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Thank you for your detailed & professionaly presented videos of WW2 events. I toured the Normandy area and the 5x D-Day beaches back in 2012 and was moved & in awe at what the young Allied troops had to face. What struck me most was the distance of open beach the US troops had to cross to reach cover vs say Juno where the sea wall was much closer to the beach landing zone. I felt the gut fear just standing on Omaha beach seeing what lay uphill in front of me, same as when I stood at Gallipoli in Turkey (I'm Australian). I was also surprised how the Germans postioned field guns in bunkers facing across the beach for flanking fire, and not out to sea like one would expect.
Thank you very much for your kind comments. I really do find it all so fascinating and I’d love to visit Gallipoli one day. The imposing bluffs overlooking the landing sites at Omaha really are something to behold
I was a kid in the 1960s when I saw The Longest Day and was so moved that everything D Day became a passion for me. I promised myself I would go to Omaha Beach someday. My son promised me we would go together someday. But now I am old and too old and sick to make a trip there. Any of you who wants to go there needs to go there no matter what it takes, GO. You will honor the soldiers and sailors who went there 80 years ago. If you don’t you will regret it. Thank you for making this detailed, pro, and visual tour. Well done !
My sister in laws Father fought at Omaha Beach. He never talked about. Was a sweetheart of a man. May he Rest In Peace. I look at these pictures and think I could be seeing him in some of the old videos, but can’t tell. I saw the movie too, Saving Private Ryan. This waters were filled with an armada of ships.
My dad was in the Korean War and we watched Saving Private Ryan one night. After it was over, I naively said pretty realistic, isn’t it Dad? He just said sadly, too realistic. I never forgave myself for having him watch it. He never talked about the Korean War but he saw terrible things. He also had to do terrible things and he was only 21 years old. I didn’t know this until he died and I found his diary.
I wish we did more to remember the Korean war. I also feel the same about Vietnam veterans. They will be gone soon too and we haven’t done enough to remember them and what they endured
It's not easy for us combat vets to discuss some of our experiences. I was deployed to Iraq with 1/121 FA back during the height of the combat there. Feels like yesterday. However, I read a Soldiers experience of Omaha beach and he mentions that Saving Private Ryan was the disney version of what it was really like. Hollywood can't really capture horrific events like that through reenactment. Those men fought through hell on earth that day
Combat vets can try to Telly up what combats like but you’ll never know unless you’re there. I’m a combat vet I was shot 8 times in 2007. I love a lot of friends I could really yo about it but you wouldnt understand. Which is a good thing I don’t wish war on anyone
Really enjoyed this and other films. You give a great sense of context and scale as well as a respect for these places where many died for our freedoms. Thank you.
Amazing job! Last November I went to Omaha Beach but the weather was so bad that I only visited WN-62. There was a huge storm while I was on top of the bunker and couldn't go down to the parking lot near the beach. Your videos are so amazing that I have decided to return this Fall. Thank you and keep up the good work!
Awesome! So glad you’re going back. If you would like any tips on visiting, parking, access etc please give me a shout 👍 my email is on the landing page
last year I was in UK for work for 5 months, when I got time off I finally got over too france to be able to see Omaha beach and the surrounding areas. Coming from New Zealand, I thought I may not get the opportunity to be able to see Omaha beach again. I've spent my life, ever since I was 6 or 7 reading, collecting and studying about ww2, when I first saw Saving Private Ryan when it came out when I was 9, I became fascinated with Omaha beach and D-Day and the Normandy campaign. When I finally got to Omaha Beach at 7am on a beautiful sunny morning, I didn't know what to think or feel, it was an emotional experience, not just because it had been a life long dream to go there and see it, but because of everything about it. I think the whole area has, a feeling, its hard to describe, what happened 80 years ago there and then seeing it in modern times with cars, houses and people living their day to day lives. I think most people that have visited the area probably know the feeling the place has, its own energy, your mind runs a million miles a hr. Its a place of greatness, bravery, beauty, sadness and heart break. I will return again one day
Spielberg felt that the film’s audience wouldn’t understand why no bunkers were visible from the beach, so he put them in. In reality as you know, the soldiers would have had to deal with a more terrifying situation where they were being cut down by an almost invisible enemy. Nothing to shoot back at.
Another great video. I've walked the beach and until you stand with the sea at your back with the tide out, looking across the expanse of sand and the bluffs, no amount of reading or watching film prepares you for the feelings that run through your mind.
Great views & content on this sector of Omaha Beach. Also, for getting down & dirty for getting great views from the bunker. This is why your channel is growing fast. Well done!
Really appreciate it mate. Thanks for your feedback. I've got a list of less accessible bunkers I want to access! Next time I'll take a large light for filming
In 1974 I was 8 years old. My dad had received a sabbatical and so, with, mom and my brother we travelled to Europe. We were at Omaho Beach on the 30th anniversary of D-Day. I was too young to understand the destruction and violence that happened on D-Day. To me it was a beautiful beach. There were pill boxes that the Nazi's used. My brother and I played in these. It was not until Saving Private Ryan that I saw the realities of D-Day. My mom was from Iowa. Her father fought in WW 2. She cut out an article about a man from a town near where she grew up. He had survive D-Day and married a French woman. They owned a tavern and my folks found this. He was very excited to meet us but his English was not very good because after the war he never returned to the U.S. I am so grateful to have been able to be on that beach as a child.
