Fly-by - World War II Photography

31/03/2024

FORGOTTEN... BUT NOT FORGOTTEN... 31-3-1943

On 31 March 1943 the VIII Bomber Command of the U.S. Army Air Forces executed Mission No. 48, a bomb raid on the Wilton-Fijenoord Shipyards in Schiedam. A total of six Bombardment Groups of the VIII Bomber Command participated in the mission. 78 B-17F Flying Fortresses and 24 B-24D Liberators took off from various airbases in the UK, all carrying a deadly bomb load of numerous 1.000 lbs. General Purpose bombs.

Of the 102 bombers that took off that day, four failed to return resulting in 16 deaths, 8 wounded and 10 missing crew members. Some other bombers returned early due to mechanical failures or battle damage. Only 33 bombers reached the target area and bombed their bombs over Schiedam and Rotterdam. The other bombers aborted the mission due to overcast clouds over the target area.

Due to various unforeseen circumstances, the mission ended in enormous tragedy. Many of the bombs that were dropped missed the target and ended up in the Bospolder-Tussendijken district in Rotterdam, causing at least 450 deaths. In the shadow of the German bombing of Rotterdam on May 14, 1940, this bombing is called "the forgotten bombardment".

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In the previous months I've been researching hundreds of documents about this mission. I created a website (www.rotterdam 1943.nl) about Mission No. 48 (the raid om Rotterdam, 31 March 1943). At this website you will find extensive information on the mission.

Follow my page: Rotterdam 31 March 1943 to stay tuned for updates.

04/01/2024

For all our fans interested in aviation and WWII, this is really a “must see”! Great stuff by Joost de Raaf.

Mission 760: The Largest Air Strike of the WarWith Joost de RaafPart of 8th Air Force Week 2 on WW2TVhttps://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDG3XyxGI5lDgqVS0YC0g...

12/07/2023

03/01/2022

Close to the museum in Plougonvelin the M.K.B. Holtzdorf can be found. This battery is also known as the battery Les Rospects (Re 305) and is the first battery to protect the entrance of the Rade de Brest. It had 15 cm S.K.C./28 guns which were operated by 1./M.A.A. 262. Her sister, the battery Kerbonn stands at the other side of the Rade at Pointe de Pen Hir. This type M182 bunker was used to house a 150 cm searchlight.

(48.32812, -4.76160)

(c) Rob Hendriks - www.fly-by.nl

03/01/2022

75 Years D-Day commemoration para drops over Dropzone O La Fière, close to Sainte-Mère-Église, Normandy on June 9th 2019.
(c) Rob Hendriks - www.fly-by.nl

06/12/2021

December 7, 1941 - 80 years
Pearl Harbor- Lest we forget 🌺

05/12/2021

Last surviving officer of the Band of Brothers, Edward D. Shames, age 99, passed away peacefully at home on December 3, 2021.

Ed was born in Norfolk, Virginia on June 13, 1922, to the late David and Sadie Shames. In August, 1942, Ed was called to duty in World War II. During the war, he was a member of the renowned Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division now known globally as the “Band of Brothers.” Ed was involved in some of the most important battles of the war. He made his first combat jump into Normandy on D-Day as part of Operation Overlord. He volunteered for Operation Pegasus and then fought with Easy Company in Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge in Bastogne. Ed gained a reputation as a stubborn and very outspoken soldier who demanded the highest of standards from himself and his fellow soldiers. He not only earned the respect of his men, but was recognized by command for outstanding leadership and on June 13, 1944, he received a battlefield commission to Second Lieutenant. This made him the first non-commissioned officer in the Third Battalion to receive a commission in Normandy. In Germany, he was the first member of the 101st to enter Dachau concentration camp, just days after its liberation. When Germany surrendered, Ed and his men of Easy Company entered Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest where Ed managed to acquire a few bottles of cognac, a label indicating they were “for the Fuhrer’s use only.” Later, he would use the cognac to toast his oldest son’s Bar Mitzvah. Ed was the last surviving officer and oldest surviving member of the “Band of Brothers.” On November 6, 2021, the American Veterans Center at its annual Veterans Conference and Honors program gave a final toast to Ed and presented him with the distinguished Doolittle Tokyo Raiders Wings of Valor Award.
After the war, Ed worked for the National Security Agency as an expert on Middle East affairs. He also served in the U.S. Army Reserve Division and later retired as a Colonel

