Why did the US landing on Omaha Beach in June 1944 nearly fail?

Why Did The US Landing On Omaha Beach In June 1944 Nearly Fail?
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Why Did The US Landing On Omaha Beach In June 1944 Nearly Fail?
Omaha Beach was the code forename for one of the five regions of the allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings during the Second World War in 1944 (Nieuwint, 2015). Omaha is an eight-kilometer section of the coast of Normandy, France opposite the English Channel from the east of Sainte Honorine des Pertes. Omaha beach landings were necessary because they linked America and British landings. On 6th June 1994, the United States allies decided to attack the German troops in the Omaha beach (Armstrong, 2014). However, the Omaha landing did not take place as planned by the United States Army rangers. The paper seeks to discuss several factors that made the landing almost fail on that day.
First, the Germans on the Omaha beach under the rule of Field Marshal Erwin had put up tough barricades to safeguard the enclosed battleground. On 5th and 6th June 1944, the Germans received reports that their allies were to attack them, which made them prepare (Drez, 1996). The prepared themselves by mining the beach and the waters. Also, they prepared thirteen strongpoints known as the resistance nests. Several other fighting positions, such as the entry and exit points at the beach, were heavily supported by the extensive trench systems (Dave, 2019). The fighting arms were also fixed to cover the whole seashore with grazing and plunging fires to make the Omaha beach a complete killing zone. The United States allies were not aware of the German preparedness, which made them take a weak static defense at the start of the war that almost failed in the war.
Secondly, the heavy sea affected United States allies on that day. Ten of the landing crafts of the allies were swept away by the lumpy seas before they arrived at the targeted points (Drez, 1996). The heavy seas also affected the awaiting troops who were offshore, reducing their effectiveness. On the other hand, strong currents caused the troops to land all over the beach, which was against the plan. The strong currents that were flowing from the east to the west scattered the United States army boats over the beach (Jesse, 2014). Out of the nine companies that were to land in the first wave, only one boat managed to land on the right intended land. The others ended up scattered across the other beaches weakening the reinforcement.
Thirdly, the engineers were unable to create lanes in the beach obstacles. As a result of the heavy seas and flowing currents, the engineers were pushed off to their targets, and only five out of sixteen members managed to arrive at the assigned locations (Nieuwint, 2015). Sadly, three team members landed in an open-air where there was no armor to cover them, which made it difficult for them to clear the gaps as planned. Furthermore, the loss of the needed equipment increased more difficult in covering up the enemy obstacles. Another group of eight members that were dragging their pre-loaded rubber boat received missiles hit from the Germans, which destroyed all their supplies, and only one team member survived (Dave, 2019). Additionally, another team had just finished laying its equipment when the location was struck by gunfire. The explosion injured more than nineteen engineers as well as some of the nearby infantrymen. Thus, this made it difficult for the remaining engineers to clear the lanes, which caused boat congestion, ship hitting, and...