I belonged to a rowing club in the ‘90s and one day my friend’s dad was visiting. He went for a run while we were out on the water. In the locker room later, he took off his shirt and everyone stared. “What the hell happened to you?” He said, “In the war…” I said, “You fought the Germans?” He sighed and quietly said, “No.” “I was at the front of a landing craft when the door dropped and I got hit in the neck and fell into the water. I got hit 2 more times in the arm trying to get ashore. When I got to the beach I got hit in the legs and passed out. I got hit in the side and back 2 more times lying there unconscious. A medic marked my forehead as dead or dying to not get aid and I laid there until the afternoon when someone realized I wasn’t dead. I was put on a boat back to England, then home. So, no, I did not fight the Germans.”
Looking at the beach now, how beautiful and pristine. But then I think of the blood shed and so many soldiers killed and seriously wounded and become very sad. 😢 I just subscribed btw.
Having spent some time exploring Omaha Beach over a number of years. Have fun at trying to find the L-Shaped bunker opposite WN71 on the West side of the Vierville draw (part of WN72) it is well and truly hidden in the underbrush on the bluff on the other side of the road. Another good example of the L-shaped bunker and easier to get to is just off the road “Rue Du 6 Juin 1944” at WN68. Always great learning I find to see the beach from different defensive perspectives.
Thank you for such well done video, the historical films and explanations. I am not a veteran, I’m 70 years old and very interested in all the WWII history. My father, uncle were in navy. And a great uncle in army, he was KIA in Italy about January 3, 1944 near mount Porchia. I have a lot of the documents and his historical records, he was interred in Italy, then his repatriation in 1947-1948 back to his hometown for burial I’ve archived as much as I am able to in his memory, and to leave for my other family to retain the photos of his burial and his repatriation records.
I visited this beach several years ago and walked along the exact place looking up to where you explaining this “exit draw.” I wish I had known the information this video so brilliantly described. I now have to wonder just how many local French citizens are now, currently aware of the significance of this tiny bit of overgrown rise up to the bluffs above?!
You’re the first I’ve seen find the entrance to the L shaped machine gun bunker on the top of the bluff. I’ve never actually seen that view point. I think for preservation of history purposes, it should be cleaned up and the overgrown vegetation cleared out so people can go in it and explore it and learn how it was. But yes the reality was, there were 15 machine gun positions at the top of the bluffs overlooking the beach. They were facing different directions. And that meant there was enemy machine gun bullets zipping in all directions across the beach cutting allied troops down everywhere. And they couldn’t see where it was coming from. Way more effective. It was so effective that the invasion was nearly a fail and total loss, and the German forces nearly maintained control of the beaches. It was a complete meat grinder, the shoreline water was nothing but blood for the first 30 yards of water going out to sea. That’s how one vet I remember talking to described it.
I hope you enjoyed the video! It was a hard effort getting into the bunker, it looks like it will eventually fall down the cliff which is a shame. I’m not sure many tourists should venture up there to be honest
Thank you for posting this video. Fascinating. My grandad was a gunnery officer on a British destroyer involved in the landings. 20:21 please could I ask what you meant by there was "a lot of redundancy" built into the invasion plan? A vaste subject I know, but just whether it's the planning for different outcomes and contingencies, emphasis on having more than you might need? Looking forward to the next video.
A baste subject as you say, but I mean there is so much mass and a preponderance of firepower and manpower to overwhelm the defenders. The first waves were always going to be hell but after that many many soldiers just walked ashore
I have several old photos taken by my dad during his WW2 service in Belgium, France and Germany. He was a forward observer in an artillery unit. (292 F.A. Obsn. Batalion) Would these photos be useful for your "Then and Now" shorts? Thanks for your work. CT
I’d love to see them! Not least because I am a forward observer too! I have an email address on the TH-cam landing page if you would like to share them. Thank you!
Excellent video. My grandfather was in B Company of the 116th and before he passed he told me about being pinned down behind the seawall and climbing up to the WN70 (his map said Hamel-au-Petre) then heading SW into Vierville. Was wondering how you got permission to go to the bluff through those beachfront villas? It’s a life goal of mine to climb that hill and walk the entire route he showed me to where he was WIA the first time near St. Lo.
Wow, awesome content 👍 Probably the best one I`ve seen about Omaha Beach. You earned yourself a subscriber, looking forward to see more 🧐 To all who participated in the invasion, a hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself ❤ Keep up the good work with your videos and content, greetings from Sweden
He landed on the first day but not the first wave I believe. Edit: I stand corrected. He petitioned to go with the first wave and it was approved. The only BG to do so
@@sgtquig9040 yeah might find some 70 year old ordinance in the ground lol. I've actually found some old civil war pieces of guns and bullets in Pennsylvania.
Other beaches were practically empty. I read of some GI’s who landed on an empty beach to be met by a man wearing a Hawaii shirt carrying a suitcase who duly explained he was an ethnic German who had visited the Reich and was press ganged into the Wehrmacht and was waiting for his chance to escape.
Yes, exactly. There is a track across the fields at the top with a footpath. Highly recommend a walk up there as the views are brilliant. Thanks for the feedback!
As a novice historian…there had to be a Normandy beach somewhere….Because the enemy had to had a strong point somewhere and that it was is was. Regardless where it was,could have been Juno or Sword but it was that beach sadly. Most of them were green but the Germans only held them off for 6 hours and it was over. Correct me if I’m wrong here.
What was the derigible for? I saw it hovering above the beach right at the end of your video, when you were showing all the vehicles being driven onto the beaches. What need was there for derigibles? It's at time 21:20.