06/06/2021

77 Years - D-DAY June 6th 1944
Lest we forget 🌺

03/01/2021

The Musée Mémoires 39-45 in Plougonveilin is located in the Graf Spee naval artillery battery command post. It consists of two standard bunker plans, connected by a tunnel. The lower level is a type M 151 bunker, which housed the garrison in charge of close-in defence. The four upper levels, S 414 type, were devoted to the control of the four 28 cm guns situated around 1.500 metres away inland. In this part of the bunker were accommodation for the technicians, rooms for the ventilation system and generators and a signals centre. The targeting equipment was in the top sections: rangefinder, goniometer and parallax corrector.

Brest was a strategic harbour for the German forces. Its purpose was to shelter part of the German fleet, notably its warships and submarines during maintenance. Construction began on the Graf Spee battery as early as July 1940 to deny access to the bay of Brest to any enemy warship. Its size and the calibre of its artillery made it the most powerful battery in the Finistère Département. The battery covered 22 hectares, the four main guns, 28cm S.K.L40 models, were protected in their emplacements. They could engage targets at a range of almost 30km. In addition to the 13 anti-aircraft guns, there were around ten machine-gun nests, three gr***de launchers and an anti-tank gun. Many concrete shelters were also built: a first aid station, an ammunition dump, accommodation shelters, a kitchen, a water storage tank and a signals shelter. On the surface many wooden huts were carefully camouflaged in an attempt to deceive Allied aircraft.

In 1944 air raids increased in number and intensity and the decision was made to build concrete emplacements to protect the guns. When the GIs liberated Brittany, only one of these had been completed. In August 1944 the US Army approached Brest from the North and the East. The three guns that were still in their open circular emplacements aimed at the invaders and crushed them with their 240 kilo shells. The American Staff quickly reacted and sent its special forces to capture the position: they were the 2nd and 5th Ranger Battalions, who had taken the Pointe du Hoc in Normandy on June the 6th. 1.300 GIs, guided and supported by 3.000 Resistance fighters from Nord Finistère began their difficult movement towards the battery. American soldiers caught under the fire of the 28 cm guns nicknamed the shells ʺChoo Choo – the locomotiveʺ, because of their size, the noise they made and the impressive blast effect they had when they flew over their heads. The position was captured on September 9, 1944 after violent combats causing many casualties: 64 Americans, 22 Resistance fighters, close to 300 Germans and over 60 civilians died.

GPS: 48.33491, -4.76201

25/12/2020

Four days before Christmas Eve 2015, Dick Jansen from Burgum, the Netherlands, got the idea to burn candle lights on the war graves in his hometown, just as it had been done for 25 years at the Canadian cemetery in Holten. His second thought was: why not do this in all of the Netherlands? He set up a Facebook action on the page of Keep Them Rolling, with the idea ´if 15 to 20 people also do this, it would be great ´But it turned out very differently ... the action on social media was massively picked up and shared by many people. The response was unbelievable, and on Christmas Eve there were candles at war cemeteries in over 140 places in the Netherlands. A start of a new Dutch tradition?

In 2016, light was placed at 263 locations in the Netherlands. In 2017, more than 284 locations burned lights at a war grave. In 2018 there where 335 wargraves wth a light. Last year the light action has become even bigger on more than 445 wargraves locations was burning a light. And not only in the Netherlands - also abroad. Hundreds of people are now burning a light on Christmas Eve. In our home town Uden all 703 graves at the Uden War Cemetery had light.

