France
The D-Day Battlefields
UTAH Beach
The most westerly landing sector on D-Day, UTAH Beach was a late addition to the Operation Overlord plan as Allied Commanders realised that it would be highly advantageous to land troops on the Cotentin Peninsula and seal off Cherbourg to prevent the Germans from reinforcing the city, which was already heavily defended. Capturing its deep water port, the nearest to the landing grounds, and getting it up and running as soon as possible was a priority for the Allies.
Initially though, the core of the US forces coming ashore in this sector would push inland across the marshes and flooded fields immediately behind the coast and link-up with the parachutists of the 82nd and 101st Airborne who had been tasked with securing vital towns, crossroads, causeways and bridges. Just like at the other beaches, a vast amount of additional men, armour and materiel would have to be continually fed through UTAH to reinforce the Allied war effort.
The amphibious landing here was planned in four waves, beginning at 06:30 hrs, the first of which would go in minutes after the coastal defences had been softened-up by naval guns and aerial bombing. The men in the first landing craft would make their assault after low water on a rising tide and, due to the long stretch of shoreline incorporating all the D-Day beaches, troops assaulting UTAH and neighbouring OMAHA would arrive on shore an hour earlier than their British and Canadian counterparts further east.
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Warships in action: Shell cases litter the The deck of USS Hobson and the big guns of USS Nevada let-rip.
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Having been alerted about 03:30 hrs on June 6th, the German Navy attacked the invasion fleet but the enemy`s only real success was that two of its torpedo boats, operating out of Le Havre, managed to sink the Norwegian destroyer HNoMs Svenner, while off the coast in the British SWORD sector. An S-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy as HMS Shark (GO3), she had been loaned to the exiled Royal Norwegian Navy in early 1944 and was the only Allied ship to be sunk by German naval activity on the morning of D-Day.
Svenner was struck amidships and the explosion broke her back, killing 32 Norwegian and one British sailor. Another 15 wounded were among the 185 rescued before she sank to the bottom. In 2003, Svenner`s anchor was recovered from the wreck and now forms 'The Svenner Memorial' at Hermanville-sur-Mer. |
Well before the main force began the assault on UTAH, a landing was made on the Îles Saint-Marcouf, a pair of small islets approximately 6.5 km (4.0 mi) east of the Cotentin peninsula`s east coast and in direct line to the landing area. Intelligence had suggested that a casemate there served as an observation post. At 04:30 hrs on 6 June 1944, four US soldiers, armed only with knives, swam ashore from two-man canoes. When they had verified that the islands were unoccupied, 132 troops from 4th and 24th Squadrons of the U.S. 4th Cavalry Group landed on the islands to secure the approaches to UTAH. Although they faced no opposition, the US troops suffered 19 casualties, killed and wounded, from mines that the Germans had sown.
On the morning of 6 June, just 20 minutes before the first landing craft appeared out of the murk, around 300 Martin B-26 Marauders began their bombing run, and because of the low cloud base, the pilots opted to drop to their loads from relatively modest altitudes of between 4,000 and 6,000 feet (1,200 to 1,800 m). The tactic proved highly effective unlike the pre-landing bombing run at OMAHA. Fittingly, one of these aircraft `Dinah Might`, is immaculately preserved within the UTAH Beach Museum in a well lit purpose-built hangar.
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Above right: Martin B-26 Marauder, serial number 42-107685 / ER-V, of the 450th Bomb Squadron, 322nd Bomb Group, 9th Air Force, overflying ships heading for Normandy on D-Day. This was one of the many aircraft tasked with destroying gun installations and coastal defences covering the US beaches. The other images show a bomber crew of the 387th Bomb Group after returning to base in England following an early morning low-level bomb run on D-Day. Their B-26 is `Heavenly Body`, serial number 131664. The document being signed and a section of the plane`s nose gun have been cut out of the images by the censor. (Both © Roger Freeman Collection/USAF). `Dinah Might`s front and rear machine guns are pictured below.
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Gales and strong currents pushed the first wave of assault craft about 2,000 yards (1.8 km) south of their intended landing zone at Les Dunes de Varreville but the first senior officer ashore, Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr. quickly assessed that this location was actually preferable as it was less-heavily defended and had been well-plastered by the bombing. Roosevelt, the eldest son of President Theodore Roosevelt, is famously attributed with saying "We’ll start the war from right here", and ordered the follow-up waves to be re-routed.
