Normandy planning

IWM content of late has been spiralling downhill somewhat - especially their dire clickbait. This is nothing more.

I saw an interesting discussion where people interpreted Hedgehogs as Hedgerows - leading to all sorts of foolish conclusions.

Hardly Monty stating the following (with emojis and caps)

"TOP SEKRIT DEE_DAH PLAN

BREK OUT BRITISH SEKTOR HUMILIATE AMERICANTS

WIN MORE MEDALS

HELLO BERLIN LOL "

 

Not to revive this thread but, Omaha is not a state it is a city in Nebraska, Utah is in fact a state. The Corps Commander for Utah was Major General “Lightning Joe” Collins who was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and as far as I know never lived in Utah. Major General Gerow was the Corps Commander for Omaha and he hailed from Virginia, and as far as I know never lived in Nebraska. I checked the assault division commanders for both beaches and neither one was from Utah or Omaha.

Mike

 

“Having visited Omaha a few times,from my understanding it must have been a real hellhole with the defenders having the upper hand.Only 5 beach exits Available and well covered by the defenders.Of the 32 DD tanks launched,only 5 reached the beach.It must have been a monumental task to reach the bluffs above the beach....little wonder this beach cost the US forces the highest casualties on the day.”

It is a myth that only 5 tanks landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day. I think Ambrose started this myth and it just won’t die!!
The following is from a post by Richard C. Anderson from Axis History Forum.

“On OMAHA Beach in the 16th Infantry sector, the 741st Tank Battalion launched 29 of its 32 DD tanks and lost 27. Two managed to land, along with three landed directly. An additional 12 M4 with 6 M4 dozers were landed with the wading tank company, along with later in the morning three from the battalion reserve and three from battalion HQ. So 29 actually landed there. The 116th Infantry had even more land in their sector. There, the DD tanks were all directly landed, the 743d Tank Battalion landed 51, plus 6 more later from the reserve and HQ.

The problem was OMAHA had the greatest concentration of antitank guns and were very effectively placed. Most of the day the 743rd remained trapped in a narrow area of the beach, hemmed in by the 88 in WN72. The Battalion Commander, Lieutenant Colonel John S. Upham, landed at H+90 with the six reserve and headquarters tanks. He was shot in the heart and mortally wounded after dismounting from his tank in an attempt to direct the fire of another tank onto the 88mm gun at WN 72. The tanks from the 741st did yeoman service in suppressing the German guns at the east end of the beach, but by the end of the day only 6 of the 29 landed were still operational. The 743d still had 37 operational at the end of the day, but curiously enough the casualties in the 116th Infantry were about the same as in the 16th.”

Mike

 

More from Richard C Anderson:
“To be precise, five DD tanks of B Company, 741st Tank Battalion, six tank dozers, and 12 wading tanks of A Company landed in the 16th Infantry sector by 0800; all 16 of C Company's DD tanks were lost in the run in. Of those 23 landed, four of the DD tanks, four of the dozers, and all 12 wading tanks were swamped, disabled, or knocked out by the end of the day. Four reserve wading tanks were landed later in the day, giving the battalion five tanks and two dozers operational.

The 743d Tank Battalion was more fortunate. All 16 DD tanks of C Company landed directly from its LCT and only one was disabled at the sea wall. B Company also landed all 16 of its successfully, but lost nine during the day. A Company successfully landed 13 wading tanks and six dozers out of 16 and 8 respectively. The battalion also landed its four reserve wading tanks later in the day so managed to get 55 ashore, but by the end of the day only had 37 DD and wading tanksand one dozer operational.

So by 0800, the two battalions had put 74 tanks ashore, with 8 more later in the day, but ended the day with just 45 operational. Thus, 37 were lost after landing, but many were to swamping, tracking in the shingle, or other mechanical causes. Perhaps half were knocked out by German gunfire.”

Mike