GPS: 51.66381, 5.61243

17/12/2020

The Mémorial du Mardasson is a monument honouring the memory of American soldiers wounded or killed during World War II's Battle of the Bulge. Designed in the shape of a five-pointed American star, it is located near Bastogne in the Luxembourg province of Belgium. The first step toward the memorial was undertaken on July 4, 1946, with the presentation of some earth from the site to U.S. President Harry Truman. The dedication was on July 16, 1950.

The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Counteroffensive, was a major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II, and took place from December 16, 1944 to January 25, 1945. It was launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in eastern Belgium, northeast France, and Luxembourg, towards the end of the war in Europe. The offensive was intended to stop Allied use of the Belgian port of Antwerp and to split the Allied lines, allowing the Germans to encircle and destroy four Allied armies and force the Western Allies to negotiate a peace treaty in the Axis powers' favour.

The Germans achieved a total surprise attack on the morning of December 16, 1944, due to a combination of Allied overconfidence, preoccupation with Allied offensive plans, and poor aerial reconnaissance due to bad weather. American forces bore the brunt of the attack and incurred their highest casualties of any operation during the war. The battle also severely depleted Germany's armoured forces, and they were largely unable to replace them. German personnel and, later, Luftwaffe aircraft (in the concluding stages of the engagement) also sustained heavy losses. The Germans had attacked a weakly defended section of the Allied line, taking advantage of heavily overcast weather conditions that grounded the Allies' overwhelmingly superior air forces.

Fierce resistance on the northern shoulder of the offensive, around Elsenborn Ridge, and in the south, around Bastogne, blocked German access to key roads to the northwest and west that they counted on for success. Columns of armour and infantry that were supposed to advance along parallel routes found themselves on the same roads. This, and terrain that favoured the defenders, threw the German advance behind schedule and allowed the Allies to reinforce the thinly placed troops. The farthest west the offensive reached was the village of Foy-Nôtre-Dame, south east of Dinant, being stopped by the U.S. 2nd Armoured Division on December 24, 1944. Improved weather conditions from around December 24 permitted air attacks on German forces and supply lines, which sealed the failure of the offensive. On December 26 the lead element of Patton's U.S. Third Army reached Bastogne from the south, ending the siege. Although the offensive was effectively broken by December 27, when the trapped units of 2nd Panzer Division made two break-out attempts with only partial success, the battle continued for another month before the front line was effectively restored to its position prior to the attack. In the wake of the defeat, many experienced German units were left severely depleted of men and equipment, as survivors retreated to the defences of the Siegfried Line.

The Germans' initial attack involved 410.000 men; just over 1.400 tanks, tank destroyers, and assault guns; 2.600 artillery pieces; 1.600 anti-tank guns; and over 1.000 combat aircraft, as well as large numbers of other armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs). These were reinforced a couple of weeks later, bringing the offensive's total strength to around 450.000 troops, and 1.500 tanks and assault guns. Between 63.222 and 98.000 of these men were killed, missing, wounded in action, or captured. For the Americans, out of a peak of 610.000 troops, 89.000 became casualties out of which some 19.000 were killed. The "Bulge" was the largest and bloodiest single battle fought by the United States in World War II and the third-deadliest campaign in American history.

09/12/2020

In the morning of November 21st 1944 Tempest V EJ802 (call sign JJ-..) of 274 Squadron RAF took off from Volkel airfield for a combat air patrol mission over Venlo. Squadron Leader John Rolleston Heap was pilot on this flight. Soon after take-off Heap experienced an engine failure and reported he was going to return to Volkel. When we saw he was unable to make it to the airfield he made an emergency landing just outside the boundary of the airfield. The Tempest hit the ground very hard and smashed into an earth wall. The aircraft broke into pieces and caught fire. S/Ldr. Heap was hurled out of the cockpit and was killed instantly. He was buried at the Roman-Catholic Cemetery in Odiliapeel where he still rests.

