#Omaha beach mod men of war code#
#Omaha beach mod men of war free#

At the western end, the shingle bank rested against a stone (further east becoming wood) sea wall which ranged from 1.5–4 m (5–13 ft) in height. Above the tide line was a bank of shingle 2.5 m (8 ft) high and up to 15 m (49 ft) wide in places. The crescent-shaped beach presented a gently sloping tidal area averaging 300 m (330 yd) between low and high-water marks. Omaha was bounded at either end by large rocky cliffs. Sectors were divided into beaches identified by the colors Red, White and Green, corresponding to the colored lights used on naval craft to designate the port (left), amidships, and starboard (right) sides.

Eight further sectors were added when the invasion was extended to include Utah on the Cotentin Peninsula. The names of both Omaha and Utah were probably suggested by Omar Bradley, as two privates fitting out his London headquarters were from Omaha, Nebraska (Gayle Eyler) and Provo, Utah they were not named after the corps commanders, who were from Virginia (Gerow) and Louisiana (Collins). The area of beach that would become Omaha was originally designated X-Ray, from the phonetic alphabet of the day the name was changed on 3 March 1944.

#Omaha beach mod men of war code#

The coastline of Normandy was divided into sixteen sectors, which were assigned code names using a spelling alphabet-from Able, west of Omaha, to Roger on the east flank of Sword. Terrain and defences Diagrammatic cross section of the beach at Omaha By the end of the day, two small isolated footholds had been won, which were subsequently exploited against weaker defences further inland, achieving the original D-Day objectives over the following days. Small penetrations were eventually achieved by groups of survivors making improvised assaults, scaling the bluffs between the most well-defended points. This caused further problems and consequent delays for later landings. Weakened by the casualties taken just in landing, the surviving assault troops could not clear the exits off the beach. Under intense fire, the engineers struggled to clear the beach obstacles later landings bunched up around the few channels that were cleared. The defences were unexpectedly strong, and inflicted substantial casualties on landing U.S. Difficulties in navigation caused most of the landing craft to miss their targets throughout the day.

The Allied plan called for initial assault waves of tanks, infantry, and combat engineer forces to reduce the coastal defences, allowing larger ships to land in follow-up waves. The German strategy was based on defeating any seaborne assault at the water line, and the defences were mainly deployed in strongpoints along the coast. Of its 12,020 men, 6,800 were experienced combat troops, detailed to defend a 53-kilometer (33 mi) front. Opposing the landings was the German 352nd Infantry Division. The battle-hardened 1st Infantry Division was given the eastern half. Army Rangers redirected from Pointe du Hoc, assaulted the western half of the beach. The untested American 29th Infantry Division, along with nine companies of U.S. The primary objective at Omaha was to secure a beachhead 8 kilometers (5 miles) deep, between Port-en-Bessin and the Vire river, linking with the British landings at Gold to the east, and reaching the area of Isigny to the west to link up with VII Corps landing at Utah.

#Omaha beach mod men of war free#

Taking Omaha was to be the responsibility of United States Army troops, with sea transport, mine sweeping, and a naval bombardment force provided predominantly by the United States Navy and Coast Guard, with contributions from the British, Canadian and Free French navies. Landings here were necessary to link the British landings to the east at Gold with the American landing to the west at Utah, thus providing a continuous lodgement on the Normandy coast of the Baie de Seine (Bay of the Seine river). 'Omaha' refers to an 8-kilometer (5 mi) section of the coast of Normandy, France, facing the English Channel, from east of Sainte-Honorine-des-Pertes to west of Vierville-sur-Mer on the right bank of the Douve river estuary. On June 6, 1944, the Allies invaded German-occupied France with the Normandy landings. Omaha Beach was one of five beach landing sectors of the amphibious assault component of Operation Overlord during the Second World War.