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The shot on the left shows troops of the 359th Infantry Regiment on board LCI(L) 326 bound for UTAH Beach. The vessel`s commander, Lieutenant Samuel W. Allison USCGR, was later awarded the Silver Star for his actions on D-Day. Having landed troops in the face of determined opposition, he positioned off-shore. However, as the number of casualties mounted and congestion on the beach increased, he realised that the services of a control boat would be needed and volunteered, remaining close to shore from where he helped alleviate the chaos for the remainder of the initial assault.
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These shots of troops piling ashore at UTAH on D-Day are from the US National Archives.
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Apart from enemy fire, obstacles and mines, the main problem at UTAH was the shallow gradient of the beach which made unloading exceedingly slow. Landing craft had difficulty driving up to the water`s edge to unload and many had to wait until the tide changed before extricating themselves. Although the sand was firm for the most part, some soft pools were deep enough to trap vehicles, including tanks as they headed towards the beach exits.
Although the sand dunes have shifted over the years, many of the German beach defences can still be seen here.
Above: Troops and armoured vehicles including a column of DD swimming tanks make their way onto the beach.
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Medics treat some of the wounded at UTAH while shells from a distant German artillery battery explode on the beach.
Forces landing on UTAH cleared the immediate area in less than an hour and penetrated 6 miles (9.7 km) inland by the close of D-Day. Although the 4th Infantry Division did not meet all their D-Day objectives, partly because they had arrived too far to the south, they landed 21,000 troops at the cost of less than 300 killed, around 60 of whom were classed as missing. However, possibly in excess of 1,000 US Navy and US Army personnel were lost in training on 27/28th April during a `friendly fire` incident, when German E-boats made a night-time attack on tank landing ships (LSTs). The 14,000 Airborne troops arriving in Normandy on 6 June by parachute and glider fared far worse than their countrymen stepping ashore at UTAH Beach, suffering around 2,500 casualties. German losses are unknown.
Slapton Sands in early Spring 1944 - the edge of a Sherman DD tank is visible on the left.
Exercise `Tiger`, or Operation `Tiger`, was the code-name for one in a series of large-scale rehearsals for the D-Day Landings on Slapton Sands in Devon. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander, felt that it would be advantageous if the men had a taste of real battle conditions therefore live rounds were fired above the heads of the troops as they came ashore on 27 April. In addition, a large-scale naval bombardment had been scheduled to take place 50 minutes before the landings, however, due to a series of delays and a breakdown in communication, some troops arrived during the bombardment. It was rumoured that as many as 450 men were killed or wounded.
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Then, in darkness during the early hours of 28 April, nine Cherbourg-based E-Boats on patrol stumbled across Convoy T-4 in Lyme Bay and immediately launched an attack. The convoy comprised eight LSTs carrying vehicles and combat engineers of the 1st Engineer Special Brigade. Two Royal Navy warships had been tasked with providing protection but only one, HMS Azalea (K25) (above left), a Flower-class corvette, was in attendance. She was at the head of the LSTs, leading them in a straight line which made them more vulnerable to attack by submarine or surface vessels.
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The second escort, WW1 era destroyer HMS Scimitar, had limped into Plymouth for repairs following a collision with a landing ship but as British Naval HQ and the LSTs were operating on different frequencies, the American personnel were not informed. HMS Saladin (H54) (above) was dispatched as a replacement, but did not arrive in time to help protect the convoy.
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Two of the large landing ships, LST-289 and LST-531, similar to US2 above, sank within minutes and another two were badly damaged before return fire persuaded the German commander to withdraw. Many of the men in the water died of hypothermia while awaiting rescue and others drowned, some due to the fact that they had not been trained in the proper use of their May West life jackets. If fitted incorrectly they could cause the wearers to tip over head first ending with their head below the surface. Because of the impending invasion, both incidents were not reported and all survivors were sworn to secrecy by their superiors.
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More from the US National Archives: One of the main emplacements defending UTAH Beach with heavy calibre guns was the Crisbecq Battery (above) at Saint Marcouf. It was situated slightly inland from the coast, 9 kilometres north of Sainte-Mere-Eglise and fired on the Americans landing at UTAH on D-Day. The fortress is seen here after its capture by men of the 39th Regiment, 9th US Infantry Division, on the morning of 12 June. On 6 June 1944, at 05:00 hrs, the commander at Crisbecq, using the battery rangefinder, became the first enemy soldier to sight the Allied invasion fleet. He immediately alerted Kriegsmarine HQ at Cherbourg, which triggered the alarm and put German installations all along the Atlantic Wall on alert.