07/12/2020

The old railroad line between Boxtel and Wesel was opened in 1878. At the beginning of WWII it was this line that was used by an German amoured train on May 10, 1940 to drop troops behind the Dutch defense line. Later that day the train derailed near Mill due to the asparagus barricade. (The full story can be found elsewhere on our page) The line, which is now known as “Het Duitse Lijntje” (The German Line) became a valuable way for the Germans to transport troops and ammunition.
Right after the German invasion of 1940 there were plans to create a Nachtlandeplatz near Volkel, which eventually happened in the latter part of 1940 and the first part of 1941. This was one of the airbases which was created to defend the Ruhr area from allied air attacks. Of course one needs ammunition for planes and AA guns. This was transported here by train, for which the German line was used.

Because the Germans were afraid for air attacks on the munition trains the platforms for unloading were camouflaged. Both sides of the tracks had walls, where in between the carriages were placed. A large canvas covered the structure, on which doors and windows were painted. This covered the train completely. The foundations of a number of these walls still remain and one of these is made visible here. The iron construction shows how tall the walls were.

GPS: 51.67140, 5.71620

27/11/2020

Stolpersteine (Stumblestones) are memorials to all victims of the N**i regime, people who were persecuted and murdered in the war. It is a project that the German sculptor-artist Gunter Demnig (1947, Berlin) started in 1995. He puts the memorials on sidewalks in front of the homes of people expelled or deported by the N**is. Demnig calls it Stolpersteine because you stumble over it with your head and your heart, and you have to bend to read the text. The brass plates, measuring ten by ten centimeters, are stamped with name, date of birth, date of deportation and date and place of death. There are now about 75.000 Stolpersteine in 1.250 towns and villages. There are approximately 2.750 in the Netherlands. The artist is en route all year round to place a memorial stone anywhere in Europe. He prefers to always place the first stone (s) himself.

In this album I will place photos and information on Stolpersteine we come across.

24/11/2020

On September 21st 1944, when Operation Market Garden was in full swing Dakota KG579 took off from RAF Down Ampney at 13:15h for a re-supply mission over Arnhem. After the drop, during which the aircraft was slightly damaged by FLAK, the Dakota climbed to 4.000ft. When the aircraft was hit by cannon fire, the crew was under the impression it was FLAK they heard. Then a German FW.190 was seen on starboard side, which made them realise the Dakota was under attack by enemy aircraft. Soon Navigator P/O Clark noticed approximately 15 Focke-Wulf FW.190s of 1./JG 26 coming inbound. At that time these FW.190s operated from an airfield near Krefeld. Evasive action was made by the flight crew and out of the total attacking force only four hits were registered resulting in a small fire underneath the centre section of the wings. During the second attack by the Focke-Wulf force multiple hits were registered on starboard side causing an engine fire. The Dakota went into a steep dive, apparently out of control.

On the instructions of Navigator P/O Clark all four Air Despatchers L/Cpl Pilson, L/Cpl Moorcroft, L/Cpl Harrabin and Drv. Everett as well as Wireless Operator P/O Birlison bailed out. Navigator P/O Clark who had been wounded to his legs crawled to the rear of the aircraft, which was pretty hard due to the angle of the diving Dakota. During his way to the door more hits from the FW.190s were registered. Eventually P/O Clark got out head first. On the way down six FW.190s attacked the parachutists making several strafing runs. Both Wireless Operator P/O Birlison and Air Despatcher L/Cpl Pilson were hit multiple times and killed in the action. Both landed near the Gasthuisstraat in Langenboom. P/O Clark realised he was under attack and swinged violently hanging on his parachute evading the cannon fire from the FW.190s. Three attempt were made by the Focke-Wulfs and on the last attempt one of the FW.190s passed within 2 ft of the parachute. P/O Clark could see the pilot quite clearly laughing. The slipstream of the aircraft caused his chute to collapse but this opened again at around 500 ft after which Clark safely landed in the village Zeeland. Whilst undoing his harness he saw four FW.190s diving down towards him. He quickly rolled away and saw several cannon strikes about 5 of 6 yards away in the grass. Eventually the enemy aircraft were engaged by allied FLAK after which the FW.190s disengaged.

