H-Hour, Omaha Beach, June 6, 1944
Shortly after midnight on June 6, 1944, the mightiest invasion force ever assembled left the southern England coastline and headed for the coast of France. Consisting of 7,000 cargo ships, manned by 200,000 seamen, carrying 150,000 combat troops and 4,000 assault craft, they headed for five landing sites selected along a 50 mile stretch of the Normandy coast. British and Canadian troops landed at "Sword", "Juno" and "Gold" beaches. American troops landed at "Utah" and "Omaha" beaches. Omaha was the costliest battle of the invasion front.
From the water's edge at low tide, a strip of sand five miles wide and 300 yards deep rose into dunes against a 100-foot high bluff. Four narrow draws led to the top. The precisely planned attack called for an initial wave of seasoned combat troops to be landed by assault craft on the beach at 6:30 AM, followed closely by demolition engineers to clear the steel obstacles, barbed wire and mines implanted in the sand, then successive waves of amphibious tanks, artillery, bulldozers and more infantry. They were to work their way up the four draws, reaching the top of the bluff at 7:30AM. By nightfall, they were to establish a beachhead 18 miles wide and six miles deep.
Reconnaissance photographs had failed to reveal the numerous camouflaged gun emplacements the Germans had concealed high the bluff. There were 75 and 88 millimeter guns in concrete casements, 85 machine gun positions, scores of antitank guns, about 40 mortars, and zigzag trenches for troops with automatic weapons. The Germans waited until the assault craft were 500 yards away, then opened fire.
The Omaha invasion plan fell apart immediately. German guns hit many of the assault craft, blowing them and their men into oblivion. Tanks and artillery sank to the ocean floor. The few assault craft in the first wave that survived the gunfire got snagged on obstacles and sand bars. The soldiers were dumped in chest-high water and had to wade 200 yards to the beach. Many drowned from the heavy packs they carried. German gunners killed or wounded most of them before they reached the sand. Successive waves of infantry had to make their way past the bodies of their fallen comrades.
By raw courage and commitment to duty, knowing what had to be done, a few survivors managed to reach the draws and inched their way upward, many being shot on the way up and falling back to the sand below. Finally reaching the high ground, they took on the Germans with hand grenades and rifles. By nightfall they had established a beachhead four miles wide and a mile deep.
Of the five D-Day beaches, Omaha is the most remembered and revered as a setting for valor. More than two-dozen cemeteries along the Normandy coast honor the thousands of men who died taking and defending the beaches. On the plateau overlooking Omaha beach, there are 9,386 graves of soldiers whose lives were sacrificed for their country. Decades later, a white-haired, aging veteran was kneeling beside one of the gravesites, tears streaming down his cheeks. An observer asked, "A friend of yours?". He answered, "They were all friends of mine".