D-Day The US Beaches

US Beaches

I hadn’t visited any US D-Day beaches during my previous visit to Normandy, so I decided to take a one-day tour of the beaches. Most of my research had focused on Juno and Gold Beaches, so except for the movies Saving Private Ryan and The Longest Day I didn’t know much about the US actions.

A large portion of the visitors to Normandy are US citizens, and they focus almost exclusively on the US Beaches. The Americans are very good at telling their stories and focusing on individual.

We will be working from West to East covering the Yanks on D-Day.

Sainte-Mer-Eglise

The 82nd and 101st Airborne dropped over 13,100 paratroopers starting at 0130 on 06 June. In addition, almost 4,000 glider borne troops landed on the western portion of the D-Day invasion beaches.

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 merge the two American beachheads at Utah and Omaha. The 82nd were scheduled to land at drop zones T, O and N, and the 101st at drop zones A, C and D. The glider Landing zone is shown as LZ.

This was the plan, but the reality was much different. Due to bad weather, low clouds and problems with the Pathfinders the paratroops were dispersed over a wide region. The paratroops were dropped out of almost 1,000 C-47s (DC-3s). The pathfinders had beacons to guide the main body of planes in, but only the lead planes were supposed to use the beacons. Due to the cloud cover many planes got separated and tried to use the beacons as well, effectively jamming their fellow aircraft. Due to shortages of navigators, many planes flew without them adding to the confusion. The actual drop distribution looked like this.

The Germans had flooded several areas in the drop zone, and several paratroopers drowned after landing in the water with their heavy packs.

Two aircraft dropped their troops directly over the town of Ste-Mere-Eglise. A large house was on fire so most of the town was out trying to extinguish the blaze with the Germans watching on when the paratroopers landed. Most of the paratroops were gunned downed before they landed and one of them, Private John Steele, got held up on the church steeple.

Cornelius Ryan, the author of the book and the subsequent movie, The Longest Day, sent out questionnaires to hundreds of servicemen while writing the book in the late 1950s. John Steele indicated he was hanging from the church steeple in a 14-word statement:

Suspended ON the bell-tower, under the cornice of the church of Sainte-Mère-EGLISE.”

This was expanded on in the book, and the subsequent movie made it into one of the key scenes of the film. This story has become part of the legend, but there are questions about the veracity of the story.

There is no definitive evidence that this actually happened and eyewitness accounts at the time don’t sync up. If it did happen, it was most likely on the opposite side of the church from a lower height. Once the book and movie came out, a number of recollections changed to fit the movie narrative and John Steele’s story changed over time as well. This was his 15 minutes of fame, and he travelled to Normandy every year to perpetuate the story. He was wounded and captured and was awarded a Bronze Star and Purple heart for his actions. He went on to jump in Operation Market Garden.

The mannequin hanging from the church steeple over the town square is now one of the key landmarks of the D-Day invasion. Sainte-Mer-Eglise was the first town liberated by the Americans in Normandy and is home to the excellent Airborne Museum.

The church dates from the 11th century and contains two large stained-glass windows commemorating the Airborne paratroops. One of the windows was installed in 1969 to mark the 25th anniversary of D-Day.

Two years after the liberation, at age sixteen, Paul Renaud designed the window, entitled "Paratroopers," based upon what he witnessed the night the 82nd Airborne fell from the sky. The mayor of Sainte Mère-Eglise, Renaud's father, worked fervently with the parish to replace the windows destroyed by nearby bombing during the war. The glass details show the Virgin Mary, surrounded by planes and parachutes, holding baby Jesus while looking over the paratroopers as they descend upon a fiery town. Evident is the perception of Christ, the Savior, watching over the saviors of Sainte Mère-Église as they land in the flames of hell and war. A French inscription positioned at the bottom of the window translates, "This stained glass was completed with the participation of Paul Renaud and Sainte Mère, for the memory of those who, with their courage and sacrifice, liberated Sainte Mère-Église and France.”

At the dedication of the first window, the idea of another window in Sainte Mere Eglise specifically honouring the 82nd Airborne was born. The one below says at the bottom in French “Ils sont revenus” — also in English, “they have returned.” This piece celebrates the return of American veteran paratroopers on June 6, 1969, for the 25th anniversary of D-Day, and was funded by the 82nd Airborne Association.

You can see numerous parachutes in the background, as well as the AA symbol of the 82nd Airborne Division. It specifically honors the 82nd’s 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment.

