Omaha Bombardment. Part I: Setting the Stage

Perhaps the single greatest failure at Omaha Beach was the bombardment plan. Despite the efforts of 16 bombardment ships and dozens of supplemental bombardment craft, German defenses emerged sufficiently undamaged to virtually stop the invasion at the shoreline for the first hours. Many reasons have been advanced for this failure, to included a shortage of bombardment ships, too short of a bombardment window and the failure of the heavy bombers to hit the beach defenses.

This three-part series examines the facts behind the bombardment controversy and attempts to separate the valid criticisms from the popular misconceptions. This installment, Part I, explores the operational environment and how it shaped the basic concept of the landings, as well as how that constrained bombardment operations. Part II will examine in detail the bombardment plan developed for Omaha Beach, and Part III will analyze how effectively that plan was executed.

Join me to see what really lies behind the popular versions of the Omaha bombardment failure.