Omaha Beach

Omaha Beach was the Allied codename for one of the principal landing points during the Normandy landings on June 6 1944. The beach is about 3.5 miles long, from Sainte-Honorine-des-Pertes to Vierville-sur-Mer.

Breakthrough

Commanders offshore considered abandoning the attack, and redirecting the Omaha forces to Utah Beach. However, several small groups of surviving rag-tag infantry, initially pinned down on the beach behind the cover of the seawall or the shingle, eventually abandoned their original plans to move up through the fortified beach exits and improvised a direct attack up the steep bluffs through minefields between the bunkers, resulting in the first breakthroughs. German trenches and pillboxes were then attacked from the rear. Also, several Allied destroyers helped turn the battle in favor of US forces by improvising an attack on the German positions. The ships had to nearly run aground to get past the smoke to train their guns on the bluffs.

Related Topics:
Utah Beach - Seawall - Shingle - Trenches - Pillboxes - Destroyers

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