Wonder if them houses still have any signs of the war? Bullet holes and such. I've listened to stories of veterans who said they were hiding behind house I guess they are the houses they were talking about.
@@thehistoryexplorer there is a good interview. I believe the old timers name is Bill Parker and he was with the 116th/29th div. First wave first landing craft to hit the beach. He said they lost 96% of their men and during his story he said they were hiding behind houses. Was there any other sighs of the war on anything else you seen? Looked like the one bunker had bullets holes in it. So envious I've always wanted to go there.
@@JimD410there are lots of other locations with. Style damage (WN72) but much of it has been repaired. I’m sure there would be houses with damage but it’s all on private property
My father landed on the first wave at Omaha. He (never) talked about it till I asked him one week before he died. He said his landing craft had one Indian Gurkhas fighter who was sharpened knives for two bits. My question is that I can't find any information about Indian Gurkhas fighters on American landing craft. Dad was a combat engineer and said he was basically unable to fight that day only survive. He said surviving the first few hours was terrible and then our Navy artillery scared him the hell out of him. He was very worried about friendly fire. He never left his Fox hole all day. Not even after we started to advance up the beach. He did say the next day and for the next 30 days he fought everyday before the got a leave. Than while on the beach somewhere along the peaceful coast he watched the Germans shoot from Guernsey and Jersey Island at anything they could but it was ineffective. Anyway he said the orders were to just let the Germans stay on those two sacred islands for the rest of the war. And they did... So a Gurkhas wearing a Turban on his head? Anyone know anything about this?Was it common on some landing craft, or just in the first wave?
My Dad landed on Normandy said that the drivers of those boats where supposed to get right up to the beach and drop the ramp so they could run. He said they dropped the ramps to early. Try running in waist deep water. He said they were being pick of like crazy. This video shows he was right about they were just dropped off to soon.
Why did they land right in front of two known machine gun bunker?? I have seen footage where the machine gun is aimed at the opening L C doors and killed them all trapped in the craft, survivors had to jump over the side.
Perhaps the Americans used the easiest places to build these roads. I will look carefully at the photographs before June 6. You can also find the remains of these roads between Wn 70 and Wn 71.
@@thehistoryexplorer I live in a former Gold Rush town (population in 1850 was 10x today) in the mountains 2 hours northeast of Sacramento Since you mentioned in another post you like hearing about DDay conections, my dad was at Timmes Orchard with 507 PIR.
@@jeffbosworth8116 oh fascinating! Thank you for sharing. You must be very proud of your father. I hope to visit La Fiere and Col Timmes Orchard in March 24
At Pointe Du Hoc there are bunkers and artillery stations that survived the pre bombing still there. I went in the large bunkhouse. There’s a huge slab of concrete that was blown 20 feet off a bunker. Has to be 6 foot high and 10 foot long. I like to think there’s a Nazi under it 😊
Cota should have been awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on Omaha Beach. Teddy Roosevelt Jr. Was awarded the Medal posthumously after suffering a hearr attack. Cotas involvement during the Hurtgen Forest campaign was not good. So many men wasted. And he did not believe the Germans were mounting a serious attack through the Ardennes. Fortunately lower ranking officers managed a delaying defense of Clervaux. This helped the Airborne units get to Bastogne and Elsenborne Ridge before the Germans could get there.
@thehistoryexplorer Clervaux is barely mentioned during many documentaries about the Battle of the Bulge. I went to the Chateau which was defended by US troops from the 28th Infantry. The curator was there. He had rebuilt the Chateau and turned it into museum.
Omaha Beach was a disaster for several reasons, the first was the lack of tanks. The Sherman DD Tanks were launched too far from the beach, up to 6 miles, so 27 out of 29 tanks sank. This was down to incompetence or cowardice as the tanks were ordered launched at no more than 2 miles out. The incompetence of Bradley continued and the US lost over 129.000 troops in Normandy. compared to 83,000 British, Canadians and Poles, who had fought the bulk of the German Army Group B, around Caen and Falaise. Hollywood did its best to hide the truth with its totally false portrayal of the landing beach.
@@Melrose51653 No, it was a disaster, or Pyrrhic Victory if you like, considering the casualties and gains. For the most part in Normandy Bradley was fighting 3rd rate Garrison Divisions with little armor or artillery. In most other armies Bradley wound have been fired.
@@ronald8792 Omaha was in fact similar to Juno beach, the huge defences seen in Saving Private Ryan were grossly inaccurate. However the Canadians at Juno landed 25 tanks and they made all the difference.
@@billballbuster7186 I did some research on Juno and you were right about Canada, they advanced further than all the allied forces at the time. I just cant help but wonder ......what the global population would be if we didnt have WWI & WWII.
the mere fact that they wer🇺🇸e waist deep in water made them almost dead. And how to fight in wet clothes. Many long minutes in the water. Cold northern waters of the Atlantic and only de💀ath on the beach
Why are the scavengers still allowed to dig up relics, those beaches are hollow grounds there sacred , simply because all the blood that was spilled nobody should be digging up anything there as a veteran that’s the worst thing anybody can do to the memory off those who have made the ultimate sacrifice .Im saying this now maybe you can do something about it thank you and god bless.
Incredibly stupid, and there is no other way to say it, to land your assault teams directly under dug in defenders, in the enemy kill zones. It is simply feeding your troops onto mg fire. The successful actions on Omaha were by troops who didn't land in front of the defences, and who moved off the beach through gaps. It's a criticism that is not confined to Omaha landings though, it's part of military history that amphibious operations have had this near suicidal fixation with landing troops where they are guaranteed to be fired upon, when experience has shown that avoiding the defences and attacking them from inland is the equation for success.
