OMAHA BEACH

THE BEACH

Omaha Beach is a six  mile  stretch between Colleville and Vierville that lay on the Normandy Coast, beside Utah Beach. This is where Ameriacan Units where assigned to land at low tide at 6:30am. on the morning of June 6th. The units that where to land on this beach where designated Force 'O' and included the:

1st Infantry Division:

SISTER SITE I have created a Sister Site that is an in-depth look at Omaha Beach. To view it click anywhere in this section. Please not that I have not finished the site - In fact all I have done is the index page so it's kind of crappy at the moment. Soon it will have heeps of info - Way more than this page has! But if all you want is a brief outline then all you need is on this page.

16th Regimental Combat Team:

16th Infantry Regiment 7th Feild Artillary Battalion 62nd Armoured Field Artillary Battalion 741st Tank Battalion

16th Regimental Combat Team:

18th Infantry Regiment 32nd Feild Artillary Battalion 5th Field Artillary Battalion

26th Regimental Combat Team:

26th Infantry Regiment 33nd Feild Artillary Battalion

29th Infantry Division:

2nd Ranger Battalion:

A Company ( Task Force C )

B Company ( Task Force C )

C Company ( Task Force B )

D Company ( Task Force A )

E Company ( Task Force A )

F Company ( Task Force A )

Headquarters Company ( Task Force A )

5th Ranger Battalion

German Defenders:

32th Infantry Division:

176th Limitted Employment Coastal Defense Division

21st Panzer Division

Omaha Beach stretched from Port-en-Bessin in the east, and the mouth of the Vire River in the west. The western third of Omaha Beach was backed by a three metre high sea-wall and the entire beach was overlooked by 100 feet high cliffs. On the sand and shingle beach, there where five exits, One was a paved road in a ravin leading to the village of Veirville-sur-Mer.

Two where dirt paths and the others where dirt roads that lead to yet more villages. Rommel had ordered the waters around Omaha (although the Germans did not name the beach Omaha) to be heavily mined and the defences in this area to be heavily defended. It orcered to Rommel that Omaha would be a landing beach - if the Allies where to land in Normandy. The German defenders (Listed above) fixxed their weapons so they would cover the beach with grazing, enfilade fir, aswell as being fixxed so fire would rain down of the beach from the cliffs above. Extensive trench systems where built to help with comunication between the heavily armoured, concrete bunkers that held about five to seven men and two fixxed MG-42's. The beach had a crescent curve and an unuasual assortment of Bluffs, Cliffs and Draws. It was the most defensible beach in Normandy, and on where the Americans would land.

THE INVASION

Omaha Beach linked the U.S. and British beaches, it was a critical link. If Omaha was not taken then it would leave some ...km between the British advancing and the Americans advancing from Utah. This would have been catastrophic, and the invasion would fail. Omaha had to be taken.

If the German Army was to stop the invasion anywhere it would be at Omaha Beach. As soon as it begun, the attack on Omaha went completely and utterly wrong. The LCVP's landed far east of where they where ment to land, this was partly because of the tidal currents, as what happened at Utah. Within about fifteen minutes of Able Company's landings the Company had over 60% casualties. The battle on the beach was a slaughter for the American soldiers. Knowone could imagine what those men went through, seeing and hearing mortars blowing men to peices. Seeing men being ripped apart by machine-gun fire. Looking around only to see all of your squad lying dead on the sand, along with many others. Seeing the blood by washed away by the waves, and haering so many men cry out in either pain or sheer terror

Click to view Robert Capas photos of the invasion at Omaha. - Link to External Site