Bloody Omaha Beach Trivia Quiz

Answer: To link the American landings at Utah Beach to the west with the British-Canadian Landings at Gold Beach, Juno Beach and Sword Beach to the east

One of the first necessities of the Allied invasion plan was to have a united beachhead as soon as possible. However, there were certain strategic towns, cities and areas that also needed to be captured. The Allies would have to invade a broad area to capture as many strategic points as possible and reduce the impact of a German counterattack.

But it would have to be planned meticulously and executed perfectly to also have the essential requirement of a united beachhead. A deep-water port was essential for advancing on Paris, and Cherbourg, at the end of the Cotentin Peninsula, was that deep-water port.

The Americans landed at Utah Beach on the east edge of the Cotentin. They would turn right and head up the peninsula, straight for Cherbourg.

The British and Canadians would land on the beaches north of Caen, which also had to be captured for an advance on Paris. If no-one landed in-between them, Rommel's panzers could pour into the gap, splitting the Allied armies in two and hitting them hard in the flank. Due to a coastline of unclimbable cliffs, the only landing place available in between Utah beach and the British Landings was Omaha Beach. Field Marshal Rommel knew this, as he had guessed the Allies plan. And so Omaha's defences were improved at a great cost of life to the invading-Allies. NOTE: The Airborne and Glider troops also helped unite the beachhead and secure the flanks of the Invasion sector.

Answer: Explosive Soviet spears and Polish "hedgehogs"

The beach obstacles at Omaha were a combination of different defensive obstacles, some taken from a number of occupied countries. These included the Czech "hedgehog" which was simply three metre-long sections of railway track welded together, making an X formation.

The Belgian "gate" was a gate-looking mechanism which was chained to the ground in rows, strapped with mines and explosives designed to destroy or damage tanks. There was the concertina wire (rolls of barbed wire), of course along the shingle bank and defending the resistance nests. Wooden ramps and mined poles lay on the low-tide line to upturn and blow-up landing craft. Anti-tank ditches lay beyond the shingle to create an impassable object for tanks.

But hardly any tanks made it to the beach, and the ditches were actually used by the invading Americans as a makeshift trench; a place to take cover was welcomed heavily by the soldiers on Omaha. Minefields lay behind the shingle and around the anti-tank ditches.

These were mostly anti-personnel mines designed to kill infantry. All in all, a very formidable set of defenses lay in wait for the invading Allies.

Answer: Experimental Tanks

In 1940, Major-General Percy Hobart of the British Army was forced into retirement, which was linked to his unorthodox ideas about armoured warfare. In 1941, Winston Churchill was notified of Hobart's much criticized enforced retirement, and Hobart was immediately reinstated into the army to train the 11th Armoured Division. In 1942, Churchill was impressed about how Hobart had trained the 11th Armoured Div. and accordingly aligned him with the task of training the 79th Armoured Division. In 1943, due to lack of resources the 79th was on the eve of being disbanded. But Field Marshal Alan Brooke asked Hobart to convert the 79th into a unit of experimental armour. Hobart accepted and his division was renamed the 79th (Experimental) Armoured Division Royal Engineers. He came up with a number of amazing tank designs, which would answer the questions posed by the disaster at Dieppe. Amongst others there was the Crab Tank (which cleared minefields), Crocodile Tank (which had a flamethower), ARK (Armoured Ramp-Carrier, which could drop a ramp to scale AT ditches and other obstacles, and most famously, The Sherman Duplex Drive Tank, which was an amphibious tank; launched at sea and floated on the ocean surface.
Montgomery and Eisenhower were impressed. The British and Canadians used all of Hobart's inventions and the results showed in fewer casualties when passing minefields. However, due to the need for extra training, the Americans only accepted the DD tanks, refusing all others. This decision, especially on Omaha Beach, would be an expensive one. For one thing, clearing minefields without the Crab Tanks skyrocketed casualties. On Omaha Beach, almost none of the 30-odd DD tanks launched, made it to the beach anyway. Hundreds, if not, thousands of lives could have been saved by the "Funnies" on Omaha.
* Source: "Churchill's Secret Weapons: The Story of Hobart's Funnies" By Patrick Delaforce.