The airborne troops suffered heavy losses in the early days of the Normandy campaign. D-Day casualties for the airborne divisions were calculated in August 1944 as 1,240 for the 101st Airborne Division and 1,259 for the 82nd Airborne. Of those, the 101st suffered 182 killed, 557 wounded, and 501 missing. For the 82nd, the total was 156 killed, 347 wounded, and 756 missing.

Casualties through June 30 were reported by VII Corps as 4,670 for the 101st (546 killed, 2217 wounded, and 1,907 missing), and 4,480 for the 82nd (457 killed, 1440 wounded, and 2583 missing).

Utah Beach

Battle

The objective at Utah was to secure a beachhead on the Cotentin Peninsula, the location of important port facilities at Cherbourg. The amphibious assault, was primarily by the US 4th Infantry Division and 70th Tank Battalion. Utah Beach is about 10 km from the drop zones and the plan was to take the beach, push inland and join up with the airborne troops.

The Germans had flooded much of the low-lying area near the beach to impede US progress. The amphibious force was supposed to land at Tare Green and Uncle Red landing zones. Due to high waves and a strong current, they ended up landing a km west of their targets.

This turned out to be a good thing as they landed in lesser defended areas. The flooded zones are shown. The water was not deep, and several units ended up wading through the ponds to reach their objectives.

The Utah Beach landings had the fewest casualties of all of the beaches. Over 20,000 troops landed by ship and only 197 deaths and 60 missing were suffered. The beach was cleared within an hour and the troops pushed inland up to 6 miles on D-Day.

28 of the 32 Duplex Drive Tanks swam ashore and were key in the taking of the strong points. As we will see at Omaha beach this was not the case and led to much higher casualties.

Memorials

The memorial at Utah Beach is at the actual landing site of the 4th Infantry division. There is a museum, various memorials and German Bunkers on the site.

At the entrance to the memorial park is a marker denoting km 0 of the liberation route taken by the Americans.

The monument to the 4th Division who landed here is in front of the museum.

There are a number of German bunkers on the site. Some are stand alone, and others are integrated into other structures.

Le Bar Roosevelt, named after BGen Theodore Roosevelt Jr, has a bunker attached.

The monument to the Navy, which lists all of the landing craft involved in the invasion is built on top of another bunker.

When we arrived at Utah Beach it was high tide, so there was no cruising the beach.

When the 4th Div landed it was just after low tide, so the beach scene would have looked more like this. I didn’t really appreciate the impact of the tide on the Amphibious invasion until I visited the beaches at different times. In the fall, the tides go from a low of 2m to a high of 7m at Utah beach. Due to the gentle slope of the beach, this equates to several hundred feet of beach front.

On our way out of Utah Beach we stopped at the Maj Dick Winters Memorial, commander of Easy Company 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment made famous by another TV Series, Band of Brothers.

I liked the quotation on the monument.

Pointe du Hoc

Pointe du Hoc was the location of a series of German bunkers, heavy guns and machine gun posts. Prior to the invasion of Normandy, the German army fortified the area with concrete casemates and gun pits. On D-Day, the United States Army Provisional Ranger Group attacked and captured Pointe du Hoc after scaling the 110-foot cliffs.

This location was essential to be taken, as 6 casemates housing French 155mm guns that could fire on the landing craft were located in this position. On D-Day only 4 of the 6 casements were finished and only 2 fully functional.

The location was repeatedly bombed prior to D-Day and shelled by Naval vessels during the landing. The casemates showed heavy damage from the attack.

A viewing platform is mounted on another casemate that suffered heavy damage.

The shell craters and various defensive structures are evident.

The viewing station shows the shelling more clearly.

To really appreciate the devastation of the site we need to look at a drone shot. The steepness of the cliff is also very evident. This image is taken from a great 6-minute video that does an excellent job in showing the land and the layout of the gun positions and gives a more complete picture than can be seen at ground level.

Views of the outside and inside of the command bunker located on the cliff’s edge used to direct the fire of the 155mm guns.

Rear entrance of the bunker.

View from the observation bunker.

The assault craft carried the rangers, 4 amphibious vehicles with 100 ft ladders borrowed from the London Fire Department and Rocket Launchers to fire grappling hooks up the cliffs. By the time the rangers made it to the base of the cliffs, they had already lost half of their men.

A view of the Cliffs looking toward Omaha Beach.

View of the cliffs looking towards Utah Beach.