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At 5:52 hrs the order was given to engage the armada, which was then 17 kilometres (11 mi) offshore. Crisbecq`s guns exchanged fire with the US Navy cruisers USS Tuscaloosa and USS Quincy and the US battleship USS Nevada. At 6:30 a.m. the battery fired upon the US destroyer USS Corry (DD-463) and sank her. With her rudder jammed, the doomed American warship went around in a circle before all steam was lost. Her back broke and she went down quickly, however, when she settled on the seabed, the top of her main mast remained above the surface as the water was relatively shallow here, about 30 feet (9.1 m) deep.
Corry`s crew, having abandoned ship, struggled to survive in bone-chilling 12°C (54°F) temperatures for over two hours while awaiting rescue. During this time, the mast acted as a focal point for German gunners who directed further fire at the men clustered around the wreck. Of a compliment of 16 officers and 260 enlisted men, 24 of USS Corry`s crew were killed and 60 wounded. The shot on the left above, taken on 17 March 1944, shows the Corry with scrambling nets deployed to rescue the survivors of U-801 after the German submarine had been sunk by Allied aircraft and surface ships.
Corry`s crew, having abandoned ship, struggled to survive in bone-chilling 12°C (54°F) temperatures for over two hours while awaiting rescue. During this time, the mast acted as a focal point for German gunners who directed further fire at the men clustered around the wreck. Of a compliment of 16 officers and 260 enlisted men, 24 of USS Corry`s crew were killed and 60 wounded. The shot on the left above, taken on 17 March 1944, shows the Corry with scrambling nets deployed to rescue the survivors of U-801 after the German submarine had been sunk by Allied aircraft and surface ships.
Much of the Crisbecq Battery has been preserved as a museum. I didn`t have time to visit but the official website has additional information and photographs including an aerial panorama which shows the full extent of this formidable complex: www.batterie-marcouf.com.
The sandy beach and low-lying terrain at UTAH contrasts with the shingle and high bluffs of OMAHA just a few miles to the east. Once the local opposition had been neutralised, follow-on support elements could land and carry out their tasks, such as setting up ammo dumps and erecting anti-aircraft barrage balloons, a few of which are seen in the above photograph.
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The shot, above right, shows a DD Sherman of the 70th Tank battalion which partially slid off the Exit 3 roadway. These marshes, inland from UTAH, were dangerous traps for soldiers as well as vehicles and that was before the even more treacherous enemy held bocage country was reached.
Looking across UTAH Beach from an LST as the prisoners come in.
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The Germans had planned to locate ten V-1 flying bomb launch sites in Normandy, all of which were to be supplied from a depot at Beauvais north of Paris. RAF bombers targeted the facility shown above on June 14, 15 and 16, 1944.
Left: A column of US troops advance up the Cotentin peninsula towards Cherbourg in late June 1944. |
The V-1 and V-2 shown here are on display within the RAF Museum, Cosford, England.
The V-1 flying bomb, also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb, or doodlebug, was an early example of a cruise missile. It was the first of the so-called "Vengeance weapons" (V-weapons or Vergeltungswaffen) which were developed at the Peenemünde Army Research Centre. The V-1`s limited range meant that all launch facilities had to be situated along the Channel coasts of France and the Netherlands. The first of these missiles was launched at London on 13 June 1944, just one week after the D-Day Landings. Over the next few months over 100 V-1s were fired at south-east England each day, 9,521 in total, but the launch sites in France were increasingly overrun as the Allies fanned out and edged closer to Germany.
A depot to serve launches from the Cherbourg area was located near Valognes, approximately mid-way between Sainte-Marie-Eglise and the port city and by early 1944, the construction of three new underground V-1 storage sites began further inland. All these facilities received appropriate attention from the Royal Air Force. Hitler, as in the Battle of Britain in 1940, made the mistake of concentrating his aggression on London rather than military installations. Had the V-1s, and the larger V-2s been directed at the massive concentrations of ships, troops and armour transiting the Normandy beaches, they would likely have had far more serious consequences for the Allies.
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Due to fairly rapid Allied progress, all prospective V-1 sites were overrun and no flying bombs were ever launched from Normandy. This V-1 below, complete with launch ramp, is on display at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, England. The first V2 (A4), a far more powerful missile, fell on British soil at Chiswick on 8 September 1944. Although some 10,000 A4s were produced, only about 3,000 were launched offensively.
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After bitter fighting, Cherbourg was finally captured on 26 June by which time the Germans had mined the harbour, scuttled ships and destroyed the port facilities. It took the Allies several months to make repairs and clear scuttled ships, mines and other obstacles but the port was fully operational again by September 1944.