I was thinking exactly the same. I've only been there once, and although I visited all the most famous sites, I felt like I needed to stay there a month to really get a feel for the place. And of course, Normandy is beautiful in its own right, and packed with all kinds of fascinating, non-WWII related historical sites. If you've never seen it, don't miss William the Conquerer's castle right smack in the middle of Caen. Last used in a military capacity by Napolean, if I recall correctly.
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Thank you for your detailed & professionaly presented videos of WW2 events. I toured the Normandy area and the 5x D-Day beaches back in 2012 and was moved & in awe at what the young Allied troops had to face. What struck me most was the distance of open beach the US troops had to cross to reach cover vs say Juno where the sea wall was much closer to the beach landing zone. I felt the gut fear just standing on Omaha beach seeing what lay uphill in front of me, same as when I stood at Gallipoli in Turkey (I'm Australian). I was also surprised how the Germans postioned field guns in bunkers facing across the beach for flanking fire, and not out to sea like one would expect.
Thank you very much for your kind comments. I really do find it all so fascinating and I’d love to visit Gallipoli one day. The imposing bluffs overlooking the landing sites at Omaha really are something to behold
I was a kid in the 1960s when I saw The Longest Day and was so moved that everything D Day became a passion for me. I promised myself I would go to Omaha Beach someday. My son promised me we would go together someday. But now I am old and too old and sick to make a trip there. Any of you who wants to go there needs to go there no matter what it takes, GO. You will honor the soldiers and sailors who went there 80 years ago. If you don’t you will regret it.
Thank you for making this detailed, pro, and visual tour. Well done !
Thank you for the fantastic comment, you are very welcome
My sister in laws Father fought at Omaha Beach. He never talked about. Was a sweetheart of a man. May he Rest In Peace. I look at these pictures and think I could be seeing him in some of the old videos, but can’t tell. I saw the movie too, Saving Private Ryan. This waters were filled with an armada of ships.
It’s a brilliant film and still one of my favourites but there is much wrong with it, I hope you enjoyed the video
My dad was in the Korean War and we watched Saving Private Ryan one night. After it was over, I naively said pretty realistic, isn’t it Dad? He just said sadly, too realistic. I never forgave myself for having him watch it. He never talked about the Korean War but he saw terrible things. He also had to do terrible things and he was only 21 years old. I didn’t know this until he died and I found his diary.
I wish we did more to remember the Korean war. I also feel the same about Vietnam veterans. They will be gone soon too and we haven’t done enough to remember them and what they endured
It's not easy for us combat vets to discuss some of our experiences. I was deployed to Iraq with 1/121 FA back during the height of the combat there. Feels like yesterday. However, I read a Soldiers experience of Omaha beach and he mentions that Saving Private Ryan was the disney version of what it was really like. Hollywood can't really capture horrific events like that through reenactment. Those men fought through hell on earth that day
actor Richard Todd, who glided into Normandy on June 6, 1944, and then acted in the 1962 D-Day epic Longest Day, called Private Ryan “overdone.”
Combat vets can try to Telly up what combats like but you’ll never know unless you’re there. I’m a combat vet I was shot 8 times in 2007. I love a lot of friends I could really yo about it but you wouldnt understand. Which is a good thing I don’t wish war on anyone
This is great.. I'm doing my best to get there and walk in my grandfather's footsteps. He was is the 29 th 175th. Thank you.
You’ll love it when you get there. If you need any tips please do get in touch
Really enjoyed this and other films. You give a great sense of context and scale as well as a respect for these places where many died for our freedoms. Thank you.
You are most welcome my friend. Really glad you enjoyed this one 👍 it was one of my favourites
Amazing job! Last November I went to Omaha Beach but the weather was so bad that I only visited WN-62. There was a huge storm while I was on top of the bunker and couldn't go down to the parking lot near the beach. Your videos are so amazing that I have decided to return this Fall. Thank you and keep up the good work!
Awesome! So glad you’re going back. If you would like any tips on visiting, parking, access etc please give me a shout 👍 my email is on the landing page
last year I was in UK for work for 5 months, when I got time off I finally got over too france to be able to see Omaha beach and the surrounding areas. Coming from New Zealand, I thought I may not get the opportunity to be able to see Omaha beach again. I've spent my life, ever since I was 6 or 7 reading, collecting and studying about ww2, when I first saw Saving Private Ryan when it came out when I was 9, I became fascinated with Omaha beach and D-Day and the Normandy campaign. When I finally got to Omaha Beach at 7am on a beautiful sunny morning, I didn't know what to think or feel, it was an emotional experience, not just because it had been a life long dream to go there and see it, but because of everything about it. I think the whole area has, a feeling, its hard to describe, what happened 80 years ago there and then seeing it in modern times with cars, houses and people living their day to day lives. I think most people that have visited the area probably know the feeling the place has, its own energy, your mind runs a million miles a hr. Its a place of greatness, bravery, beauty, sadness and heart break. I will return again one day
Well said my friend
Spielberg felt that the film’s audience wouldn’t understand why no bunkers were visible from the beach, so he put them in. In reality as you know, the soldiers would have had to deal with a more terrifying situation where they were being cut down by an almost invisible enemy. Nothing to shoot back at.
Yes exactly. I think that would be more terrifying to an audience!
The grass on the hills was burning so this is accurate. The first wave could not see where they were getting shot from.
