Omaha Beach - Special Forces in World War 2

June 6^th, 1944

Omaha Beach

Objectives

Establish a beachhead between Port-en-Bessin and the Vire River, then push south towards Caumont and Saint-Lô alongside the Second British Army.

Area between Port-en-Bessin and the Vire River, Normandy, France

Unit Force

1^st Infantry Division

16^th Infantry Regiment
- 1^st Battalion, 16^th Infantry Regiment
- 2^nd Battalion, 16^th Infantry Regiment
- 3^rd Battalion, 16^th Infantry Regiment
18^th Infantry Regiment
- 1^st Battalion, 18^th Infantry Regiment
- 2^nd Battalion, 18^th Infantry Regiment
- 3^rd Battalion, 18^th Infantry Regiment
26^th Infantry Regiment
- 1^st Battalion, 26^th Infantry Regiment
- 2^nd Battalion, 26^th Infantry Regiment
- 3^rd Battalion, 26^th Infantry Regiment

Divisional Troops

1^st Divisional Artillery
- Headquarters
- 7^th Field Artillery Battalion
- 33^rd Field Artillery Battalion
- 81^st Mortar Battalion
- A Company
- D Company
1^st Combat Engineer Battalion
299^th Combat Engineer Battalion
56^th Signal Battalion
- A Company
1^st Signal Company
701^st Light Ordnance Company
1^st Logistic Company
1^st Military Police Platoon
1^st Medical Battalion

Attached Units Assault Phase Command

741^st Tank Battalion
745^th Tank Battalion
115^th Regimental Combat Team
116^th Regimental Combat Team
635^th Anti-tank Battalion
111^th Field Artillery Battalion
197^th Anti-Aircraft Artillery, Automatic Weapons Battalion
Medical detachment
1^st Detachment, 29^th Reconnaissance unit
1^st Detachment, 121^st Combat Engineer Battalion
37^th Engineer Combat Battalion

Attached Support Units Assault Phase Command

29^th Infantry Division

115^th Infantry Regiment
- 1^st Battalion, 115^th Infantry Regiment
- 2^nd Battalion, 115^th Infantry Regiment
- 3^rd Battalion, 115^th Infantry Regiment
116^th Infantry Regiment
- 1^st Battalion, 116^th Infantry Regiment
- 2^nd Battalion, 116^th Infantry Regiment
- 3^rd Battalion, 116^th Infantry Regiment
175^th Infantry Regiment
- 1^st Battalion, 175^th Infantry Regiment
- 2^nd Battalion, 175^th Infantry Regiment
- 3^rd Battalion, 175^th Infantry Regiment

Divisional Troops

29^th Division Artillery
- 110^th Field Artillery Battalion
- 111^th Field Artillery Battalion
- 224^th Field Artillery Battalion
- 227^th Field Artillery Battalion
29^th Signal Light Company
729^th Ordnance Light Maintenance
- E Company
29^th Quartermaster Company
29^th Military police Platoon
104^th Medical Battalion
- A Company
- B Company
- C Company

Attached Units Assault Phase Command

43^rd Tank Battalion
747^th Tank Battalion
635^th Tank Destroyer Battalion
49^th Anti Aircraft Artillery Brigade
- 1 Detachment Quartermasters Group & Quatermasters G battery
- Headquarters & headquarters battery
- 18th Anti Aircraft Artillery Group
110^th Anti Aircraft Artillery Gun Battalion
457^th Anti Aircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion
413^th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Gun Battalion
- 1 Detachment
320^th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Balloon Battalion (Very Low Altitude)
- 1 Detachment
102^nd Cavalry Reconnnaissance Squadron
5^th Engineer Special Brigade
6^th Engineer Special Brigade
- 992^nd Engineer Treadway Brigade Company
- 996^th Engineer Treadway Brigade Company
- 502^nd Engineer Light Po N company
- 503^rd Engineer Light Po N company 1st Engineer Combat Battalion, Cie C
- 234^th Engineer Combat Battalion
- 254^th Engineer Combat Battalion QG & Cie QG, 1121st Engineer C Grp
- 147^th Engineer Combat Battalion
- 336^th Engineer Combat Battalion QG & Cie QG, 1171st Engineer C Grp
- 112^th Engineer Combat Battalion
- 146^th Engineer Combat Battalion
- 149^th Engineer Combat Battalion
- 1340^th Engineer Combat Battalion
  - 610^th Engineer Light Equipment Company
V Corps Artillery
- Headquarters & Headquarters Battery
- 17th Field Artillery Observation Battalion
  - 1 Detachment
- 33^rd Field Artillery Battalion
  - Headquarters & Headquarters Battery
  - 190th Field Artillery Group
- 186^th Field Artillery Battalion
- 187^th Field Artillery Battalion
- 190^th Field Artillery Battalion
- 200^th Field Artillery Battalion
- 58^th Field Artillery Battalion
26^th Regimental Company Combat Team
2^nd Ranger Battalion
5^th Ranger Battalion

Attached Support Units Assault Phase Command

Unit Force

352. Infantrie-Division
716. Infantrie-Division
439. Ost-Battalion

Operation

The stretch of coast codenamed Omaha is a sandy beach located between Vierville-sur-Mer to the west and Colleville-sur-Mer to the east. This 6-kilometre-long beach is flanked at each end by cliffs up to 60 metres high, plunging directly into the sea. The beach itself is dominated by a 40-metre-high, steep-sloped grassy ridge.