More views of the city after its surrender.
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The focal point for commemoration at UTAH Beach is the UTAH Beach Museum, a fitting tribute to the military personnel who participated in Operation Overlord. The original museum on this site, built around a German blockhouse known as WN5, opened in 1962 but was expanded in 1994. A separate page relates to my visit: Click here to view. Other sections cover the US Airborne Operations on D-Day and Dead Man`s Corner...
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Just inland from the beach at UTAH is the Cafe & Bar Le Roosevelt which was built adjoining a bunker used by the Germans, probably as a telephone exchange, during the building of the Atlantic Wall. Following the capture of the strongpoint by the Allies on D-Day, the US Navy used it as a communications centre relaying messages between the advancing troops and the fleet offshore.
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I didn’t go inside but it’s reportedly an interesting place more akin to a small museum with the cafe walls covered in veterans’ signatures.
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There are a number of memorials and items of interest outside the museum, all accessed via a good track. The most eye-catching is a Higgins Boat, ramp-down on the sand with a life-sized group of sculpted US soldiers charging up the beach.
Alongside the Higgins Boat is a bronze of Andrew J. Higgins (28 August 1886 - 1 August 1952), the inventor of this small barge-like vessel, officially titled Landing Craft Vehicle, Personnel (LCVP) which was used extensively by Allied forces during World War 2. Higgins was born in Columbus, Nebraska, and an identical bronze is the centrepiece of the city’s Andrew J. Higgins Memorial.
The following photo showing a DUKW moving inland from UTAH Beach, taken just a couple of days after D-Day, was taken at this spot.
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Close to the Higgins Boat Memorial at UTAH, on top of the highest of the grass-covered dunes lining the beach, is the US Navy Normandy Monument. It consists of three 8ft high figures sculpted by Stephen Spears of Fairhope, Alabama, representing a Navy Captain, a sailor with a 5-inch shell ready for loading, and a demolition technician carrying a rifle. It is the only monument dedicated to the US Navy outside the United States.
On the base of the memorial is a list of all US Navy ships that participated in the landings, so designed that visitors, especially families of veterans and their children can touch the names of the boats their fathers or grandfathers served on. Over 15,000 naval personnel were aboard a thousand US vessels, with an additional 87,000 manning 3,500 landing craft. A further 22,000 men and women based in the UK were involved in Overlord’s preparation and operational support.
The cost paid by the US Navy during Operation Overlord vessel-wise included 2 destroyers, a destroyer escort, a minesweeper, troop transport, and around 150 landing craft lost. A total of 1,068 sailors gave their lives. Facing the sea, the Monument was inaugurated on 27 September 2008.
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Above: Men of the 2nd Naval Beach Battalion on UTAH Beach. On the American beaches the US Navy normally provided the link between ships and shore; here they use radios, blinker lights, semaphore flags and a loudspeaker. The sailor at second left is sitting unconcerned on a stack of canvas bags probably containing explosive satchel charges. The men all appear to be wearing green canvas rain gear and typical USN grey-banded helmets.
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This tall monument honours all American troops who participated in the Landings and subsequent operations at UTAH Beach. The plot of land where it stands was donated to the United States in perpetuity by the village of Sainte Marie du Mont. The monument was dedicated on June 6, 1984 by General Lawston Collins in the presence of the seven Allied heads of state during the ceremonies commemorating the 40th anniversary of D-Day.
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Above: This milestone marks the start of Liberty Road, commemorating the victorious route of the Allied forces from the beaches of Normandy to Bastogne in Belgium. Inaugurated in 1947, Liberty Road was the first monument in France to honour America’s role in the liberation of Europe during WW2.
This US Army Signals Corps photo shows the mass advance from UTAH on D-Day with the safest route, cleared of mines, marked by tape. The image below, taken on 9 June 1944 shows a recently arrived unit heading for the start of Liberty Road to begin the long march inland.
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Right: An improvised POW compound on UTAH Beach. Many enemy soldiers were only too happy to surrender at the first opportunity, especially men in the OST (East) Battalions which included many ethnic Russians, Czechs and Poles etc. Captured troops were transferred to a holding area such as the one seen here and later placed on transport ships that were sailing back to England.