Another great video. I've walked the beach and until you stand with the sea at your back with the tide out, looking across the expanse of sand and the bluffs, no amount of reading or watching film prepares you for the feelings that run through your mind.
That is a brilliant comment. You’re so right, you can’t get a true feel for the area and the events without standing there for yourself
Great views & content on this sector of Omaha Beach. Also, for getting down & dirty for getting great views from the bunker. This is why your channel is growing fast. Well done!
Really appreciate it mate. Thanks for your feedback. I've got a list of less accessible bunkers I want to access! Next time I'll take a large light for filming
I will be looking out for your new videos. Thanks.
@@Lansing2784 I’ve got some great trips lined up mate. Hope you enjoy them
In 1974 I was 8 years old. My dad had received a sabbatical and so, with, mom and my brother we travelled to Europe. We were at Omaho Beach on the 30th anniversary of D-Day. I was too young to understand the destruction and violence that happened on D-Day. To me it was a beautiful beach. There were pill boxes that the Nazi's used. My brother and I played in these. It was not until Saving Private Ryan that I saw the realities of D-Day. My mom was from Iowa. Her father fought in WW 2. She cut out an article about a man from a town near where she grew up. He had survive D-Day and married a French woman. They owned a tavern and my folks found this. He was very excited to meet us but his English was not very good because after the war he never returned to the U.S. I am so grateful to have been able to be on that beach as a child.
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History is a wonderful learning tool. Thanks for a great video.
You're most welcome. I hope you enjoyed the video
I belonged to a rowing club in the ‘90s and one day my friend’s dad was visiting. He went for a run while we were out on the water. In the locker room later, he took off his shirt and everyone stared. “What the hell happened to you?” He said, “In the war…”
I said, “You fought the Germans?” He sighed and quietly said, “No.”
“I was at the front of a landing craft when the door dropped and I got hit in the neck and fell into the water. I got hit 2 more times in the arm trying to get ashore. When I got to the beach I got hit in the legs and passed out. I got hit in the side and back 2 more times lying there unconscious. A medic marked my forehead as dead or dying to not get aid and I laid there until the afternoon when someone realized I wasn’t dead. I was put on a boat back to England, then home. So, no, I did not fight the Germans.”
Oh my god that is terrible
He gets the same salute from me as the ones who got medals for bravery
❤❤❤❤❤❤😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢KINGMAYYOUHAVEABLESSEDLONGLIFESAMETOYOUANDYOURS❤❤❤❤❤😢😢😢😢😢❤❤❤❤
Looking at the beach now, how beautiful and pristine. But then I think of the blood shed and so many soldiers killed and seriously wounded and become very sad. 😢
I just subscribed btw.
Thank you very much I hope you enjoy the channel. 🙏
@@thehistoryexplorer YW and I certainly do!
Whoever cleaned up the quality of the footage and colorized it certainly earned their paycheck 👍
Yes definitely! It’s good isn’t it.
Having spent some time
exploring Omaha Beach over a number of years. Have fun at trying to find the L-Shaped bunker opposite WN71 on the West side of the Vierville draw (part of WN72) it is well and truly hidden in the underbrush on the bluff on the other side of the road.
Another good example of the L-shaped bunker and easier to get to is just off the road “Rue Du 6 Juin 1944” at WN68.
Always great learning I find to see the beach from different defensive perspectives.
I’ve got those locked in for my next visit! I wasn’t aware of the other L shaped bunker until I was shown recently 👍
Every man who stormed the beaches on D day, no matter which beach or Pt. Duhoc had BALLS bigger than their pants could handle!!!
100% they were issued a wheelbarrow to carry them
Thank you for such well done video, the historical films and explanations.
I am not a veteran, I’m 70 years old and very interested in all the WWII history.
My father, uncle were in navy. And a great uncle in army, he was KIA in Italy about January 3, 1944 near mount Porchia. I have a lot of the documents and his historical records, he was interred in Italy, then his repatriation in 1947-1948 back to his hometown for burial
I’ve archived as much as I am able to in his memory, and to leave for my other family to retain the photos of his burial and his repatriation records.
You are most welcome. I hope you enjoyed the video and that you for sharing your story. We must never forget
Do you know which division your great uncle was in? My grandfather was in Italy with the 36th.
@@KaboosOnX1.
6th armored infantry
116th regiment of the 29thdiv. Lost 96% of their men on that beach. Greatest Generation for sure.
It was F Company that lost all those boys from Bedford,Virginia.
Excellent history the elevation of the firing positions on the beaches no wonder they wanted to get off the beaches fast 👍
Absolutely!
I visited this beach several years ago and walked along the exact place looking up to where you explaining this “exit draw.” I wish I had known the information this video so brilliantly described.
I now have to wonder just how many local French citizens are now, currently aware of the significance of this tiny bit of overgrown rise up to the bluffs above?!
Glad it was helpful! I think many of the French locals are enthusiasts. I have found they are incredibly grateful for their liberation
Hard to believe some of the films that Robert capa took "fell overboard" I think maybe the US doesn't want to show the real carnage at omaha
That’s understandable though I guess. Apparently it was the automated footage from the landing craft that was damaged and not the Capa footage
@@thehistoryexplorer Capa was in Easy Red, with just two photographic camera, no film footage. Somewhere was Ernest Hemingway too.
