![]() The 155mm artillery positions they destroyed could have compromised the forthcoming beach landings.Īmerican troops approach Omaha Beach on June 7. They also took out enemy observation posts and set up strategic roadblocks and communication lines on Pointe du Hoc. Impact: The Rangers located key German guns and disabled them with grenades. And they discovered that several of the guns they were out to destroy had been repositioned. Rangers who reached the cliff top encountered more enemy fire, along with terrain that looked different from the aerial photographs they had studied, much of it reduced to rubble in the aftermath of recent aerial bombings. ![]() ![]() Those who made it to the rocks were climbing under enemy fire, their uniforms and gear heavy and slippery from from mud and water. Nazi artillery fire sprayed at the naval bombardment. Threats and losses: Beyond the challenging mountain climbing involved in getting into France via the cliffs along the English Channel, the Rangers faced choppy waters and delayed landings, which increased the formidable enemy opposition. The sheer cliff walls the Rangers scaled, shown about two days after D-Day when it because a route for supplies. Read more: Here's what it took 79 years ago to pull off the biggest amphibious invasion in history Impact: While the Pathfinders saw heavy losses, they ultimately enabled more accurate, effective landings and ability for Allied troops to withstand counterattacks. You're against all the elements," Citino said. "It's the loneliness - out there all by yourself with no one riding to your rescue in the next 10 minutes if you get in trouble. Even those who managed textbook landings into the intended locations were at risk. Threats and losses: The equipment they carried - from parachutes and life jackets to lighting systems they were to set up once on the ground - made their packs so heavy that they had to be helped onto the planes.Īmid the bad weather and limited visibility that night, some were blown wildly off course after leaping from the C-47 Skytrains. Pathfinders with the 82nd Airborne Division jumped from C-47 transports into occupied France under the cover of darkness. ![]() Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. ![]()
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