Omaha Beach was the Allied codename for one of the principal landing points during the Normandy landings on June 6 1944. The beach is about 3.5 miles long, from Sainte-Honorine-des-Pertes to Vierville-sur-Mer.

To the west of the beach, the American 29th Infantry Division were to land, to the east, the 1st Infantry Division. The principal objective of the Omaha Beach landing was to secure the line between Port-en-Bessin and the Vire River, before pushing south towards Saint-Lô.

The Germans had adequately prepared their defences along the obstacle-strewn beach, and the gentle downward slope gave them an excellent field of fire. Certain sections of the beach, particularly above the high-water mark, were mined. The German 352nd Division defending Omaha Beach was one of the best trained in the area. The swimming Sherman DD Tanks intended to give armoured support were mostly lost before reaching shore, due to adverse weather conditions and deployment orders that were not adequate for such conditions.

Monument on the beach

The landings at Omaha Beach resulted in heavy Allied casualties. The official record of the 1st Infantry Division stated that "Within 10 minutes of the ramps being lowered, [the leading] company had become inert, leaderless and almost incapable of action. Every officer and sergeant had been killed or wounded... It had become a struggle for survival and rescue". The division suffered over 4,000 casualties. The bulk of the casualties was caused by the probably fewer than 100 German soldiers directly defending the beach.

The invasion beaches are still known by their D-Day codenames today.

Robert Capa landed at Omaha Beach on D-Day as a photographer. Ernest Hemingway was aboard a landing craft but did not actually set foot on the beach. In later writing he not only implied that he had gone ashore, but that he had played a vital role in helping to locate the beach. Few questioned his assertions at the time, however.

See also

• Pointe du Hoc
• World War II Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial
• Saving Private Ryan