You’re the first I’ve seen find the entrance to the L shaped machine gun bunker on the top of the bluff. I’ve never actually seen that view point. I think for preservation of history purposes, it should be cleaned up and the overgrown vegetation cleared out so people can go in it and explore it and learn how it was. But yes the reality was, there were 15 machine gun positions at the top of the bluffs overlooking the beach. They were facing different directions. And that meant there was enemy machine gun bullets zipping in all directions across the beach cutting allied troops down everywhere. And they couldn’t see where it was coming from. Way more effective. It was so effective that the invasion was nearly a fail and total loss, and the German forces nearly maintained control of the beaches. It was a complete meat grinder, the shoreline water was nothing but blood for the first 30 yards of water going out to sea. That’s how one vet I remember talking to described it.
I hope you enjoyed the video! It was a hard effort getting into the bunker, it looks like it will eventually fall down the cliff which is a shame. I’m not sure many tourists should venture up there to be honest
Thank you for posting this video. Fascinating. My grandad was a gunnery officer on a British destroyer involved in the landings.
20:21 please could I ask what you meant by there was "a lot of redundancy" built into the invasion plan? A vaste subject I know, but just whether it's the planning for different outcomes and contingencies, emphasis on having more than you might need?
Looking forward to the next video.
A baste subject as you say, but I mean there is so much mass and a preponderance of firepower and manpower to overwhelm the defenders. The first waves were always going to be hell but after that many many soldiers just walked ashore
I have several old photos taken by my dad during his WW2 service in Belgium, France and Germany. He was a forward observer in an artillery unit. (292 F.A. Obsn. Batalion) Would these photos be useful for your "Then and Now" shorts? Thanks for your work. CT
I’d love to see them! Not least because I am a forward observer too! I have an email address on the TH-cam landing page if you would like to share them. Thank you!
Fun fact: the Omaha beach scene in "Saving Private Ryan" was filmed on Curracloe Beach in Ireland
Yes indeed it was! Thanks for sharing
And most of the soldiers who hit the beach in the movie were from the actual Army of the Republic of Ireland.
Excellent video. My grandfather was in B Company of the 116th and before he passed he told me about being pinned down behind the seawall and climbing up to the WN70 (his map said Hamel-au-Petre) then heading SW into Vierville. Was wondering how you got permission to go to the bluff through those beachfront villas? It’s a life goal of mine to climb that hill and walk the entire route he showed me to where he was WIA the first time near St. Lo.
Wow, thank you for sharing. You can access the bluffs through the fields at the rear. You cannot access via the villas unless given permission
Wow, awesome content 👍 Probably the best one I`ve seen about Omaha Beach. You earned yourself a subscriber, looking forward to see more 🧐 To all who participated in the invasion, a hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself ❤ Keep up the good work with your videos and content, greetings from Sweden
thank you so much my friend! I hope you enjoy my other videos too
Well done. I was just at these amazing locations last week.
Nice one! I hope you could picture the actions that took place here. What a location
Theodore Roosevelt Jr landed in the first wave at Utah beach at 56 he was the oldest man to land on the first day.
He landed on the first day but not the first wave I believe.
Edit: I stand corrected. He petitioned to go with the first wave and it was approved. The only BG to do so
One of the veterans interviews said there was a large box bunker but it was blown up by a destroyer. Love to take a medal detector through there.
Taking a medal detector to some of the battle sites would be interesting a terrifying as well.
@@sgtquig9040 yeah might find some 70 year old ordinance in the ground lol. I've actually found some old civil war pieces of guns and bullets in Pennsylvania.
Other beaches were practically empty. I read of some GI’s who landed on an empty beach to be met by a man wearing a Hawaii shirt carrying a suitcase who duly explained he was an ethnic German who had visited the Reich and was press ganged into the Wehrmacht and was waiting for his chance to escape.
Ha! I’ve never read that.
But in comparison Utah beach was relatively quiet compared to the stretch of Omaha beach below Wn62 along to WN71
Excellent video, how do you get onto the top of the Bluff, it looks like gardens at the bottom, so is there access from the top?
Yes, exactly. There is a track across the fields at the top with a footpath. Highly recommend a walk up there as the views are brilliant. Thanks for the feedback!
Wow! From the bunker. Gee if I ever get to France again, now I can appreciate much more.
Thank you my friend. I wish I had put that part sooner in the video because it seems many people haven’t seen it!
reuploaded mate? brilliant video - really enjoyed it
YT restricted the video to a smaller audience due to the Saving Private Ryan footage
Played by Robert Mitchum in The Longest Day. 1962. Short on Isle de Oleron, Charente Maritime.
As a novice historian…there had to be a Normandy beach somewhere….Because the enemy had to had a strong point somewhere and that it was is was. Regardless where it was,could have been Juno or Sword but it was that beach sadly. Most of them were green but the Germans only held them off for 6 hours and it was over. Correct me if I’m wrong here.
I think you’re bang on buddy
@@thehistoryexplorer thank you
Really a first class video. Thank you.
You're very welcome! I wish more people had watched this video 👍
You were very lucky. I’ve visited 2 times Omaha and was always high tide!
Oh wow! I need to make sure there ride is out when I visit the cliffs at pointe du hoc
How did you know that bunker was there? is there a map? Sweet video Rob
What was the derigible for? I saw it hovering above the beach right at the end of your video, when you were showing all the vehicles being driven onto the beaches. What need was there for derigibles? It's at time 21:20.
They are bombard balloons if that’s what you’re referring to?
Saving Private Ryan is not in Dog White, it's in Dog Green (under WN71). By the way, great video, thank you.
