Utah Beach

Utah Beach was one of the principal beaches of the Débarquement of Normandy of the June 6th 1944 and more in the west. Located on the north-eastern dimension of the Cotentin, it belonged to the sector of American unloading.

Among the five beaches of attack of the Operation Overlord, the unloading with Utah Beach was certainly the least expensive in human lives and that with the results at the end of the first day, closest to the initial objectives of the Allies

Situation

The part is Cotentin, with the limit of the departments of the English Channel and Apple-brandy is a low and wet ground zone, prone to regular floods in winter. On the littoral, extend from broad sand beaches bordered of a dune cord separating them from the Marais which one crosses while borrowing of the elevated ways. The Germans had voluntarily maintained several zones flooded to make more difficult one unloading.

This beach, particularly favourable with an amphibious attack, will see its reinforced defenses after the marshal Rommel will detect many weaknesses in the German defense force at the time of its multiple inspections. Thus, the dunes between bay of Veys and Saint-Vaast-the-Hougue will be truffées nests of machine guns and on the heights of the back-country some heavy batteries will be arranged, in particular with Azeville, Crisbecq, Morsalines, Pernelle. Nevertheless this zone will remain less strengthened than of other zones of the coast Norman owing to the fact that the Germans estimated that the marshes and the flooded zones made difficult an access inside the grounds.

Initially, the Allies had not envisaged to unload on the coasts of Cotentin. The proximity of the port of Cherbourg and the need for having a solution of fold if the situation would turn badly on the beaches of the Calvados, decided the persons in charge of the allied high command (the general Eisenhower and the marshal Montgomery) to add a fifth beach. A greater number of barges of unloading available allowed this additional beach

The place selected accepted the code name of Utah Beach . It extends from Holy-Marie-of-Mount until Quinéville, with a zone of attack of approximately two kilometers to height of Vareville. In order to allow an exit of beach of the troops coldly unloaded and that they are not to block between the beach and the marshes, the Allies decided to engage two divisions parachutists, the 82 {{E}} and the 101 {{E}} American airborne divisions which will have for that to draw up a point of fixing on the zone of Holy-Mother-Church and Chief-of-Bridge and to control the few access roads to the beaches. They must also take the control of the N13, trunk road connecting Paris to Cherbourg via Caen and of strategic importance, that in order to avoid any enemy troop movement or counter-attack by this way and also to cut the connection with the fortress of Cherbourg. With this same aim, they must also control the railway line connecting Caen to Cherbourg, the bridges of the Douve and channel of Carentan to the sea controls it. The airborne attack bears the names of Opérations Albany and Boston

It is the the 4th division of American infantry of general major Barton, pertaining to the VII American body ordered by the general J Lawton Collins, who was charged to take by storm Utah Beach . The first wave of assault is carried out by the general sergeant Theodore Roosevelt, great nephew of the US president in exercise, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, wire of the former president Theodore Roosevelt and only general, this day of June 6th, to accompany a wave of assault. This unloading profits from the support fire of the group of bombardment of the admiral ML Deyo and a smoke screen launched by the squadron 342, Lorraine group of the free French air forces. In all it are more than 865 ships, the " Force U" , of convoying, protection or support to the troops with ground which will be implied in the unloading on Utah Beach.

Operations

It is with 6:30 on June 6th, after an intense preparation of artillery and of an effective air raid of the principal German positions, that the 4th division of US infantry is committed. Two squadrons of amphibious tanks DD are launched with 3 kilometers of the shore. They join the beach by their own means thanks to two propellers and a skirt of rubber. They approach in two waves of assault, 12 tanks for one, 16 for the other, of the beach where they start to draw on the positions from the Germans whereas those pain to reorganize their defense after the terrible one and effective allied bombardment which has just ceased.

Because of an error of navigation, the first waves of assault took foot to approximately 2 kilometers in the south of the place envisaged. Happy error for the Allies since German defenses were definitely less frightening here. During the beginning of the unloading of the division of American infantry, the German shootings are nourished but not very precise and little by little, the positions of German machine-guns are quickly neutralized. There will remain throughout the day of the random but fatal shootings of the guns and mortars of the 709e division of German infantry located in the grounds but that the projection of the troops with ground and the guided shootings of the allied ships will reduce gradually.