Just like Navigator P/O Clark, the other three Air Despatchers survived the strafing attacks by the FW.190s and also landed in the village Zeeland. The two remaining crew members of the Dakota were less fortunate. While battling the controls of the Dakota in an attempt to land at the former Fliegerhorst Volkel they crashed within the perimeter of the airfield at 17:30h. Both the Canadian Pilot Officer David Webb and Flight Sergeant Denis Plear were killed in the accident.

21/11/2020

Konzentrationslager Dachau was a N**i concentration camp opened on March 22nd 1933, which was initially intended to hold political prisoners. It is located on the grounds of an abandoned munitions factory northeast of the medieval town of Dachau, about 16 km northwest of Munich, in southern Germany. After its opening by Heinrich Himmler, its purpose was enlarged to include forced labor, and, eventually, the imprisonment of Jews, German and Austrian criminals, and finally foreign nationals from countries that Germany occupied or invaded. The Dachau camp system grew to include nearly 100 sub-camps, which were mostly work camps or Arbeitskommandos, and were located throughout southern Germany and Austria. The main camp was liberated by U.S. forces on 29 April 1945.

Prisoners lived in constant fear of brutal treatment and terror detention including standing cells, floggings, the so-called tree or pole hanging, and standing at attention for extremely long periods. There were 32.000 documented deaths at the camp, and thousands that are undocumented. Approximately 10.000 of the 30.000 prisoners were sick at the time of liberation.

In the postwar years, the Dachau facility served to hold SS soldiers awaiting trial. After 1948, it held ethnic Germans who had been expelled from eastern Europe and were awaiting resettlement, and also was used for a time as a United States military base during the occupation. It was finally closed in 1960. There are several religious memorials within the Memorial Site, which is open to the public.

We visited the site en route to our holiday location in 2014, but unfortunately in was already closed when we arrived. However we did take the opportunity to take some photos of this impressive site from outside the fences.

16/11/2020

During the commemorations of 75 years D-Day in 2019 a re-enactment camp was set up near the Overlord Museum in Colleville-sur-Mer. From June 5th till 10th a lot scenes were recreated by groups of re-enactors representing the various allied belligerents.

A few times a day multiple tanks, trucks and troop carriers drove through the fields near the museum. Some of the vehicles belong to the museum. One of the highlights were the Sd.Kfz. 9 FAMO 18 ton Schwerer Zugkraftwagen.

14/11/2020

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.129961212229677&type=3

The Battle of Mill was a day long struggle in and around the Dutch village of Mill along the Peel-Raamstelling (Peel-Raam Defense Line) on May 10th 1944, the first day of the invasion of the Netherlands. Although the Germans broke through, they suffered heavy casualties and were delayed in their advance by one day.

German forces favored an attack on Mill in North Brabant for several reasons. The eastern approach was covered by thick forest, there was no swampland in front, and once inside there would be a number of roads and nearby railways that could be used to push westward. Covering the Peel-Raamstelling in the area was an anti-tank ditch (Defensiekanaal) lined with barbed wire and 47 casemates. The line was manned by 2 battalions, equipped with four 57mm field guns. These were supported by an artillery battalion station west of Mill, armed with twelve 84mm field guns. A company of engineers was also stationed in the area, responsible for barricading roads and prepping bridges for demolition. They were equipped with a special railway barricade referred to as "asparagus". During the battle smaller units would be ordered to reinforce the position at Mill. It was planned that they be backed up by the Dutch 3rd Army Corps, but this was not to be. Overall, the Dutch would utilise approximately 2.000 men.