Wonder if them houses still have any signs of the war? Bullet holes and such. I've listened to stories of veterans who said they were hiding behind house I guess they are the houses they were talking about.
I’m sure there are lots of traces on conflict in and around those houses. Some of them were fortified on D Day
@@thehistoryexplorer there is a good interview. I believe the old timers name is Bill Parker and he was with the 116th/29th div. First wave first landing craft to hit the beach. He said they lost 96% of their men and during his story he said they were hiding behind houses. Was there any other sighs of the war on anything else you seen? Looked like the one bunker had bullets holes in it. So envious I've always wanted to go there.
@@JimD410there are lots of other locations with. Style damage (WN72) but much of it has been repaired. I’m sure there would be houses with damage but it’s all on private property
All over Europe you find bulletmarks in buildings you have too look and find many specially in big citys 👍🏼
Well done mate ! Never knew this history. Omaha West I guess.
WN70 and WN71 are jut to the east of the D1 draw which is at the western end of Omaha beach
My father landed on the first wave at Omaha. He (never) talked about it till I asked him one week before he died. He said his landing craft had one Indian Gurkhas fighter who was sharpened knives for two bits. My question is that I can't find any information about Indian Gurkhas fighters on American landing craft. Dad was a combat engineer and said he was basically unable to fight that day only survive. He said surviving the first few hours was terrible and then our Navy artillery scared him the hell out of him. He was very worried about friendly fire. He never left his Fox hole all day. Not even after we started to advance up the beach.
He did say the next day and for the next 30 days he fought everyday before the got a leave. Than while on the beach somewhere along the peaceful coast he watched the Germans shoot from Guernsey and Jersey Island at anything they could but it was ineffective. Anyway he said the orders were to just let the Germans stay on those two sacred islands for the rest of the war. And they did... So a Gurkhas wearing a Turban on his head? Anyone know anything about this?Was it common on some landing craft, or just in the first wave?
Wow thank you for sharing. You must be so very proud of his involvement, I know I would be
Dumb question-Where the houses in front of the beach there on D-day or built afterwards?
Yes they were! Saving private Ryan made it look like empty beach but in fact it was full of holiday homes, cottages and even a hotel (damaged)
@@thehistoryexplorer Dang. So the germans could also have been shooting from those homes as well. Whew. Crazy how anyone could have survived it.
Great video ! But I'm confused, I saw that video a week ago I'm pretty sure 🤔
Hello buddy, you did. It was restricted due to using footage from Saving Private Ryan. Now uploaded again so it can reach a larger audience…hopefully!
Ah I understand ! Thanks for answering
My Dad landed on Normandy said that the drivers of those boats where supposed to get right up to the beach and drop the ramp so they could run. He said they dropped the ramps to early. Try running in waist deep water. He said they were being pick of like crazy. This video shows he was right about they were just dropped off to soon.
Yes they must have been exhausted!
Many were dropped in water over 6 ft deep. Dying because their 50 lbs of gear made it impossible for them to swim or even tread water.
Saving Private Ryan’s huge error with putting the obstacles around the wrong way really messes the movie up for me.
Most people wouldn’t notice but if you love your history it’s very obvious!
Why did they land right in front of two known machine gun bunker?? I have seen footage where the machine gun is aimed at the opening L C doors and killed them all trapped in the craft, survivors had to jump over the side.
You may have watched that on Saving Private Ryan
What you show as Cota's draw is in truth the remains of an American strategic road built after June 6, 1944.
Yes it does look so much more man made. However you can see the draw from 1943 aerial footage and it looks very similar
Perhaps the Americans used the easiest places to build these roads. I will look carefully at the photographs before June 6. You can also find the remains of these roads between Wn 70 and Wn 71.
Was previelged to visit Omaha Beach last spring. I was surprised how firm the sand was. Nothing like the stuff I see in California.
Where in California Jeff? I do love visiting there. I spent 7 weeks traveling up and down highway 1 and had the time of my life
@@thehistoryexplorer I live in a former Gold Rush town (population in 1850 was 10x today) in the mountains 2 hours northeast of Sacramento
Since you mentioned in another post you like hearing about DDay conections, my dad was at Timmes Orchard with 507 PIR.
@@jeffbosworth8116 oh fascinating! Thank you for sharing. You must be very proud of your father. I hope to visit La Fiere and Col Timmes Orchard in March 24
Great video Rob!
Thank you so much buddy. Really appreciate it. Great name too!
@@thehistoryexplorer likewise lol
My grandmother knew a person that was in d-day he said the only reason he lived through that day was because he was in the third wave of attacks
I can well believe it, there is a study on when the casualties occurred and the difference between the first wave and later waves is stark
What I noticed in Normandy, was they don't seem to preserve the bunkers in many locations. Does anyone know why that is?
There are so many!
At Pointe Du Hoc there are bunkers and artillery stations that survived the pre bombing still there. I went in the large bunkhouse. There’s a huge slab of concrete that was blown 20 feet off a bunker. Has to be 6 foot high and 10 foot long. I like to think there’s a Nazi under it 😊
@MARKHASSIN-jb9hp thanks I’ll check it out
So those big concrete bunkers that are in every video game and movie about D-Day didn’t even exist at all?
Correct! They did not exist at Omaha. They did exist at par de Calais and other Atlantic Wall locations like Denmark etc
Cota should have been awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on Omaha Beach.
Teddy Roosevelt Jr. Was awarded the Medal posthumously after suffering a hearr attack.
Cotas involvement during the Hurtgen Forest campaign was not good. So many men wasted.
