was further illustrated when the same troop carrier groups flew a second lift later that day with precision and success under heavy fire. Paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division "Screaming Eagles" jumped first on June 6, between 00:48 and 01:40 British Double Summer Time . 6,928 troops were carried aboard 432 C-47s of mission "Albany" organized into 10 serials. The first flights, inbound to DZ A, were not surprised by
22451-445: Was in an area identified by the Germans as a likely landing area. Consequently so many Germans were nearby that the pathfinders could not set out their lights and were forced to rely solely on Eureka, which was a poor guide at short range. The pathfinders of the 82nd Airborne Division had similar results. The first serial, bound for DZ O near Sainte-Mère-Église , flew too far north but corrected its error and dropped near its DZ. It made
22608-557: Was intended for use as a rapid response force. However, on the morning of June 6, its commander Generalmajor Edgar Feuchtinger was in Paris, and Rommel was in Germany. The division was unable to finalize orders and preparations for a counterattack until late in the day. At about 17:00, two thrusts were launched, east and west of the River Orne. The eastern attack, carried out by II Battalion and supporting units, under Major Hans von Luck ,
22765-441: Was intended to destroy the 6th Airborne Division's Orne bridgehead but was soon stopped in its tracks by intense Allied air attacks and naval gunfire. To the west, a larger armoured group initially fared somewhat better. Taking advantage of the gap between the Sword and Juno sectors, elements of the 192nd Panzergrenadier Regiment were able to reach the coast at Lion-sur-Mer by 20:00. With few flak units and very little support from
22922-491: Was launched to encircle Caen from the east and west flanks. The 21st Panzer Division halted the 51st Division advance and the XXX Corps attack resulted in the Battle of Villers-Bocage and the withdrawal of the leading elements of the 7th Armoured Division soon after. The next offensive, codenamed Operation Epsom , was launched by VIII Corps on 26 June, to envelope Caen from the west. German forces managed to contain
23079-409: Was littered with wooden stakes, mines, hedgehogs , and Dragon's teeth , while along the top of the beach, the Germans had constructed a network of trenches, gun pits, mortar pits, and machine gun nests. Barbed wire surrounded these positions and lined the beach. The beachfront itself, being generally flat and exposed, was guarded by a few scattered bunkers, with machine gun and sniper posts in some of
23236-419: Was organized as three rifle companies each of up to 240 men, and a support company of up to 190 men. Infantry companies A through D belonged to the 1st battalion of a regiment, E through H to the 2nd, I through M to the 3rd; the letter ‘J’ was not used. (Individual companies will be referred to in this article by company and regiment, e.g. Company A of the 116th RCT will be 'A/116'). In addition, each battalion had
23393-659: Was positioned on Périers Ridge, which rose to about 50 metres (160 ft) above sea level, 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Sword. [REDACTED] 3rd Division – Major-General T. G. Rennie 8th Brigade (assault brigade) 9th Brigade 185th Brigade Divisional Troops Attached units and formations 27th Armoured Brigade 5th Assault Regiment, RE [REDACTED] 1st Special Service Brigade (landed on eastern extremity of Sword) – Brigadier Lord Lovat [REDACTED] 4th Special Service Brigade (landed between Juno and Sword) 101 Beach Sub-area The assault on Sword began at about 03:00 with
23550-530: Was postponed to May 11-May 12 and became a dress rehearsal for both divisions. The 52nd TCW, carrying only two token paratroopers on each C-47, performed satisfactorily although the two lead planes of the 316th Troop Carrier Group (TCG) collided in mid-air, killing 14 including the group commander, Col. Burton R. Fleet. The 53rd TCW was judged "uniformly successful" in its drops. The lesser-trained 50th TCW, however, got lost in haze when its pathfinders failed to turn on their navigation beacons. It continued training till
23707-574: Was responsible for the air defence of Normandy and ordered all available forces to attack the beachhead. Junkers Ju 88s from Kampfgeschwader 54 (KG 54: Bomber Wing 54) attacked British positions with Butterfly Bombs . III./KG 54 struck Lion-sur-Mer while I./KG 54 bombed shipping at the mouth of the Orne . 145 Wing intercepted and shot down five German aircraft. By the end of D-Day, 28,845 men of I Corps had come ashore across Sword. The British Official Historian, L. F. Ellis , wrote that "in spite of
23864-487: Was targeted by the battleship USS Texas , and the destroyers USS Satterlee and HMS Talybont , the latter having first destroyed the radar station at Pointe et Raz de la Percée. The focus of the main naval bombardment was then switched to the beach defenses, and at 06:00, 36 M7 Priest howitzers and 34 tanks that were approaching the beach on LCTs began to supplement the naval guns. They were joined by fire from ten landing craft-mounted 4.7-inch guns and
24021-425: Was the code name given to one of the five main landing areas along the Normandy coast during the initial assault phase, Operation Neptune , of Operation Overlord . The Allied invasion of German-occupied France commenced on 6 June 1944. Stretching 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from Ouistreham to Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer , the beach proved to be the easternmost landing site of the invasion after the abortion of an attack on
24178-486: Was the next one to get across the beach without being hit. All the ones in-between were hit. Two were killed; three were injured. That's how lucky you had to be. Captain Richard Merrill, 2nd Ranger Battalion. Of the nine companies landing in the first wave, only Company A of the 116th RCT at Dog Green and the Rangers to their right landed where intended. E/116, aiming for Easy Green, ended up scattered across
24335-410: Was the responsibility of the remainder of the 726th Grenadier Regiment. Two companies were deployed at the coast, one in the most easterly series of strongpoints, with artillery support provided by the third battalion of the 352nd Artillery Regiment. The area reserve, comprising the two battalions of the 915th Grenadier Regiment and known as ' Kampfgruppe Meyer', was located south-east of Bayeux outside
24492-425: Was to land with the mission of clearing and marking lanes through the beach obstacles. This would allow the larger ships of the follow-up landings to get through safely at high tide. The landing of artillery support was scheduled to start at H+90 minutes while the main buildup of vehicles was to start at H+180 minutes. At H+195 minutes two further Regimental Combat Teams, the 115th RCT of the 29th Infantry Division and
24649-459: Was to secure a beachhead 8 kilometers (5 miles) deep, between Port-en-Bessin and the Vire river, linking with the British landings at Gold to the east, and reaching the area of Isigny to the west to link up with VII Corps landing at Utah. The untested American 29th Infantry Division , along with nine companies of U.S. Army Rangers redirected from Pointe du Hoc , assaulted the western half of
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