The Beaches ...

[Mark Allen M]

Utah Beach

Located on the east coast of the Cotentin Peninsula, Utah Beach was one of two beaches targeted by the U.S. VII Corps. Utah Beach was chosen so that Allied forces could capture the port city of Cherbourg on the northern tip of the Cotentin.

Forces assaulting Utah Beach included:
•9th U.S. Air Force ◦276 B-26 Marauder medium bombers

•Task Force 125 (Force U) ◦865 naval vessels

•4th Infantry Division ◦8th Infantry Regiment ◾1st Battalion
◾2nd Battalion


•90th Infantry Division ◦359th Infantry Regiment ◾1st Battalion
◾3rd Battalion


•70th Tank Battalion ◦Company C

•237th Engineer Combat Battalion
•1106th Engineer Combat Group
•101st Airborne Division (via landing craft) ◦327 Glider Infantry Regiment
◦401st Glider Infantry Regiment ◾1st Battalion

◦321st Glider Field Artillery Battalion
◦907th Glider Field Artillery Battalion
◦326th Airborne Engineer Battalion
◦81st AAA / AT Battalion (partial)

•82nd Airborne Division (via landing craft) ◦325th Glider Infantry Regiment
◦401st Glider Infantry Regiment ◾2nd Battalion



Landing behind Utah Beach were units from two U.S. airborne divisions.
•101st Airborne Division ◦501st Parachute Infantry Regiment ◾1st Battalion
◾3rd Battalion

◦502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment ◾1st Battalion

◦506th Parachute Infantry Regiment ◾1st Battalion
◾2nd Battalion
◾3rd Battalion

◦377th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion
◦81st AAA / AT Battalion (partial)

•82nd Airborne Division ◦505th Parachute Infantry Regiment
◦507th Parachute Infantry Regiment
◦508th Parachute Infantry Regiment
◦456th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion
◦307th Airborne Engineer Battalion
◦80th AAA / AT Battalion
◦82nd Signal Company
◦319th Glider Field Artillery Battalion
◦320th Glider Field Artillery Battalion


German defenders at Utah Beach included:
•243rd Infantry Division ◦920th Grenadier Regiment
◦921st Grenadier Regiment
◦922nd Grenadier Regiment

•352nd Infantry Division ◦914th Grenadier Regiment

•709th Infantry Division ◦Sturm Battalion A.O.K. 7
◦729th Grenadier Regiment ◾649th Ost Battalion (attached)

◦739th Grenadier Regiment ◾795th Georgian Battalion (attached)

◦919th Grenadier Regiment
◦1261st Artillery Regiment

•91st Luftlande Division ◦6th Parachute Regiment
◦1057th Grenadier Regiment
◦1058th Grenadier Regiment


Utah Beach's five miles of coast were divided into three sectors:
•Uncle Red
•Tare Green
•Victor

June 6, 1944

Units began to land on Utah Beach at 6:30 a.m., but strong currents pushed most of the landing craft out of position. Hitting the shore at Victor sector, further south than originally planned, the American troops encountered a weaker defending force than that arrayed behind Uncle Red and Tare Green sectors.

Resistance at Utah Beach was significantly lighter than Omaha Beach, and units were able to move inland quickly while taking relatively light casualties. Of the 23,000 men of the 4th Infantry Division that landed on Utah Beach on June 6th, there were only 197 casualties.

Within five hours units from the 4th Infantry Division were able to link up with some of the 101st Airborne Division paratroopers that had landed behind Utah Beach in the early hours that morning.

[Pat Carry]

Thanks for the info Mark. Let us never forget the sacrifices being made on those beaches!

[kenair]

overall map of D-Day beaches

[Mark Allen M]

(hopefully I'm not mixing photos with the wrong beaches)

Omaha Beach

Omaha Beach, second beach from the west among the five landing areas of the Normandy Invasion of World War II. It was assaulted on June 6, 1944 (D-Day of the invasion), by units of the U.S. 29th and 1st infantry divisions.