And he did not believe the Germans were mounting a serious attack through the Ardennes. Fortunately lower ranking officers managed a delaying defense of Clervaux. This helped the Airborne units get to Bastogne and Elsenborne Ridge before the Germans could get there.
I’m heading to the Ardennes next year and will cover Clervaux 👌
@thehistoryexplorer Clervaux is barely mentioned during many documentaries about the Battle of the Bulge. I went to the Chateau which was defended by US troops from the 28th Infantry. The curator was there. He had rebuilt the Chateau and turned it into museum.
Great Video. Thanks
Glad you think so buddy. Much appreciated
Was this not filmed in Wexford Ireland, I could be wrong .
Saving Private Ryan was indeed filmed there
Were these houses actually there back then ???
Yes, there were houses along the beach.
Yes there were houses and holiday villas all along the front
Omaha Beach was a disaster for several reasons, the first was the lack of tanks. The Sherman DD Tanks were launched too far from the beach, up to 6 miles, so 27 out of 29 tanks sank. This was down to incompetence or cowardice as the tanks were ordered launched at no more than 2 miles out. The incompetence of Bradley continued and the US lost over 129.000 troops in Normandy. compared to 83,000 British, Canadians and Poles, who had fought the bulk of the German Army Group B, around Caen and Falaise. Hollywood did its best to hide the truth with its totally false portrayal of the landing beach.
Hard to consider it a disaster. Failure would have been a disaster. Not a video game
@@Melrose51653 No, it was a disaster, or Pyrrhic Victory if you like, considering the casualties and gains. For the most part in Normandy Bradley was fighting 3rd rate Garrison Divisions with little armor or artillery. In most other armies Bradley wound have been fired.
I agree, Omaha was a terrible place to land, unless obtaining the maximum amount of casualties was the goal.
@@ronald8792 Omaha was in fact similar to Juno beach, the huge defences seen in Saving Private Ryan were grossly inaccurate. However the Canadians at Juno landed 25 tanks and they made all the difference.
@@billballbuster7186 I did some research on Juno and you were right about Canada, they advanced further than all the allied forces at the time.
I just cant help but wonder ......what the global population would be if we didnt have WWI & WWII.
This movie was recorded in the UK and Ireland, so I hear here a big mistake.
It was indeed. But that isnt the point of this video. It does look like the Normandy voast though
Imagine living at those houses.. War tourists for ever..
They sell for a pretty penny!
very brave men
Absolutely
a torch would have been maybe an idea 🧐
It might please you to know I’ve purchased a very powerful light for my next visit
@@thehistoryexplorer haha thanks for the great content
I’ve held and attacked those strongpoints in Hell Let Loose a fair few times
I’ve never seen it but people talk about the game a lot
@@thehistoryexplorer it’s very good, accurate locations and maps
@@adamjg4352 I’ll have to check it out buddy
How did u get up there? I
On the bluffs? There is a track from the estate
My dad was on HMS Barham
Oh no! The footage of that has haunted me for ages. Terrible incident
@thehistoryexplorer my dad got of in 1940 ..do you have any pics .my dad left me a few ..
I don’t have any! If you’re happy to share I’d love to see them.
@@thehistoryexplorer where could I share
@@kathysamuels1465 you can email me on thehistoryexplorerchannel@gmail.com if you like?
Well done.
Thank you very much. I hope you enjoyed it
well done thank you!
You are so welcome, I hope you enjoyed it
the mere fact that they wer🇺🇸e waist deep in water made them almost dead. And how to fight in wet clothes. Many long minutes in the water. Cold northern waters of the Atlantic and only de💀ath on the beach
It must have been horrible
200 kms. International water. But Who launched?
Sorry my friend you’ve lost me
Imagine the difference if the bombing run was successful
Yes absolutely. There would have been cratering in the beach to provide cover
Why are the scavengers still allowed to dig up relics, those beaches are hollow grounds there sacred , simply because all the blood that was spilled nobody should be digging up anything there as a veteran that’s the worst thing anybody can do to the memory off those who have made the ultimate sacrifice .Im saying this now maybe you can do something about it thank you and god bless.
Incredibly stupid, and there is no other way to say it, to land your assault teams directly under dug in defenders, in the enemy kill zones. It is simply feeding your troops onto mg fire. The successful actions on Omaha were by troops who didn't land in front of the defences, and who moved off the beach through gaps. It's a criticism that is not confined to Omaha landings though, it's part of military history that amphibious operations have had this near suicidal fixation with landing troops where they are guaranteed to be fired upon, when experience has shown that avoiding the defences and attacking them from inland is the equation for success.
Man I need to get back to France! the beaches are calling me
I was thinking exactly the same. I've only been there once, and although I visited all the most famous sites, I felt like I needed to stay there a month to really get a feel for the place. And of course, Normandy is beautiful in its own right, and packed with all kinds of fascinating, non-WWII related historical sites. If you've never seen it, don't miss William the Conquerer's castle right smack in the middle of Caen. Last used in a military capacity by Napolean, if I recall correctly.
Boys at beach be like:
I'm not sure what you mean by that but - ok!
Tarawa was worse
I’d love to visit
@MARKHASSIN-jb9hp I made a little video on that last year. Filmed from the locations at Falaise
@MARKHASSIN-jb9hp The Falaise gap wasn't an amphibious operation. Stick with the theme here.
14:08 Hollywood being Hollywood
Normandy landings (operation overlord) is the bravest military expedition in the history till date
I would have to agree with you