Microsoft Close Combat manual Bloody Omaha and Beyond, Carentan

German 914th Regiment

Omaha Beachhead: June 7, 1944

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.

“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

“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

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	Carentan	Aure
supporting armor. Finally, as individual
Navy destroyers move in and pound
the German defenses at close range,

	OMAHA
	U.
	S.
	1st	Army	Group
River			German 916th
			Regiment

small units begin to ram their way
through Rommel’s beach obstacles and
scale the cliffs. The Germans of the		River
352nd, who by now are running low on
ammunition and reinforcements, are	Vire

German 352nd Division

Cerisy Forest

Bayeux

Drome River

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