The largest of the D-Day assault areas, Omaha Beach stretched over 10 km (6 miles) between the fishing port of Port-en-Bessin on the east and the mouth of the Vire River on the west. The western third of the beach was backed by a seawall 3 metres (10 feet) high, and the whole beach was overlooked by cliffs 30 metres high. There were five exits from the sand and shingle beach; the best was a paved road in a ravine leading to the resort village of Vierville-sur-Mer, two were only dirt paths, and two were dirt roads leading to the villages of Colleville-sur-Mer and Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer.

Omaha Beach was part of the invasion area assigned to the U.S. First Army, under Lieutenant General Omar Bradley. The assault sectors at Omaha were code-named (from west to east) Charlie, Dog (consisting of Green, White, and Red sections), Easy (Green and Red sections), and Fox (Green and Red sections). The beach was to be assaulted at 0630 hours by the U.S. 1st Infantry Division, with the 116th Regiment of the 29th Division attached for D-Day only. Omaha was wide enough to land two regiments side by side with armour in front, and so the 116th Regiment was to land at Dog (Green, White, and Red) and Easy Green, while the 16th Regiment, 1st Division, was to land at Easy Red and Fox Green.

The first Allied amphibious troops hit the beaches of Normandy at 6:30 a.m. on June 6, 1944. Constant air cover was flown over the vast sea armada and the assault beaches, and only three Luftwaffe airplanes were sighted the first day. For the next several weeks while the Allies strengthened and consolidated their positions on the ground, the U.S. Army Air Forces and the Royal Air Force flew close support for the beachheads, carried in supplies, and bombed and strafed German supply routes to the Normandy area. Even the heavy bombers were used for tactical, rather than their normal strategic, operations to carpet-bomb German frontline areas. The full impact of Allied air power was summed up by the German commander in Normandy in a personal letter to Hitler:

"... there is no way in which we could battle with the all-powerful enemy air forces ... without being forced to surrender territory."










USS LST-325 and USS LST-388 unloading while stranded at low tide during resupply operations Normandy 12 June 1944.

[Iclo]

Hi,

I spent some time on a cold and rainy day of december on Omaha beach few years ago, there was very few peoples there and the atmosphere was very special.
All the young boys who died there will be never forgotten.

I had planned to be there for the commemorations but a futur-ex-wife in mental crisis decided otherwise.

[Mark Allen M]

Here's a series of aerial photos. I'll try to title them as I know them. Any assistance is appreciated.


13th Squadron's F-5s & Spitfire MK XIs of the 14th Squadron Mount Farm, UK 1944.










B-26 over the Normandy area


A-20 over the Normandy invasion fleet






F-5 recon photos

[Mark Allen M]

More aerials


Pegasus Bridge, Calvados, Normandy


Omaha Beach in August of 1944. Boats and routes for bringing supplies inland.


Mulberry Harbor 3 June 12,1944


An aerial view of a bombing run in progress at Mont Lambert, France. Capturing the village was an important objective for Canadian forces as they struggled to take control of the port of Boulogne in September, 1944.


Le Fresne Camilly airfield, near the Normandy Beaches.

[Mark Allen M]

The Dutch town of Westkapelle. In October, 1944, the Allies bombed nearby dykes to flood out the Germans, putting part of the town underwater.


Pegasus Bridge and surrounding area shown about a month after D-Day. The gliders that brought the troops to capture the bridge (near the bottom of the photo) are visible nearby; this was the opening battle of D-Day. At the time this photo was taken, it was still close to the front lines. Fox holes and other earthworks for protecting tanks and vehicles are visible in the fields near the centre of the photo. Mouse over Horsa bridge, above Pegasus in the photo, and you can see a convoy of vehicles crossing.


A group of B-24 bombers flying over France shortly after the Normandy invasion.


A view of the fortified village of Galmanche, near Caen, with the various defences – including mortar positions, trenches and dugouts – marked.

[Jeremy S]

I spotted LST325 in Mark's photos, which still exists as a museum ship in Evansville, IN. I have toured it on numerous occasions.
https://lstmemorial.org/

Thank you for sharing!

[Mark Allen M]

Battle of Normandy day after day

https://www.dday-overlord.com/en/battle ... mandy/days

[lucky52]

Were any of the beaches considered less defended than the other beaches?

[Mark Allen M]

Were any of the beaches considered less defended than the other beaches?

It's certainly plausible. One would only have to study the locations terrain and importance generally to perhaps make that judgement IMO.