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Originally Posted by kathleen At Omaha Beach, there was a fortified point that was destroyed, did the army attack at the back or at the side? The point is located in the hills of Vierville-sur-mer.
In the WN62, a fortified point of the German, there was a Flak to attack planes, but I want to know if it was used in both ways or directions. Can someone tell me more about it? |
The cliffs were attacked from the front and held by the Rangers until reinforcements from Omaha arrived. This took two days.
Pointe du Hoc (often misspelled as "Pointe du Hoe" in official Army documents) is best known for the assault made on it during the World War II Normandy landings, June 6, 1944.
The Germans had fortified six 155-mm artillery emplacements on the cliffs which overlooked the landing beaches. These guns would enable artillery fire to be directed over both Omaha and Utah approaches, undoubtedly causing massive casualties in the landing forces. Although bombarded several times from the air and by naval guns, intelligence reports assumed that the fortifications were too strong, and would also require attack by ground forces.
The US 2nd Ranger battallion was therefore given the task of destroying the strongpoint early on D-Day.
The plan called for the three companies of Rangers to be
landed by sea at the foot of the cliffs, scale them using ropes, ladders, and grapples under enemy fire, and engage the enemy at the top of the cliff. This was to be carried out before the main landings.
The Rangers regrouped at the top of the cliffs, and a few went off in search of the guns, tracking them down far inland and destroying them. This new battery location inland was sighted solely for Utah beach.