bigpigeon.us webpage WWII - Germany > ETO > Normandy Campaign > D-Day, updated by RAC 17 May 2022.
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On D-Day, June 6, 1944, Allied forces invaded France by crossing the English Channel from England to Normandy, landing on five beaches between Cherbourg and Le Havre as shown on the second map.
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The English Channel Area
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The Five Invasion Beaches
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Airborne Utah Beach Support
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The German army expected a cross-channel invasion by the Allies during the spring of 1944, but didn't know where or when. German military leaders thought most likely was a landing further north, near Calais at the Straits of Dover, which lie between the English Channel and the North Sea.
Operation Overlord was the name used when planning the invasion and subsequent ETO operations. ETO staff assumed that the invasion would likely succeed. The allies controlled both air and sea and possessed a huge, well-supplied army. On the other hand, the Germans had manpower issues because of the large and ongoing German casualties in the war against Russia on the Eastern Front. Thus, the German troops in the beach area were fewer than required and many of the troops were non-Germans who had been pressed into military service. Also, some German fortifications were incomplete and some artillery had not arrived. However, in case the D-Day invasion failed, General Dwight Eisenhower, the commander, had written a statement in which he assumed full responsibility.
The invasion was originally scheduled for June 5 but was postponed for one day because of a storm. The weather remained so unsettled that many German generals, including the German commander, Ervin Rommel, had assumed the invasion would be postponed. Thus, Rommel and many other senior officers had left their posts in Normandy.
The Allied army for Operation Overlord totaled around 2,000,000 and consisted primarily of American, British and Canadian troops, with some French and Polish. They had trained for months in England preparing for the invasion and were supported by thousands of airplanes and around 3,500 ships and boats.
The five invasion beaches extended over about 50 miles of Normandy coast. These were sandy beaches, separated from each other by rocky areas. As shown on the above map, each beach had a code name.
Utah and Omaha Beaches:
Utah and Omaha beaches, although both long and sandy, differed in one major aspect, namely what was behind the beach:
The First Twelve Hours:
Shortly after midnight, the three Allied airborne divisions began landing by parachute and by glider, our 82nd and 101st Airborne Division behind Utah Beach and the British 6th Airborne Division nearly fifty miles to the east, on the extreme east end of the invasion area, near the Pegasus Bridge shown on a previous map. The Brits seized the Pegasus Bridge and nearby areas, thus preventing German reinforcements from reaching the invasion area via coastal roads.
After daybreak around 6:30 a.m., the main D-Day force began landing on the five Normandy beaches by landing craft, special ships and boats with drop-down ramps on the front. The men landed in separate waves and then tried to fight their way off the beach. However, because of the wind and waves, tides and poor visibility, and general confusion, the initial waves generally landed in the wrong location.
In addition to the airborne landings and the five beach landings, several hundred members of the 2nd Ranger Battalion landed at the base of the Point de Hoc cliff and fought their way up to the crest with the mission of destroying four heavy artillery pieces.
The Utah Beach Operation:
In actuality our airborne troops landed behind Utah Beach in scattered locations and thus initially lacked unit cohesion. Many were injured while landing or were killed by the Germans as they landed. Gradually ad-hoc groups of survivors formed and the airborne divisions secured the causeway exits and reached some of their other goals.
The 4th Infantry Division landed on the westmost beach, Utah Beach, starting at 6:30 am. Caught by currents, the landing craft dropped the first waves in the wrong location. The first commanding office on Utah Beach, Theodore Roosevelt Jr., took control and with low losses the division began to move inland over the causeways.
D-Day Summary:
Like Utah Beach, the landings on Gold, Juno and Sword beaches also went well. Casualties (killed, missing, prisoner, and wounded) were lower than expected but not all the objectives for the day were reached.
The 29th and 1st Infantry Divisions landed on Omaha Beach, about ten miles east of Utah Beach. The Omaha Beach landing was a different story, summarized in my next section.
