U.S. Rangers successfully assault Point du Hoc on D-day

Point du Hoc is located between Omaha Beach and Utah Beach.  One takes Road 514 in the direction of Cherbourg and St Mere Eglise.  After a few miles, take Road 514a out to Point du Hoc.  There is a parking lot to leave your car with a short walk to the site.  The area is just the same as D-Day with bomb craters and destroyed defensive positions.  The Germans had built a number of casements holding large caliber artillery that could shell both landing beaches (Utah & Omaha).  German commanders knew that the Allied air force would subject the redoubt to massive bombing raids.  Just prior to the invasion, the German army removed the guns back to the safety of apple orchards and used large wooden poles placed in the casements to fool Allied intelligence.

U.S. Rangers were assigned the task of assaulting the cliff at Point du Hoc to destroy the guns.  After suffering significant casualties, the Rangers reached the top of the 100' cliff and found out that the guns had been removed.  The Rangers searched further and found the guns.  They destroyed the guns with Thermite grenades that fused the operating mechanisms.  The commander of the Rangers was Lt. Col. James E. Rudder from Texas.  After the war, he would serve as the president of Texas A&M and would preside over a major transformation of that university.  The following are personal pictures:

Picture of the Cliff at Point du Hoc

German Bunker

 

Bomb Marked Landscapes