American soldiers prepare for the four-hour run-in to Utah Beach. Many were violently seasick. In the far distance are the US destroyers, with attached barrage balloons to hinder German bombers.
The Allied planners of Operation Neptune (the invasion’s seaborne element) decided that troops should land at low tide and at dawn: this was in the hope of achieving tactical surprise.
A short aerial bombardment of the coast was to be followed by a concentrated naval bombardment. As landing craft neared the shore, rocket ships would unleash further salvoes. A final element of surprise was the use of specially invented armoured vehicles: Britain’s 79th Armoured Division of amphibious tanks were to emerge from the sea at the same time as the infantry hit the beaches.
Greatly strengthened over preceding months, the German Atlantic Wall presented a forbidding challenge to infantry landing from the sea. At high water, beach obstacles and mines were concealed; at low water, the beaches were dangerously exposed.
Many German troops were stationed in coastal Widerstandsnest, or strongpoints. These semi-underground concrete bunkers enabled them to fire their M42 machine guns through small embrasures. The guns had been carefully positioned so that they could hit every inch of beach.
The French coast was dotted with villages whose populations had remained in situ. The Allied beach plan paid scant heed to the fact that families risked being caught in one of the heaviest bombardments in history.
American soldiers prepare for the four-hour run-in to Utah Beach. Many were violently seasick. In the far distance are the US destroyers, with attached barrage balloons to hinder German bombers.