Bracketed between high cliffs, the beach has only five draws of varying suitability for access. Five kilometres to the west lies Pointe du Hoc, a 30-metre-high rocky cliff.

The defense of this coastal sector is entrusted to the 352. Infantrie Division and the 716. Infantrie Division. The main line of resistance consists of a series of Widerstandsnesten bordering the beach and blocking access to the draws; no concrete fortifications have been built inland. Supporting the beach defenders are several artillery battalions of the 352. Infantrie Division, positioned a few kilometres behind, between La Cambe and Formigny. These battalions are equipped with twenty-four 105 millimetre and 150 millimetre howitzers, capable of firing on all six kilometres of the coast.

The passive defenses include several antitank ditches and walls along the beach, as well as numerous beach obstacles such as stakes, tetrahedrons, “C” elements, and Belgian Gates.

The goal of the landings in this sector is to establish a beachhead between Port-en-Bessin and the Vire River, then push south towards Caumont and Saint-Lô alongside the Second British Army. Once the beaches are cleared, the troops will advance inland to reach a line extending from Isigny to Tour-en-Bessin. They will also link up with the Rangers at Pointe du Hoc to the west and the British 47th Royal Marine Commando at Port-en-Bessin to the east.

The Attack

The bad weather, strong tidal currents, and low visibility completely disorganise the landing schedules of the first wave assault companies.

The preliminary bombardment by the Air Force misses the Widerstandsnesten due to zero visibility, with bombers dropping their loads too far inland. As a result, the defences remain intact, posing a formidable challenge for the eight companies of the first wave.

The tanks scheduled to support the first assault troops are also missing. The Duplex Drive (DD) tanks of the 741^st Tank Battalion, launched offshore, nearly all sink due to the strong seas; only two tanks out of 29 from B and C Companies make it to the beach.

At 06:30, the first Landing Craft Assault and Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel approach the beach, and the Germans open fire furiously, with all hell breaking loose as the ramps are lowered. The GIs find a completely flat beach with no cover, raked by German machine guns, anti-tank guns, and mortars. Most landing craft drift to the east due to the strong tidal currents, causing men to land off their assigned sectors and intermingling with other squads and companies.

Company A/116 loses almost all its officers in the first 15 minutes, with men pinned down at the water’s edge, hiding behind beach obstacles, and paralysed with fear. Except for a few sectors, this situation is common across the beach: men are pinned down behind the shingle, behind destroyed vehicles, beach obstacles, or lying at the water’s edge, advancing only with the rising tide.

The second wave of reinforcements begins to land at 07:00, meeting the same fate, with mounting losses in men and materiel.

Nonetheless, beginning around 08:00, some officers start to organise small groups of men and lead them in assaults on the first strong points. Despite high casualties, equipment losses, and disorganisation, many of the assault troops do not remain pinned down. Encouraged and inspired by a handful of valorous officers and non-commissioned officers who take the lead, these early penetrations influence the rest of the day’s actions on Omaha Beach.

The most critical condition to improve the situation on the beach is to push vehicles inland. This becomes possible after the destroyers and the 18^th Infantry Regiment reduce the German resistance at the E-1 draw. By early afternoon, vehicles are able to advance through the Ruquet Valley. For the other draws, efforts to open them to traffic only succeed late in the afternoon.

The assault on Omaha succeeded, but it was far more challenging than anticipated. By nightfall, the process of clearing and organizing the beach had only just begun. The morning penetrations by relatively small groups lacked the strength to push deep inland, and fierce German resistance confined the advance to a narrow beachhead, no larger than one and a half miles in the Colleville area. Behind the US lines, German pockets of resistance continued to fight.

None of the D-Day objectives assigned to the 1^st Infantry Division are achieved. There is no penetration towards Route 13, nor a junction with the British at Port-en-Bessin or the Rangers at Pointe du Hoc.

By the end of the day, a first assessment could be made: disaster has been narrowly avoided. Only one hundred tons of materiel had been landed out of the planned 2,400 tons. The human losses are staggering; of the 34,000 men landed, around 4,720 are killed, wounded, or missing on the beach.

Multimedia

Fox Area Landing

Under Wn 60 at the foot of the cliff of Colleville-sur-Mer; Omaha Beach, Fox Red sector to the right of Fox Green and F-1 sector of L/16th IR of the 1st US ID, these soldiers are sheltered from German fire.
The two GIs on the far right belong to the 29th US ID (Blue and Grey), their shoulder patches are not even censored; likely men from the 4 sections of E/116th IR who ended up in this sector (instead of Easy Green).
The standing man armed with a USM1A1 carbine.

Landing