Many POWs thought that they would automatically be transferred to prison camps in the United States, which appealed greatly but the UK was the end destination for most. In all, however, around 425,000 German prisoners did make it across the Atlantic and spent the remainder of the war, and several years beyond that, incarcerated within camps dotted throughout North America. |
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Just some of the other monuments and memorials at UTAH Beach: The 90th Infantry Division`s is on the left and the 1st Engineer Special Brigade`s is on the right. The obelisk to the 4th Infantry Division appeared to be under renovation and was partially screened when I visited so wasn`t photographed.
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The 90th Infantry Division monument is constructed of granite from Flossenbürg, a German concentration camp in Bavaria that was liberated by the Division near the end of the war, a symbolic bridge between D-Day and the last days of the War in Europe. The Monument, which honours the perseverance of the men of the Division, was initially dedicated in 1969, then again in 1987 after its renovation. The reverse of the Engineer monument (below) is on the right above.
The Engineer monument was initially inaugurated on 11 November 1944 by Colonel Caffey, the Brigade’s commanding officer, to recognise the engineers` contribution to the success of Operation Overlord. The project was funded mainly by contributions from the men of the Brigade themselves. An `official` inauguration ceremony in the presence the French authorities took place on the first anniversary of D-Day. The panel reads `In Proud Memory of Our Dead. 1st Engineer Special Brigade. H-Hour 0630 D-Day 6 June 1944`.
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Rowe Road and Hetke Road have been named in honour of men of the 531st Engineer Shore Regiment who were killed in action.
As you head inland from the Beach, there are a further two memorials, both of which have bronze figures as their centrepiece. The first is the UTAH Danish Memorial which commemorates approximately 800 Danes who participated in the D-Day landings. Most had escaped to Great Britain after the Germans invaded Denmark, and although the majority served on naval or merchant vessels a number joined the Special Forces, or were attached as individuals to British Army units.
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Please bear in mind that all images on this website are Copyright. They are not free to use and have been embedded with a digital watermark. Any historic photographs from the Imperial War Museum and other organisations` archives have been used courtesy of a `Share & Reuse` policy and are also subject to copyright restrictions, or are in the public domain.
Further south, on the opposite side of the road from the Danish Memorial, atop a low-lying ridge, is this fine sculpture of Richard `Dick` Winters who led `Easy` Company of the 506th (PIR) Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division on D-Day. It stands just inland from UTAH Beach, alongside the main route taken by tens of thousands of Allied troops who landed there on and after 6 June 1944.
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This painting, on display in the UTAH Beach Museum, depicts Easy Company`s attack on the German guns at Brécourt Manor manor on D-Day and is signed by Winters as well as veterans Bill Guarnere, Lynn `Buck` Compton and Donald Malarkey. The battery, located three miles inland, north of the village of Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, had initially been firing onto an exit leading off UTAH Beach and disrupting the forces landing there. Several other units had stumbled onto this strongly defended position earlier in the morning and had been repulsed.
Winters' team of 23 Paratroopers successfully attacked the four 105 mm howitzers which were linked by trenches and defended by a company of around 60 soldiers. Reinforcements led by 2nd Lt. Ronald C. Speirs, arrived to complete the assault on the fourth and last gun. Each one was destroyed by placing a block of TNT down its barrel and using German `potato masher` grenades to set off the charges. A map was also seized which recorded the locations of all German artillery and machine gun positions throughout the area. After the four guns were disabled, the Paratroopers came under heavy machine-gun fire from Brécourt Manor and withdrew.
In these US Navy photographs, members of the US Navy’s Second Beach Battalion can be seen disassembling German SdKfz 302 Goliath remote-controlled mines (called Beetles by US forces). UTAH Beach, 11 June 1944. The Goliath measured approximately 4ft (1.2m) by 2ft (0.61m) and was packed with high explosives. It was capable of not only detonating mines but destroying enemy tanks, disrupting infantry formations, in addition to demolishing buildings and bridges. Between April 1942 and September 1944 over 7,500 were produced in two versions, the E-motor and V-Motor. The first units to be issued with the Goliath were Panzer Pioneer Companies. The machines were widely used in an attempt to clear a path through the extensive Soviet defences during the Battle of Kursk, Russia, in 1943, which developed into the greatest tank battle in history,
Below: The Build-up continues: Sherman tanks and other vehicles of the 2nd Squadron, 12th Régiment de Chasseurs d'Afrique, French 2nd Armoured Division (2ème Division Blindée or 2e DB), at a marshalling area in Normandy, shortly after landing at UTAH on 1 August 1944. The Division was commanded by General Philippe Leclerc and formed part of Patton's US Third Army. Most famously, the 2e DB liberated Paris alongside the US 4th Infantry Division on 25 August.
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