By the end of D-Day, about 130,000 men from the allied armies had landed in Normandy. The rest of the invasion army was brought across the English Channel in the following days, weeks and months.
Surprisingly, military experts disagree widely on the estimated number of Allied casualties on D-Day, with some feeling that the official total is undercounted. I'm inclined to think there were about 12,000 Allied casualties, of which around 4,500 were killed. The Allied deaths would be about the same number of Americans as were killed during the long war with Iraq.
Operation Overlord was the name used when planning the invasion and subsequent ETO operations. ETO staff assumed that the invasion would likely succeed. The allies controlled both air and sea and possessed a huge, well-supplied army. On the other hand, the Germans had manpower issues because of the large and ongoing German casualties in the war against Russia on the Eastern Front. Thus, the German troops in the beach area were fewer than required and many of the troops were non-Germans who had been pressed into military service. Also, some German fortifications were incomplete and some artillery had not arrived. However, in case the D-Day invasion failed, General Dwight Eisenhower, the commander, had written a statement in which he assumed full responsibility.
The invasion was originally scheduled for June 5 but was postponed for one day because of a storm. The weather remained so unsettled that many German generals, including the German commander, Ervin Rommel, had assumed the invasion would be postponed. Thus, Rommel and many other senior officers had left their posts in Normandy.
The Allied army for Operation Overlord totaled around 2,000,000 and consisted primarily of American, British and Canadian troops, with some French and Polish. They had trained for months in England preparing for the invasion and were supported by thousands of airplanes and around 3,500 ships and boats.
The five invasion beaches extended over about 50 miles of Normandy coast. These were sandy beaches, separated from each other by rocky areas. As shown on the above map, each beach had a code name.
- The United States Army landed on the two western beaches, Utah and Omaha
- The British, Canadians and other allies on the three eastern beaches, Gold, Juno and Sword.
- The small port town of Port-en-Bessin married the boundary between American and British forces.
Utah and Omaha Beaches:
Utah and Omaha beaches, although both long and sandy, differed in one major aspect, namely what was behind the beach:
- Behind Utah Beach is a low area, which in 1944 the Germans had flooded. Several causeways through the flooded area led to higher land to the west containing two market towns, Ste. Mere Eglise and Ste Marie du Mont.
- Thus ETO staff planned a night paratroop drop on this higher land to seize the causeways and other critical positions to facilitate movement inland of the seaborne Utah Beach invasion force. The third map above shows where the six regiments of the two American airborne divisions, the 82nd and the 101st, meant to land behind Utah Beach, which is in the upper-right corner.
- Behind the six miles of Omaha Beach is an eroded bluff about 100 feet high, visible through the fog of battle in a following photo. Behind the bluff face is a a plateau region with many villages and farms, the farms specializing in dairy operations. Several road and some pathways follow draws in the bluff from the plateau to the beach area; see the second map below.
- Today, as in 1944, the west end of Omaha beach is more heavily developed, with a seawall, a road parallel to the beach, and buildings between the seawall and the bluff.
- Today the eastern part of Omaha Beach lacks both a road along the beach and structures. Between the sandy beach and the bluff is a sandy, shruby area.
- By June 1944, the German army had built positions called Widerstandeneste (resistance nests) on the bluff face. A typical position included a concrete bunker containing artillery, with connecting trenches and machine gun and mortar positions. Germany artillery observers could also use these positions to call in fire from additional guns hidden on the plateau behind the bluffs. Widerstandeneste locations are shown on the first map below.
- Because of the fortified bluff face, planners had decided to land two divisions on Omaha Beach on D-Day.
The First Twelve Hours:
Shortly after midnight, the three Allied airborne divisions began landing by parachute and by glider, our 82nd and 101st Airborne Division behind Utah Beach and the British 6th Airborne Division nearly fifty miles to the east, on the extreme east end of the invasion area, near the Pegasus Bridge shown on a previous map. The Brits seized the Pegasus Bridge and nearby areas, thus preventing German reinforcements from reaching the invasion area via coastal roads.