The beach is with the hands of Allied rather quickly. The tide withdrawing itself, discovers defenses of the beaches which the units of the genius started to eliminate less than one hour after the beginning from the unloading, in order to open passages to the barges of unloading of materials and vehicles heavy. Two hours after the unloading, the anti-tank wall was dynamited in several places and the tanks could begin their progression inside the grounds. The junction of the unloaded troops and the parachutists was done at the beginning of after midday on the side of Pouppeville.

The losses of the 4th division (killed, wounded and disappeared) did not exceed the 200 men for the day of June 6th.

Reasons of a success

Compared to Omaha Beach, Utah Beach was a success, and this due to several factors:

Less German fortifications compared with other beaches. Defense is largely based on the insulation of the offshore bar of the interior of the country by the flooded zones.
a bombardment before the effective attack: many the large identified bunkers, like the coastal battery close to Saint-Martin-with-Varreville, were destroyed by the B-26 Marauder, average bombers of the 9th US Air Force, wheel with less than 5.000 feet (1600 m) and also providing an air support brought closer to the forces to attack.
tanks DD: 28 of the 32 amphibious tanks reached the shore because they were launched 2 times more close to the beach that in Omaha and were also able to move in the current in a more effective way to avoid the swell.
the error on the zone of unloading with an unloading towards a zone more in the south that envisaged appearing one of the output areas of the least strengthened beach.
the troops parachutists: the most significant difference was the 13.000 men of the 101e and the 82e airborne division which fought already in the interior of the grounds at the time of the beginning of the unloading. Five hours before the first wave of assault, the parachuted troops or arrivals by sailplanes fought beyond the beaches, eliminating the enemy from the positions along the exits of beaches and creating confusion among the Germans, thus preventing any counter-attack organized on behalf of enemy towards the zones of unloading.

But this success must be relativized by the heavy losses undergone by the airborne troops. The 101e lost 40% of its manpower the D-day, had with a dispersion with the dropping (several fell into the marshes) and with hard combat on the ground.

Logistics

In the first 12 hours, they is 23.250 men, 1700 fighting vehicles and 1695 tons of provisioning who will be unloaded on this beach.

Thereafter, a true logistics of provisioning will be installation at Utah Beach by the special of American genius, strong brigade of 19.500 men, brigade which will be carried in the weeks which follow to nearly 70.000 men. This unit, ordered by general major Eugene Meode Caffey, will allow June in November 1944 the unloading on the beach and the routing until the face of 836.000 men, 220.000 vehicles of the jeep to the engine, 775.000 tons of provisioning. Indeed, private quickly of their artificial harbor of Saint-Laurent-on-Sea destroys by the storm of June 19th, the Americans had to imagine alternatives, the beach will thus be used by barges but also by voluntary strandings of boats of stronger tonnage, taken again then by the rising tide. The general headquarter of this unit of genius during the first weeks will be established in the first blockhouse taken to the Germans with Utah Beach. On this one the monument with the memories of the men of the 1st brigade of genius rises today.

Song Utah Beach

June 12th, 1994, the town of Carentan produced a large titled show " Carentan, Memory of Ciel" , to commemorate its release by the troops of the 101e Airborne. The song " Utah Beach" , composed by Daniel Bourdelès, is extracted from this spectacle and was interpreted by the group Alberts.

Utah Beach

Waves out of lace on its back découvert
the beach is soft and without blessures
drawing on it the rollers from the mer
as a couverture
is gone up They will not take froid
our souvenirs
are born and die the rois
in the future

Des white balloons rebounds légers
pushed by the laughter of enfants
Ce are songs infinitely of paix
dans this world of guet-apens
Utah Beach in couleurs
c' is almost beau
même with its douleur
à flower of peau

Les long shivers of old the requiem
ondulent on the plage
Les algae make dreams of chrysanthèmes
sur the marble of the coquillages
Viennent some ladies
en pèlerinage
entre Holy-Mother-Eglise
et the nuages

See too

External bonds

Normandy Mémoire Spaces Historical: ''' Utah Beach '''
DDay-Overlord.com - Utah Beach: history and photographs of the beach of unloading
D-Day: Inventory of fixtures Course of operation of June 6th, 1944 on Utah Beach

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