Pointe du Hoc
Pointe du Hoc
U.S. Army Rangers, 2nd Ranger Battalion, were assigned to capture and disable the German enemy six-gun 115-cm coast defense battery at Pointe du Hoc about three miles west of Omaha Beach. Lieutenant Colonel James E. Rudder, USA, led the men in a successful mission which was deemed an impossible mission. Despite an initial error in landing calculations, the Rangers, along with naval gunfire support, valiantly fought the Germans as they made their way up a perpendicular hill about 10 stories tall. At the point, they continued to fight the enemy who kept popping out of craters accessed by tunnels until reinforcements from 1st Battalion 116th RCT arrived the following day. At 11:30, one June 8, Pointe du Hoc was under Allied control. USS Saterlee (DD-626) provided support until relieved by USS Thompson (DD-627).
Image: 80-G-45721: Normandy Invasion, Pointe du Hoc, June 6, 1944. U.S. Army Rangers resting in the vicinity to support Omaha Beach landings on D-Day. U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