The Germans planned to spearhead the assault with two trains carrying the 3rd battalion of the 481st regiment. They were to be shortly thereafter joined by the rest of the 256th Infantry Division. However, issues with transportation over the Maas river would mean that the whole division wouldn't reach Mill until noon. They would be without their heavy artillery.

The German armoured train and troop train passed through the border unopposed and arrived in the town of Zeeland at 04:30lt. The Dutch forces, unaware of the invasion, had been completely surprised and didn't have time to open fire. The German troops disembarked at the Zeeland train station and radioed that they had successfully pe*****ted the Dutch lines. Disappointed that they hadn't made contact with the Dutch, the armoured train was sent back to the border. Now fully aware of the situation, Dutch engineers installed the asparagus barricade over the tracks and reinforced it with several mines.

Unable to stop in time, the armoured train crashed into the obstruction, derailing and sending the first carriage into the ditch. The small unit on board quickly disembarked and captured two away-facing casemates. They were then pinned down by rifle and machine gun fire, and retreated to the train. Unable to pe*****te the armor plating with their machine guns and rifles, the Dutch called in artillery support. This forced the Germans to take cover in the ditch, unable to effectively return fire. At around 05:00lt, General Adrianus Antonius van Nijnatten, the commander of the 3rd Army Corps, telephoned the Dutch general headquarters to report that the Germans had seized a bridge at Gennep intact and that a train had broken through near Mill. He was authorised to dispatch the 2nd Hussars-Motorcyclist Regiment to reinforce the town.

Meanwhile, a company of Germans that had been dropped off in Zeeland headed northeast to flank the Dutch casemates on the defense line. They ran into the artillery battalion, which was equally surprised to see them. The Dutch quickly turned their guns and opened fire. The Germans sustained heavy casualties and after about an hour decided to withdraw to nearby woods.

Another company sneaked through unoccupied trenches and launched an attack on the Dutch casemates at the road between Mill and Volkel. The Dutch sustained some casualties, but returned fire, forcing the Germans to withdraw to the troop train. German forces then advanced along the rail line towards Mill. Along the way they encountered 10 casemates, whose weapons were pointed southeast and were caught completely by surprise. The Germans promptly captured nine of them. They flanked the tenth one and captured most of its crew, but one soldier refused to surrender and slammed the door shut. He then proceeded to fire wildly through the casemate's loopholes, forcing the Germans to back off.

At 07:30lt the 2nd Hussars-Motorcyclist Regiment found the operational German troop train south of Mill. Armed with anti-tank guns and heavy machine guns, they quickly disabled the locomotive and boarded the train. Inside they found Dutch uniforms that had been used by commandos to take the border posts. The hussars set the train on fire as they departed.

In the north, the Germans launched an attack on a Dutch company stationed in a small forest. By 11:00lt, after several hours of fighting with gr***des and flamethrowers, they cleared the area and moved up to the railway. At noon the rest of the German force arrived, engaging the Dutch defense line. The armored train detachment, still trapped in the ditch, prepared to breakout.

Around 14:00lt, the Dutch Hussars appeared to reinforce the line. Some relieved the soldier who had single-handedly defended his casemate from the Germans, and then proceeded to recapture the three adjacent to him. A German recon squad appeared, but was forced to retreat under heavy fire from the hussars. Had they found the armored train soldiers and attempted to link up with them, the entire defensive line would have been compromised. Artillery support from the battalion west of Mill check the Germans' advance. Frustrated by this lack of progress, Lieutenant General Friedrich Weber ordered an all out assault on the line. The Germans were forced to delay, though, because their heavy artillery had still not crossed the Maas river. Instead, Weber ordered a probing assault along the railway. Some Dutch casemates were destroyed by anti-tank guns, while in the village a German machine gun nest was neutralised by a field gun.

