User:Milanfan15/sandbox

With the months of preparation, very little went according to the plan. Ten landing crafts were bonged down by the rough seas, before they reached the beach and several others stayed afloat only because their passengers bailed water with their helmets. Many of the soldiers arrived on the beach with bouts of seasickness. On the 16th RCT front, the landing boats passed struggling men in life preservers and on rafts, survivors of the DD tanks which had sunk.[21] Navigating the landing craft and assault vehicles was impeded by the smoke, mist, and the debris obscuring the important landmarks to aid in guiding themselves to their designated zones. The current from the English Channel dragged most of the invasion force eastward.

As the boats came within a few hundred yards of the shore, invasion craft were inundated with overwhelming machine gun, sniper, mortar, and artillery fire. Very quickly it became obvious about how ineffective the pre launch naval bombardment was. The weather delayed the air bombardment and when the bombers reached the beach, they released they’re ordinance too far inland to avoid the men on the beach, which resulted in no real damage to German defenses.

Of the nine companies landing in the first wave, only Company A of the 116th RCT at Dog Green and the Rangers to their right landed where intended. E/116, aiming for Easy Green, ended up scattered across the two sectors of the 16th RCT beach.[27] G/116, aiming for Dog White, opened up a 1,000-yard (900 m) gap between themselves and A/116 to their right when they landed at Easy Green instead. I/16 drifted so far east it did not land for another hour and a half.[28]

As the infantrymen exited the landing craft they’re first obstacle were sandbars that ranged from 50 to 100 yards (45 to 90m). Before they reached the beach, many had to wade through chest deep water while small arms fire cracked around. The distance from some drop off point to the shore was 200 yards (180 m) or farther. Many sections of Omaha felt the full bore of the German defense’s, with small arms cross fire. ] Where the naval bombardment had set grass fires burning, as it had at Dog Red opposite the Les Moulins strongpoint, the smoke obscured the landing troops and prevented effective fire from being laid down by the defenders.