When they finally made it to the top, they discovered that the guns had been moved. Recently released records indicate that the CO LCol Rudder knew the guns had been moved but felt his follow-on objectives warranted the climb.

The distinctive nose of Point du Hoc. This shows the height and steepness of the cliffs.

The view of the Ranger memorial and observation bunker from above.

The guns were subsequently located by patrols and destroyed by thermite (really freaking hot) grenades. A gun from the Utah Beach Memorial shows the impact of a thermite grenade.

French 155 mm guns that were originally in the casemates.

In 1984, President Reagan visited Pointe du Hoc. In attendance were some Rangers who had made the climb 40 years earlier. According to our guide, Reagan asked one of the veterans whether he could still do the climb. The Vet took up the challenge and made it up the rope ladders faster than the present-day Rangers (44 seconds).

The initial group of 225 Rangers was to be supported by 500 additional soldiers from the 2nd and 5th Ranger Divisions. The first wave was supposed to fire a flare to signify capture of the Point within 30 minutes or the second wave was to head to Omaha beach and link up with them by noon. The flare was late, so the second wave went to Omaha Beach and helped out a desperate situation. Due to the heavy fighting, the first wave was relieved only 2 days later with only 90 of the original 225 able to bear arms.

Nearly 400 of the 1000 Rangers who landed at Normandy became casualties by the end of the battle of Normandy. The observation bunker contains a plaque to the 50 2nd Division Rangers who were killed from 6-8 June 1944.

Omaha Beach

The eastern-most American beach was Omaha, generally known as Bloody Omaha as the most D-Day casualties of any landing beach occurred here. The landing is a 6 km concave beach with 100-foot cliffs just behind the beach to provide excellent fields of fire for the defenders.

Unlike other beaches, the Omaha attack involved two Army Divisions, the experienced 1st Division (the Big Red One) and the inexperienced 29th Division. In addition, a number of Ranger units supported the Western Flank of the 29th Division.

This beach was the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan. Watch the first 20 minutes to get an idea of the brutality of the fighting. A YouTube clip shows the fighting.

I enlarged the beach profile as it was key to the attack. There were 5 exits off the beach, known as Draws. These draws provided gaps that did not require scaling the cliffs and were the only exits that tanks could exit the beach.

A view from the landing craft shows the imposing cliffs.

The Germans of course also knew there were limited ways off the beach, so their defences were concentrated on the draws. The 5 draws are shown on the map, as well as the location of the German strong points (Widerstandsnest or WN), WN60 to WN73. The darker green represents the cliff.

A modern-day photo with the WN positions located shows the defensive distribution. There were at least 10,000 men, 80 machine guns and 18 anti-tanks weapons to face the Americans.

As an example, we will look at Exit E-1 in the centre of the map, guarded by WN64 and WN65. An aerial photo shows the locations and gives you an idea of the terrain.

The strong points are not a single gun, but rather an integrated defensive position containing trenches, machine gun positions, pre-sighted mortar tobruks and heavy anti-tank guns. WN64 had a 76 mm gun sighted down the exit road with trenches on the cliffs to allow soldiers to fire on the beaches, machine gun locations, mortar positions and machine guns at the rear to defend against flanking attacks.

On the other side of the E1 Draw, WN65 had a similar configuration. The Germans had a variety of heavy weapons as part of the beach defences. They had captured a large number of French and Czech anti-tank weapons and had integrated them into the defences. In addition to the substantial beach defences, anti-tank ditches, barbed wire and mine fields protected the strong points.

The view from the strong points commanded the beach. This picture shows the view from WN62. The bunkers were designed for enfilade fire down the beaches with thick walls facing the beach to protect from Naval Gun fire.

A similar view from WN72 on the other end of the beach shows the field of fire of the guns.

An aerial view emphasizes the height of the cliffs.

We visited Omaha beach later in the afternoon when the tide was just past low tide, similar to conditions that the Americans landed on D-Day. This is the view looking West from the Omaha Beach Memorial which is in the centre of the beach.

The Eastern view includes the Omaha Beach Memorial. There is an identical memorial at each of the 5 landing beaches.

The inscription on one side of this memorial reads:

1st US Infantry Division

No Mission Too Difficult

No Sacrifice Too Great. Duty First

Forced Omaha Beach At Dawn 6 June

Also on the beach is the structure entitled Les Braves, placed on Omaha Beach in 2004 for the 60th anniversary of D-Day.

