Omaha Beach

Our first day of the WW2TV tour started out on the sands Omaha Beach, We arrives shortly after low tide and learned first hand how fast the tide rises and how it creates troughs and sand bars along the shoreline. We then visited bunkers and Weiderstandnester on the bluffs above the beach. We walked the five draws, plus “Cota’s Draw”, which were the primary target for the first waves of allied troops.

While Omaha had an expected rough start, the first day was a success overall. Casualties were half of what was expected and the Germans failed in their all-or-nothing approach of stopping the invasion on the beach, Walking the along the bluffs gave you a great appreciation of how nuch coastline each German unit was expected to defend.

After completing the Omaha sector, we moved to the British commando raid on the Port of Bessan. The port was captured and was opened to allow incoming cargo as well as being the receiving point for a 75 mile fuel line coming from England. Interestingly, the Port of Bessan was used as the port of Ouistreham for an iconic single view shot in the movie The Longest Day. A cafe wall still has both names painted over each other on its wall.

After the tour day, we had a lovely dinner and walked the streets of Bayuex.