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Chapter 4 The Normandy Campaign in Close Combat
71
“Bloody Omaha” and Beyond
Of the vast number of Allied troops that wade or parachute into
Normandy on June 6, the Americans who land on Omaha Beach
have the toughest time of all. The beach itself has natural defenses in
the form of high bluffs at either end, and only five exits, which the
Germans have mined and wired. Concrete blockhouses and positions on
the bluffs pour a murderous concentration of fire along every inch of
the beach. The defenses are manned by the crack 352nd Infantry, a full-
strength attack division brought in from the Eastern Front, and made up
of some of the most combat-tested troops in the German army. By a
quirk of fate, the Americans are also pitted against an extra German
infantry division that is in the area practicing anti-invasion tactics. The
German defenders get an additional break when the Allied naval
bombardment before the landings is too brief to do much damage.
As the smoke from the bombardment clears, the first U.S. invasion
craft head for shore, carrying troops from the 29th and 1st Infantry
Divisions. At first, confusion reigns as landing craft and vehicles,
scattered by the rough seas they have just crossed, pile onto the beach.
As the now-seasick soldiers disembark, they are blasted by well-aimed
German gunfire. By 0915, as U.S. casualties mount, General Bradley
fears he will have to call off the Omaha landing, as his forces are
pinned down on the beach, huddled behind a seawall for survival.
Slowly, inexplicably, the tide of battle turns, as scattered groups of U.S.
soldiers press forward, prompted by
their own bravery, by the desire simply
to survive or, in some cases, by the
brandished weapon of a fellow soldier.
Since nearly all of the U.S. amphibious
tanks have sunk after being launched,
the troops have to advance across open
ground under heavy fire without
supporting armor. Finally, as individual
Navy destroyers move in and pound
the German defenses at close range,
small units begin to ram their way
through Rommel’s beach obstacles and
scale the cliffs. The Germans of the
352nd, who by now are running low on
ammunition and reinforcements, are
“There are only two kinds of
people on this beach: the dead
and those about to die. So let’s
get the hell out of here!”
Colonel George Taylor, at
Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944
Drome River
Vire River
Aure River
SaintÐL™
Carentan
Cerisy Forest
Bayeux
OMAHA
German 914th
Regiment
German 352nd
Division
German 916th
Regiment
Omaha Beachhead: June 7, 1944
U.S. 1st Army Group
“You know what I see up there?
I see my old mother sitting on
the porch waving my insurance
policy at me.”
A GI on Omaha Beach to
Life
photographer Robert Capa