After daybreak around 6:30 a.m., the main D-Day force began landing on the five Normandy beaches by landing craft, special ships and boats with drop-down ramps on the front. The men landed in separate waves and then tried to fight their way off the beach. However, because of the wind and waves, tides and poor visibility, and general confusion, the initial waves generally landed in the wrong location.
In addition to the airborne landings and the five beach landings, several hundred members of the 2nd Ranger Battalion landed at the base of the Point de Hoc cliff and fought their way up to the crest with the mission of destroying four heavy artillery pieces.
The Utah Beach Operation:
In actuality our airborne troops landed behind Utah Beach in scattered locations and thus initially lacked unit cohesion. Many were injured while landing or were killed by the Germans as they landed. Gradually ad-hoc groups of survivors formed and the airborne divisions secured the causeway exits and reached some of their other goals.
The 4th Infantry Division landed on the westmost beach, Utah Beach, starting at 6:30 am. Caught by currents, the landing craft dropped the first waves in the wrong location. The first commanding office on Utah Beach, Theodore Roosevelt Jr., took control and with low losses the division began to move inland over the causeways.
D-Day Summary:
Like Utah Beach, the landings on Gold, Juno and Sword beaches also went well. Casualties (killed, missing, prisoner, and wounded) were lower than expected but not all the objectives for the day were reached.
The 29th and 1st Infantry Divisions landed on Omaha Beach, about ten miles east of Utah Beach. The Omaha Beach landing was a different story, summarized in my next section.
By the end of D-Day, about 130,000 men from the allied armies had landed in Normandy. The rest of the invasion army was brought across the English Channel in the following days, weeks and months.
Surprisingly, military experts disagree widely on the estimated number of Allied casualties on D-Day, with some feeling that the official total is undercounted. I'm inclined to think there were about 12,000 Allied casualties, of which around 4,500 were killed. The Allied deaths would be about the same number of Americans as were killed during the long war with Iraq.
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Omaha Beach
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Omaha Beach Area Roadmap
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Omaha Beach Area
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Omaha Beach Landing
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The First Waves:
Unlike the other four beach landings, the Omaha Beach landing initially faltered. At one time during the morning, General Omar Bradley, the senior American commander who was on a nearby ship, considered withdrawing his troops from Omaha.
Besides the Widerstandeneste, the upper part of the bluff contained several areas where German infantry was stationed. From their positions, the Germans fired on our soldiers as they left their landing craft, struggled to the beach, and then tried to cross the obstacle-laden beach and climb the bluffs, all the time carrying their heavy gear.
What went wrong at Omaha Beach:
What went right at Omaha Beach:
By noon of D-Day, small American units had reached the plateau behind the bluff.
Some Omaha Beach Details:
Each of the two divisions that landed on Omaha beach on D-Day had an assault regiment, which comprised the first waves of the invasion.
By the end of D-Day, the German positions on the bluff overlooking Omaha Beach had been taken and the American survivors from Omaha Beach had moved to the plateau behind the bluff. The battle for Omaha Beach was over.
The longer, larger and much bloodier Normandy Campaign, which would last past mid August, was just beginning.
Unlike the other four beach landings, the Omaha Beach landing initially faltered. At one time during the morning, General Omar Bradley, the senior American commander who was on a nearby ship, considered withdrawing his troops from Omaha.
Besides the Widerstandeneste, the upper part of the bluff contained several areas where German infantry was stationed. From their positions, the Germans fired on our soldiers as they left their landing craft, struggled to the beach, and then tried to cross the obstacle-laden beach and climb the bluffs, all the time carrying their heavy gear.
What went wrong at Omaha Beach:
- Miscalculation of enemy strength: Unknown to Allied intelligence, the Germans had moved another division into the invasion area shortly before D-Day.
- Bombardment failure: During the night, Allied aircraft had dropped bombs on the Omaha Beach area, and warships had shelled the area. However, the naval shelling was inadequate and the aerial bombs didn't land on the bluff face where the Germans were dug in but rather in scattered areas on the plateau behind the bluff. The bombs killed more cows than German soldiers.