By 18:00lt, heavy German howitzers arrived, backed up by an infantry regiment. The Germans prepared to launch their assault. 37 Junkers Ju-88s attacked the northern portion of the defense line, but failed to kill any Dutch soldiers or destroy any casemates. The infantry then launched its attack, and heavy fighting ensued. By 22:00lt the Germans had established a wide gap in the Peel-Raamstelling. As the Dutch retreated the Germans linked up with the armoured train unit, who they at first misidentified as Dutch soldiers. A rearguard covered the Dutch withdrawal to the Zuid-Willemsvaart (canal) until 04:00lt on May 11th, while heavier fighting continued in the north.

Over the course of the fighting the Dutch suffered 30 killed and 50 wounded. In the village, 9 civilians were killed. While figures for the Germans are incomplete, it is estimated that they sustained over 500 casualties. The Dutch defense had allowed for the escape of larger forces further into Fortress Holland, and delayed the Germans progress by one day. But with the Peel-Raamstelling breached, they could now advance into the country.

13/11/2020

This concrete framework is the remains of a farm hangar. Volkel Air Base was built by the Germans during World War II. Originally there were 43 hangars built on Fliegerhorst Volkel, including 9 farm hangars. The latter were so named because windows and doors were painted on the outer walls and they had a tiled roof. This was done in order to camouflage the hangar function. However, the effect of this camouflage was almost nullified by the presence of the wide taxi tracks that led from the hangars to the runways. In September 1944, the retreating German army tried to make the airfield useless for the Allies. They did this by blowing up all hangars. Only this concrete frame and an intact hangar along the Uden-Mill road have survived. This farm hangar on the Zeelandsedijk (formerly Adolf Hilterstrasse) was T-shaped, had a width of 44 meters and a depth of 26.5 meters. It could accommodate a twin-engined Ju-88 night fighter or two or three Messerschmidt Bf-109 fighters.

Where to find this? GPS: 51.65998, 5.67414

(c) Rob Hendriks - www.fly-by.nl

06/11/2020

Omaha Beach was the Allied code name for one of the five (Utah , Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword) landing zones for the Normandy Landings on June 6th, 1944. The beach is about five kilometers long, from Sainte-Honorine to Vierville-sur-Mer. The US 29th Infantry Division would land in the western section, and the 1st Infantry Division in the eastern section. The main objective was to conquer the area between Port-en-Bessin and the river Vire , after which it was possible to advance southwards in the direction of Saint-Lô.

The Germans had prepared their defense well. Everywhere below the high water mark there were obstacles on the beach and some parts of the area, especially above the high water mark, were covered with landmines. In addition, the gently sloping beach provided an excellent view for the defenders who hid themselves in bunkers spread over the dunes. Initially, the area was defended by a hodgepodge of troops from Poland and Russia, but just before the invasion they were replaced by the German 352nd Infantry Division. This was among the best trained troops in the area.

The landing on Omaha Beach resulted in major Allied losses. The preliminary bombardments and shelling were inadequate and had caused little damage. The rough seas disrupted the organization of the landing as most of the troops landed at unplanned locations. Of the 29 Sherman A4-D4 DD , a floating tank, 27 were lost on landing, leaving the infantry with little fire support. The soldiers from the landing craft had to wade through shallow water up to a hundred meters to reach the beach. According to the 1st Division's war diary, all of the division's officers and sergeants were injured or dead within ten minutes. Without their leaders the division didn't respond to anything.

After an hour, the men were still on the beach, covering for heavy machine gun fire coming from the Widerstandsnesten. In the second wave of landings, some troops landed relatively unscathed at the Dog White beach section. With these troops, Brigadier General Norman Cota was able to force the first major breakthrough through the German lines of Omaha Beach at 9:00lt and to secure a beach entrance. The defenses were broken in several places that day and the remaining Germans withdrew to the hinterland on June 7th.

The Americans ultimately counted more than 3.000 dead and wounded, 2.000 of them in the first hours of the invasion. Research by BBC documentary makers in 2007 indicated that these losses were likely much higher and that in the first eighteen hours of the invasion, 4.500 to 5.000 people were killed and injured on Omaha Beach.