Omaha - Pointe Du Hoc..those Rangers must have been nuts...

The Omaha beach is flanked at one end by quite high cliffs - over a 100ft of what looks like sandstone and shale. Pretty much straight up. At the top was a large German gun emplacement - lots of bunkers, pillboxes and tunnels with room for 6 x 155 mm guns which would have covered both Omaha and Utah beaches if they had been allowed too. To counter this threat someone had the bright idea of landing some troops, climbing up the cliffs and then taking on the garrison and fortifications before blowing up the guns.

Having now been there I can safely say they were mad to do it - it's a bonkers climd up the cliff and the emplacements are impressive - despite the fact they had been bombed and shelled heavily for weeks leading up to the attack.

It's another extraordinairy story - they were successful but not in the way they had expected! You can Wiki the story - it's straight out of Hollywood.

From the top - the view down...I don't fancy it do you?

 

What? Now take that out...

 

More on Pointe Du Hoc later - its an incredible vista - all pock-marked with shell holes and bomb craters. Some were at least 15 ft deep.

 

More on Omaha later - have to pop into Bayeux to visit...A Cheese shop!