- Lack of onshore armor: 32 tanks in the 741st Tank Battalion had been converted to improvised amphibious tanks to provide early land-based fire support for first Division infantry. Due to heavy seas from the previous storm, 27 of these tanks were swamped before reaching land.
What went right at Omaha Beach:
- No German reinforcements: The bluff face received little, if any, supply or additional troops during the day. The German high command response to the invasion was slow, and the heavy incoming fire in the bluff area may have discouraged local commanders from sending in reinforcements. As positions were taken out of action or ran out of ammunition, resistance tapered off.
- Naval assistance: One or more American destroyers risked running aground by coming in close and firing directly at targets of opportunity on the bluff face.
- Gaps in German fields of fire. Omaha Beach was six miles long, and the bluff face is quite irregular. Gradually our forces found areas to ascend that were free from intense German fire.
- Courage and common sense. Caught with little cover on the beach, many men accepted the proposition that it was safer to attempt to move upward onto the bluff than to remain exposed on the beach.
By noon of D-Day, small American units had reached the plateau behind the bluff.
Some Omaha Beach Details:
Each of the two divisions that landed on Omaha beach on D-Day had an assault regiment, which comprised the first waves of the invasion.
- To the west: the 116th Infantry Regiment of the 29th Infantry Division. This regiment was originally composed of National Guard troops from Maryland and Virginia. The Bedford Boys, nineteen men from the small town of Bedford, Virginia died that day on Omaha Beach.
- To the east: The 16th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division. When Martha and I moved to Williamsburg, Virginia in 1997, we met Bette Mae Schintzel who brought us freshly-baked rolls. I was privileged to later know her husband, Arthur Schintzel, an Omaha Beach survivor of the 16th Infantry. Art, who was 22 years old at the time, was in Company B, which landed in the second wave about 7 a.m. Art was shot four times and hit by shrapnel twice while trying to climb the bluff behind the beach. While he was being taken to a landing craft to be evacuated back to England, Art received two more shrapnel wounds. Art spent the rest of World War II in hospitals.
By the end of D-Day, the German positions on the bluff overlooking Omaha Beach had been taken and the American survivors from Omaha Beach had moved to the plateau behind the bluff. The battle for Omaha Beach was over.
The longer, larger and much bloodier Normandy Campaign, which would last past mid August, was just beginning.
Sources for the WW II - D-Day webpage:
Pottawattamie Area WWII Dead - D-Day:
- American Cemetery photo - courtest of 303rd Bombardment Group website, www.303rdbg.com
- Normandy Area map - https://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/englishchannel.htm
- D-DayInvansionBeaches.jpg map - www.france-for-visitors.com
- D-DayAirbornePlan.jpg map - https://www.pinterest.com
- OmahaBeachAreaRoadmap.jpg map - https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/images/maps/omaha.gif
- OmahaBeachLanding.jpg photo - theatlantic.com
- OmahaBeachArea.jpg map - http://www.historyofwar.org/Maps/maps_omaha_beach_area.html
- Arthur Schintzel's D-Day story - http://www.americandday.org/Veterans/Schintzel_Arthur.html
Pottawattamie Area WWII Dead - D-Day:
- Taken from the bigpigeon.us WWII Roster module.
- Normandy invasion naval dead are listed in The ETO Sea War webpage.
- Co. H, 501st Parachute Inf. Regt., 101st Airborne Div.; KIA 6 Jun 1944 W of Douve River Estuary, Normandy; D-Day - Normandy Campaign > D-Day.
- Sherman tank crew member in Co. B, 743rd Tank Bn., one of five tank battalions that landed on Normandy on D-Day; this battalion landed entirely on LCTs during D-Day's rough seas although 2/3 of their tanks had been modified to paddle to shore in calm seas; KIA 6 Jun 1944; Normandy Campaign > D-Day.