Hi!!! I am pretty much an expert in the D-Day landings, so I am just posting for fun. I would also like to know about ancestors who participated in D-Day as a whole, not just on Omaha Beach. I would also like to here your reasons for why the Omaha landings went from disaster to success.
i think the direct fire from hunt and fletcher class destroyers,getting close in helped greatly.cheers.
I don't think you can class the Omaha Beach as being a disaster, it was never evacuated nor even attempted to be evacuated, so I don't think it was ever turned around, it was always a matter of time. It was of course the most difficult of all the beaches and held by probably the most experienced troops on the invasion front made it harder then the other sections, but I think it can not be classed as a disaster to success. The key reasons for the success was the close fire support from both the air force and the navy, the sheer weight of men landed as well as the DD Sherman support (or lack off), the bombing campaign by the air force, the fact that the Americans had far higher morale then the German defenders who by this time just wanted to go home. If you would like a first hand account look up the member called Sapper, he landed on sword beach and he has a detailed thread which is filled with all the first hand accounts you could want.
Another thing I'd like to know- who thinks Saving Private Ryan is historically accurate? I already know about some of the beach obstacles being placed in the wrong direction. Hope to hear from all of you soon, Lieutenant Hopkin
The opening of that film was suposed to model the experience of one of the Ranger companies that landed on the far right of Omaha Beach. They took severe casualties crossing to sand to the shelter of the seawall, but not as bad as a regular infantry company that was few few meters to their left. The Rangers took around 50% casualties in the first minutes, the Infantry company took around 80 to 90% casualities. The Ranger surviors then got over the seawall and into the German positions during the next hour. So in that sense the film was accurate, tho distorted as all films are.
The heavy losses on 6 June in men, as many as 4,700 killed wounded & missing; and vehicals slowed down the subsequent advance. It also took the entire day to capture & clear the roads through the draws so vehicals could exit. that was suposed to be accomplished by mid morning. As it was sustained traffic off the beach did not start until evening. All that set the US 1st Army schedule back a couple days. Had the Omaha Beach assualt force reached their objectives on schedule on the 6th & 7th June the Germans would have been in much deeper trouble. After the intial two hours the fire support communications begain functioning again. Reliable radio comm was restablished. However, infantry fans point out that as early as 07:00 infantry platoons and squads had started over the shingle or seawall and begain infiltrating their way to the crest of the bluffs. On the far left flank a entire company using the smoke from a brushfire gained the crest between 07:30 & 08:00. When the German regimental commander responsible for most of the area reported to the Division CP via telephone at 08:30 his report was pessimistic. He noted that a number of his positions had lost communication, stragglers were coming into other positions reporting US soldiers forcing them out, and that the naval gunfire hitting the crests and behind the bluffs (scheduled fires, not directed by spotters) were preventing counter attacks. The conclusion of the Infantry Fans is the rifle men of the 1st Division were getting through the defense before the fire support came back under control of the men on the beach. I'll leave it to others to draw their own conclusions. Or America. There were more than few Polish or Slavic language speakers amoung the US rifle companies of the leading assualt companies. Several of those soldiers described being able to persuade the Polish or Urkrainian 'Osttruppen' to surrender with the promise they could go to America. In at least one case the US soldiers claim the only enemy casualty in one Ost platoon was the German NCO. Draw your own conclusions.
