D-Day Plus 78 Years

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

orangevale

Sharpshooter
Special Hen
Joined
May 7, 2010
Messages
152
Reaction score
139
Location
Edmond, OK
A couple of nights ago I read through Omar Bradley’s account of the D Day for Overlord. [Grant, Sherman, Eisenhower, Bradley, Caesar are part of my “can’t get to sleep” rotation. Man, I wish Patton had survived to pen a memoir!]

Omaha Beach was, to use an anachronistic term, a Charlie Foxtrot.

At H hour minus 50, the DD (swimming) tanks were launched. 27 of the 32 DD tanks headed for Omaha floundered in the heavy surf.

At H hour minus 15, the 8th Air Force drops most its bombs harmlessly in the hedgerows three miles behind the coast.

At H hour (0630) the first wave of infantry and support equipment hit the shore. Instead of the expected rag-tag, static troops, 1st Infantry runs smack into one of Rommel’s tough field divisions.

About 1200, the attack appears to be so far behind schedule that Bradley is contemplating diverting the Omaha second wave to Utah, or heaven forbid the British sector.

About 1330, reports start coming in that the US force is in control of the heights inland of the sea wall. Bradley sends Kean ashore to get a firsthand report on the situation. When Kean reports back, Bradley asks what is needed most, the answer is bulldozers and artillery. Of the 16 bulldozers send to Omaha, only six had made it ashore, and of those three had been knocked out by artillery. The bulldozers were needed to clear the beach of debris and obstacles before the second wave could land. [As an aside, Eisenhower lists bulldozers among the five types of equipment most vital to Allied success in the African and European theaters.]

By nightfall five regiments had been landed and command posts for both the 1st Infantry and V Corps established on the beach. 2nd Infantry was due in on D plus one.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom