On D-Day, why was the invasion of gold beach relatively easy compared to omaha beach?
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Anonymous
ANSWERS: 3
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Neither was particularly easy as the troops on Gold took some pretty heavy casualties as well, however, Omaha was the toughest nut to crack because of three reasons IMO. One was that it was the most heavily fortified to begin with, additionally the Germans had replaced the rather low quality infantry division initially defending it (the 716th IIRC) with a much better trained and veteran unit in March and Allied intelligence was not aware of this change. So, you have the heaviest fortifications manned by one of the best trained units defending the beaches, plus it did not help matters at all that virtually none of the landings on that beach were where they were supposed to be so you had qutie a bit of additional confusion. I think those three factors are primarily why Omaha could be considered the more difficult of the two.
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The Krauts preferred Omaha beach for its gently sloping shoreline, rhythmic waves, and large variety of beach sculptures.
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Well it wasent exactly a walk in the park, but there are a number of reasons why it was easier than Omaha. One was the accuracy of the naval and air bombardment. Most of the shelling landed waaaay too far inland on omaha. Another was the DD tanks. Most of the DDs on omaha where launched too far out and consequently where drowned by the waves, whil the British ones where launched closer to the shore and therefore had a shorter run in, and less waves to contend with. Even a small wave will swamp a DD tank. The terrain played a facter too. Omaha was a vast, open beach overlooked by cliffs. Just asking for a bloodbath. Gold was more flatter, with a town just of the beach. There was also a strong infantry division training just behind Omaha that allied planners failed to spot.
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