Les Braves

Quote from sculptor Anilore Banon:

I created this sculpture to honour the courage of these men, sons, husbands and fathers who endangered and often sacrificed their life in the hope of restoring their freedom to the French people. The sculpture Les Braves is made of three elements:

 The Wings of Hope

So that the spirit which carried these men on June 6th, 1944, continues to inspire us, reminding us that together it is always possible to change the future.

Rise, Freedom!So that the example of those who rose against barbarity, helps us remain standing strong against all forms of inhumanity.

The Wings of FraternitySo that this surge of brotherhood always reminds us of our responsibility towards others as well as ourselves. 

Les Braves at High Tide.

A companion statue, Les Braves II is installed at the War Memorial at Grosse Point, Michigan on Lake St Clair. The statue faces Canada and Les Braves at Omaha Beach.

Assaulting Omaha Beach

The landings at Omaha did not initially go well at all. The aerial and naval bombardments had been ineffective, so the strong defences remained intact. The Duplex Drive (DD) tanks were launched at 6000 yards in heavy seas and 27 of the initial 29 tanks were swamped. Similarly, the artillery was unable to make the beach, so it was an Infantry only attack. The initial landing craft hit sand bars 100 m out, so the soldiers had to wade through neck deep water before having to cross 200 m of beach. Due to the strong waves and currents almost all the landing craft were off course, many landing in front of strong points. The initial wave suffered up to 80% casualties and the second wave suffered 60% casualties.

The initial reports were so disastrous that the American General Omar Bradley considered calling off the attack at Omaha and sending subsequent waves to Utah Beach. The engineers responsible for clearing paths off the beach largely landed in the wrong positions and were slow clearing routes to the point that subsequent waves were held back due to the congestion on the beach and the rising tide.

As is always the case in battles, the efforts of individuals or small groups were essential in the achievement of progress. Slowly, small groups were able to scale the cliffs, but only limited roads were open and most of the strong points remained deadly until late in the afternoon. By the end of the day, the furthest inland any troops had progressed was 2.5 km, and Omaha was the most tenuous hold of any of the Allied beaches.

The Americans suffered between 5 and 6 thousand casualties at Omaha Beach on D-Day, earning the nick name bloody Omaha. That worked out to a casualty rate of 1 in 19. The Americans attacked with 2 Divisions. At Juno Beach the Canadians attacked with a single Division. Although the total number of casualties was less than the Americans, the Canadian casualty rate was 1 in 18, actually slightly higher than the US.

The estimated total battle casualties for the United States throughout the Normandy Campaign were 135,000, including 29,000 killed and 106,000 wounded and missing.

American Cemetery Normandy

The last stop on our tour was the American Cemetery Normandy which overlooks Omaha Beach between WN62 and WN65.

The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in France is located in Colleville-sur-Mer, on the site of the temporary American St. Laurent Cemetery, established by the U.S. First Army on June 8, 1944, as the first American cemetery on European soil in World War II. The cemetery site, at the north end of its half mile access road, covers 172.5 acres and contains the graves of 9,389 American dead, most of whom lost their lives in the D-Day landings and ensuing operations. On the Walls of the Missing, in a semicircular garden on the east side of the memorial, are inscribed 1,557 names. Rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified.

This cemetery is magnificent and laid out in a similar style to the American Cemetery at Margraten, Netherlands that is near Rachel’s house. The walls feature giant maps of the engagements, one showing the battle for Europe and this one that features the Normandy Landings and follow on battles.

The panels of names of the missing US Servicemen, with Rosettes indicating that the body has subsequently been identified.

The crosses are overlooking the beach. It feels like the souls of the fallen are guarding the beach still.

The view from the bottom end of the cemetery shows the great fields of fire offered by the cliff.

A side view clearly shows the steepness of the cliffs.

Although I have tried many times in many different cemeteries, it is impossible to capture the size and the impact of a massive number of crosses. This cemetery receives over 1 million visitors a year so many of the areas are roped off and only a small portion of the cemetery open for the visitors to walk through at any one time to preserve the ground. If you are visiting a specific grave, you can get permission to enter the enclosed areas.

Although this cemetery is magnificent, I think I prefer the tiny Commonwealth Cemeteries tucked down a dirt road or in the middle of a farmer’s field as they seem much more personal, and it is possible to pay your respects to all of the fallen.

I enjoyed the tour of the American Beaches as I hadn’t spent much time researching them and got a good overview of the action. As with all tours, they are just a start and give you an idea where you want to return to, or research further. It took me a long time to write this post as there is a great deal of information about the American sites and tremendous detail on the minute-by-minute action.