Pointe du Hoc


On cliffs between Utah Beach and Omaha Beach was a German strongpoint that Allied intelligence believed contained artillery capable of causing high casualties and disruption on the invasion.  A naval bombardment, primarily from the battleship USS Texas softened up the position.  The job of capturing the position was given to 225 Rangers in three companies under the command of Lt. Col. James Rudder.  Rudder lead the assault in place of his subordinate, Maj. Cleaveland Lytle, who had questioned the usefulness of the attack after reports from French sources that the guns had been moved.  In fact, the guns had been moved inland, on June 4th, but bad weather had prevented verification.

Landing forty minutes late due to navigational errors like so many others in the early light, the men crossed the beach and propelled their ladders up the cliff, climbing them and capturing the German defenses.  Seeing that the guns weren't here, they advanced inland, found the guns and disabled them.  Casualties mounted from a German counterattack.  Only around 90 men were left when the Rangers were relieved.  In the original plan, eight more companies of Rangers were to land here after the original three, but because of the late arrival of the original three companies, the follow-on force was diverted to Omaha Beach, where they were very useful spearheading an assault up the bluffs.    






























Gun Position





Copyright 2010 by John Hamill




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