Answer: Heavy seas and crew error

Due to appalling weather conditions in the English Channel, the invasion had already been postponed 24 hrs from June 5 to June 6. On June 6, the weather improved enough for the invasion to go ahead. But conditions were far from perfect. The wind was strong and bitterly cold.

The sky was overcast and there was low cloud and fog. The seas were so incredibly rough that the DD tanks were immediately swept off course and drifted westward of the beach. The crews then decided to turn parralel to the beach to get back on course.

The DD tanks, however, were not designed to sail parralel to the beach with the swell hitting them on their side. As a result, the water-proof canvas was unable to keep the tanks afloat, and they sank.

Answer: 352nd Infantry Division

The powerful Wehrmacht 352nd Infanterie-Division was activated in November, 1943. After greatly improving the beach defences along the Normandy coastline the 352nd were primarily stationed in reserve at Saint Lo. Rommel fought for them to be placed in Normandy in case it was the invasion target area. After pleading his point with Hitler about destroying the Allies as they landed, he was authorised to move them to Omaha Beach. Allied intelligence failed to notice this, believing they were fighting against old men and reserves. They got a shock when they found themselves being slaughtered by the powerful 916th Grenadier Regiment manning the defences. The 352nd almost succeeded in forcing the Allies back into the sea. They were so effective and Allied casualties so high that the Allies almost abandoned the Omaha Bridgehead.

* Source: "352. Infanterie-Division" by Marcus Wendell (2004).

Answer: The tide

The men were told they were being dropped into the shallows and "would hardly get their feet wet." Many, however, were dropped off in 6-8 feet deep water and had to swim and wade a further 150-200 yards to the shoreline due to inconsistant sand banks. That was, if they didn't drown straight away.

The exhausted men were cut down as the fast-rising tide came in. Many men drowned, most unable to move due to their wounds.

Answer: US 1st Infantry Div. "Big Red One"

The "Big Red One" had seen extensive action in North Africa, especially around Kasserine Pass. They also saw action in Operation Husky, the invasion and liberation of the Italian Island of Sicily. After being "pulled back" to England for training, the BR1 invaded Normandy, helped free St.Lo before taking part in the great sweep across France.

They penetrated the Siegfred Line and took Aachen as well, before going on to cross the Rhine at Remagen and aid in the capture of prisoners in the Ruhr Pocket.

Answer: 07:30

It took around 60 minutes for the shell-shocked, saturated and horrified men of C company, 2nd Ranger Battalion, to overcome the defences. After slowly building at the shingle for quite a while, officers, NCOs and even privates organised attacks up the bluff and got behind the German bunkers, nests and trenches.

Answer: To take the Vierville Draw, move up along the coast road, take Pointe de la Percée and meet up with the Rangers landing at Point Du Hoc

A unit of Rangers landed at Point Du Hoc, up along the coast from Omaha Beach. They had to scale the vertical cliffs under heavy fire from German defenders at the top of the cliff. Their objective was to capture five 155mm guns threatening Omaha Beach and Utah Beach.

They were to destroy the guns and create a perimeter. The Rangers landing on Omaha had to blitz through the defences to meet up with their fellows. If the Point Du Hoc Rangers failed, the attack from the land by the Omaha Rangers allowed a second chance. On D-day, however, the guns had been moved by the Germans. An outfit of Rangers found the guns and rendered them useless with phosphorus grenades.

The Rangers on Omaha, however, took too heavy casualties and had to worry about getting off the beach, let alone worrying about assaulting Point Du Hoc from behind.

Answer: The Allied assault had been hurled back into the sea.

The Germans had a vantage position at Pointe de la Percée, on the cliffs at the western end of Omaha Beach. The western end was where German resistance was strongest and the most allied casualties occurred. Thus the Germans could see heavy German fire, tanks burning and Allied soldiers falling and taking cover for hours, and thought the assault had been stopped.

It was this defensive vantage point that the Omaha Rangers were supposed to take while hooking up the coast road to attack Point Du Hoc from the rear.