OMAHA Beach runs from Vierville-sur-Mer six kilometres eastwards and was designated to the Americans. OMAHA was split into the sectors, "DOG", "EASY" and "FOX" .

116th Infantry Regiment had the sector "DOG" and the 16th Infantry Regiment got "Easy" as their objective. From the start everything goes wrong, such as the DD tanks, they were put out way too far at sea to reach the beach (only two made it). Even the air bombardment to soften the German defence had failed, the bombs were dropped to far inland.

The well trained German 352nd Division held their fire until the landing craft reached the beaches. When the ramps fell of the landing craft all hell broke lose. In shear panic soldiers jumped over the side of the crafts and many drowned under their heavy packing. Thirty men from LCA (Landing Craft Assault) No 105 were all killed instantly by machinegun fire. Within 10 minutes Company A of the 116th Inf. Reg. Lost all their officers and the men of the first wave was not a fighting unit anymore, they became a rescue unit that tried to safe their comrades from the boiling bloody sea. 116th was part of the 29th Division of the National Guard Division. Owing to this the 116th was one big club of friends, a lot of them knew each other from when they were kids. From Company A, B and D of the 1st Battalion all the recruited men came from Virginia, from places like Bedford, Lynchburg and Roanoke. From Bedford alone, a small town with just 3000 inhabitants, 23 young men died at OMAHA. Also three 'sets' of brothers lost their precious life on this beaches. At the border of "DOG" and "EASY", near Les Moulins, the grass was on fire. The smoke gave some cover to the troops that landed here. Further down on "EASY", near Colleville, it was from easy, it was the same hell on earth as on "DOG". Men of the 16th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Division (The Big Red One) became the victim of the countless land mines. The Americans had chosen not to use 'Hobart's Funnies', and they paid dearly.

At the end of the 6th of June, 1944, the American troops had some sort of a bridgehead around Omaha Beach. Below shows the men heading inland. The situation has little changed over the years. The old path is still visible. This part can be found near St-Laurent-sur-Mer. The bunker still contains it’s deadly 55mm cannon which fired her deadly shells into the first landing party’s. This area was known as Wn 65 and defended the beach, 'The Valley of Ruquet'.

To illustrate the battle for the beaches here, there are two museums. The first on our route is ‘Omaha Beach Memorial Museum, Musée Omaha 6 Juin 1944' in St.Laurent-sur-Mer. On show are uniforms, pictures and weapons. In comparison with other greater museums it gives not much extra, but it is a sincere museum. A while ago, the LCVP (Landing Craft Vehicle Personel) was restored and placed in a sort of window-shop.

The second museum, 'Musée D-Day, Omaha' is to be found in Vierville-sur-Mer, on the way to Pointe-du-Hoc. Here are some nice objects placed outside the museum which are worth a visit. This museum is also responsible for the restoration of a small piece of a Mulberry Harbour that can be found just outside Vierville.

A couple of kilometers out of Vierville, on the D514, there is a small road on the right side of the road. This leads to a cliff called Pointe de Raz de la Percée. Halfway this road, there is on the left a marker as a remembrance for one of the first temporarily airstrips, Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) A1. From this field operated the 366th Fighter Group. At the end of the road is barely room to park a car, but with some improvisation you will manage it. From this spot runs a small hiking path to the right (eastwards) to a former German radar post. Unfortunately, the path is in a bad state and you will need a machete, because the path ends in a small bush.

Just before you enter this bush, you notice a 'tobruk' bunker on the right. Halfway in the bush to the right you can see, in the field, a last remnant of a Würtzburg radar. Because of the overgrowth there is little left to be found of this old German Kriegsmarine side. This hike is only worth to them who wants to visit every aspect of Omaha Beach.