The landing by regiments of the 1st and 29th Infantry divisions and Army Rangers on OMAHA Beach was even more difficult than expected. When the first wave landed at 6:30 a.m., the men found that naval gunfire and prelanding air bombardments had not softened German defenses or resistance. Along the 7,000 yards of Normandy shore German defenses were as close to that of an Atlantic Wall as any of the D-Day beaches. Enemy positions that looked down from bluffs as high as 170 feet, and water and beach obstacles strewn across the narrow strip of beach, stopped the assault at the water's edge for much of the morning of D-Day. By mid-morning, initial reports painted such a bleak portrait of beachhead conditions that Lt. Gen. Omar Bradley, United States First Army commander, considered pulling off the beach and landing troops elsewhere along the coast. However, during these dark hours, bravery and initiative came to the fore. As soldiers struggled, one leader told his men that two types of people would stay on the beach--the dead and those going to die--so they'd better get the hell out of there, and they did. Slowly, as individuals and then in groups, soldiers began to cross the fire-swept beach. Supported by Allied naval gunfire from destroyers steaming dangerously close to shore, the American infantrymen gained the heights and beach exits and drove the enemy inland. By day's end V Corps had a tenuous toehold on the Normandy coast, and the force consolidated to protect its gains and prepare for the next step on the road to Germany. Of all the Allied invasion beaches on D-Day, OMAHA Beach was clearly the most heavily contested. Despite the massive aerial and naval bombardments before the amphibious assault, soldiers from the 16th and 116th Infantry Regiments of the 1st and 29th Infantry Divisions, respectively, faced stiff resistance from the German defenders. In many of the rifle companies, American casualties exceeded 50%. As one veteran later recalled of his experience, "As our boat touched sand and the ramp went down, I became a visitor to hell." Yet despite the heavy German fire and the resulting casualties, the small unit leaders took control and moved their men up the slopes and beyond the bluffs. By the evening of D-Day, elements of both divisions were firmly ashore and ready to continue the assault.. |