Battles & Wars › World War II › D-Day (Normandy landings)
Omaha Beach
June 6, 1944· Battle· Europe
Well documentedSolid records, physical evidence or scientific consensus.
The deadliest of the five D-Day landing beaches, where US troops nearly failed to get ashore on June 6, 1944.
See it on the Battles & Wars map →What happened
Troops of the US 1st and 29th Infantry Divisions landed on a curved beach below steep bluffs. Almost everything went wrong: bombers missed the defenses in cloud, many amphibious tanks sank, currents scattered landing craft, and a German division Allied intelligence had largely missed held the high ground. Small groups led by junior officers and sergeants climbed the bluffs between strongpoints, helped by destroyers firing close inshore. Estimates vary: about 2,000–2,400 Americans were killed, wounded or missing.
Why it matters
Its near-failure showed how fragile amphibious assaults were, and holding it closed the gap between the Utah beachhead and the British and Canadian beaches.
How we know
After-action reports, the Army's 1945 study 'Omaha Beachhead,' Robert Capa's photographs, German records, and the American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer, with about 9,400 graves.
Still debated
Historians debate whether a longer naval bombardment, or accepting more of Britain's specialized assault tanks, would have cut American losses.
Connections (2)
▸Omaha Beach was the costliest landing of D-Day (Normandy landings)Well documented
The connection
Of the five D-Day beaches, Omaha came closest to failure and cost the most lives. Its trouble showed the risks of the whole Normandy plan, and holding it joined the American landing at Utah to the British and Canadian beaches to the east.
When and how
Normandy coast between Vierville-sur-Mer and Colleville-sur-Mer, June 6, 1944; US V Corps' 1st and 29th Infantry Divisions against the German 352nd and 716th Divisions.
How we know
Unit after-action reports and casualty returns: about 2,000–2,400 US casualties at Omaha against roughly 200 at neighboring Utah Beach.
Debates and open questions
Casualty totals for each beach are still being revised by researchers, and how close General Omar Bradley came to diverting later waves elsewhere is debated.
▸Higgins Industries and the landing craft built the LCVPs that landed troops at Omaha BeachWell documented
The connection
Many first-wave troops at Omaha rode Higgins LCVPs from transport ships about 11 miles offshore. Each carried about 30 soldiers and dropped its bow ramp at the surf line. Rough seas, currents and German fire made the run brutal, and troops often waded ashore under machine-gun fire.
When and how
Omaha Beach, Normandy, June 6, 1944; LCVPs crewed by US Navy and Coast Guard sailors, carrying the 1st and 29th Infantry Divisions.
How we know
Navy and Army records, survivors' accounts, and photographs such as the Coast Guard's 'Into the Jaws of Death,' taken from an LCVP.
Debates and open questions
Whether launching boats so far offshore, for fear of German coastal guns, needlessly exhausted and scattered the first waves is debated.