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Oddball.woof · **LOL College.......hehehe -** 09-13-2002, 06:52 AM

Mature student possibly lets just say I remember watching Neil Armstrong step onto the moon live.

POINTE DU HOC
Ranger Monument

To reach the Pointe du Hoc Ranger Monument (15), now maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission, follow the CD direction signs west along D 514 to the car park outside the monument (8 km).

The Pointe du Hoc today retains much of its battlefield character because of the destruction left by the rain of bombs and shells the Allies unleashed to neutralize this rocky point. The much feared battery was bombed three times before D Day, then hit from the air again that morning. The battleships Texas and Arkansas battered the area with their 14- and 12-inch guns just after dawn. Later in the morning, the destroyer Satterlee saturated the position with her 5-inch guns in direct support of the Rangers. This concentration of fire left craters and ruined casemates which forty years have yet to erase.

From the barbed-wire fence along the cliff top, you can look down the hundred-foot cliff to the east beach where three companies of the 2d Ranger Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James E. Rudder, landed on D Day. Their mission was to scale the cliff, then silence the six 155-mm howitzers thought to threaten the landing operations on both American beaches.

The Rangers came in forty minutes late in ten LCA's, trailed by four DUKW's and two supply boats. They lost one of each boat type on the run in. The LCA's were equipped with rocket-propelled grappling hooks which were fired as the boats grounded under the cliff. Despite small-arms fire, improvised mines, and grenades lobbed from above, the Rangers used their rope and aluminum ladders to scale the cliff within five minutes of landing. Ironically, they found the casemates empty of guns, which days before had been moved to new positions further inland. Later that morning, a patrol found the 155s unguarded and spiked them. Colonel Rudder then set up a defensive perimeter and waited for reinforcements. "Located Pointe du Hoc," he managed to signal V Corps that afternoon, "mission accomplishedÑneed ammunition and reinforcementÑmany casualties." Those reinforcements were to have come from Rangers of the 2d and 5th battalions waiting offshore. Because Rudder's assault was late, the Rangers assumed that it had failed and landed instead on Omaha Beach. It took them two days to fight their way overland to Rudder's relief. By then, his force had been reduced to about ninety effectives. Rudder received the Distinguished Service Cross for continuing to lead his men, although twice wounded.

by Michael H. Frederick and Joseph F. Masci for World War II Magazine

On the morning of June 6, 1944, 10 landing craft, assault vessels (LCAs) containing three Ranger companies headed for Pointe-du-Hoc to undertake one of D-Day's most dangerous missions. The Allied seaborne effort was to be preceded by the Rangers, whose objective was to prevent wholesale slaughter by a German battery whose guns could be zeroed in on the American landing beaches.

Not all went according to plan for the Rangers in Normandy, however. Much of the equipment that had been perfected specifically for the assault did not stand up to the rigors of combat. Each LCA contained six rocket launchers that were supposed to propel grappling hooks and ropes over the edge of the cliff. But the ropes became soaked from the heavy seas and coated with slimy clay during the pre-invasion bombardment, and many failed to reach the cliff top when fired. Even those that did reach the top were slippery and hard to climb. That the Rangers were able to scale the cliff under those conditions and under fire is a tribute to their excellent conditioning and competitive drive.

Another disappointment on D-Day was the ladder-equipped DUKW (amphibious truck) that Staff Sgt. Jack Kuhn had worked on. The idea was to drive the DUKWs onto the shale beach at low tide and raise extension ladders right to the edge of the cliff. One DUKW included a dual Lewis machine-gun mount at the top of the ladder, which was to be raised while the DUKW was still offshore and spray the summit with automatic fire while the Rangers were scaling the cliff. Unfortunately, the choppy seas caused considerable yaw to the DUKW, resulting in Sergeant William Stivison's fire having practically no effect on the German defenders. The pre-invasion bombardment had left enormous craters across the beach along the waterline, making it impossible for other DUKWs to come ashore.

In the end, it was the training, courage and tenacity of the Rangers that carried the day. Their experience emphasized the need to concentrate on the basic infantry principles of fire and maneuver and to avoid complicated technical experiments. Less than two hours after the Ranger assault, the guns near Pointe du Hoc were inoperable.

	(#54)
Oddball.woof is Offline Member Posts: 36 Join Date: Sep 2002	LOL College.......hehehe - 09-13-2002, 06:52 AM Mature student possibly lets just say I remember watching Neil Armstrong step onto the moon live. POINTE DU HOC Ranger Monument To reach the Pointe du Hoc Ranger Monument (15), now maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission, follow the CD direction signs west along D 514 to the car park outside the monument (8 km). The Pointe du Hoc today retains much of its battlefield character because of the destruction left by the rain of bombs and shells the Allies unleashed to neutralize this rocky point. The much feared battery was bombed three times before D Day, then hit from the air again that morning. The battleships Texas and Arkansas battered the area with their 14- and 12-inch guns just after dawn. Later in the morning, the destroyer Satterlee saturated the position with her 5-inch guns in direct support of the Rangers. This concentration of fire left craters and ruined casemates which forty years have yet to erase. From the barbed-wire fence along the cliff top, you can look down the hundred-foot cliff to the east beach where three companies of the 2d Ranger Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James E. Rudder, landed on D Day. Their mission was to scale the cliff, then silence the six 155-mm howitzers thought to threaten the landing operations on both American beaches. The Rangers came in forty minutes late in ten LCA's, trailed by four DUKW's and two supply boats. They lost one of each boat type on the run in. The LCA's were equipped with rocket-propelled grappling hooks which were fired as the boats grounded under the cliff. Despite small-arms fire, improvised mines, and grenades lobbed from above, the Rangers used their rope and aluminum ladders to scale the cliff within five minutes of landing. Ironically, they found the casemates empty of guns, which days before had been moved to new positions further inland. Later that morning, a patrol found the 155s unguarded and spiked them. Colonel Rudder then set up a defensive perimeter and waited for reinforcements. "Located Pointe du Hoc," he managed to signal V Corps that afternoon, "mission accomplishedÑneed ammunition and reinforcementÑmany casualties." Those reinforcements were to have come from Rangers of the 2d and 5th battalions waiting offshore. Because Rudder's assault was late, the Rangers assumed that it had failed and landed instead on Omaha Beach. It took them two days to fight their way overland to Rudder's relief. By then, his force had been reduced to about ninety effectives. Rudder received the Distinguished Service Cross for continuing to lead his men, although twice wounded. by Michael H. Frederick and Joseph F. Masci for World War II Magazine On the morning of June 6, 1944, 10 landing craft, assault vessels (LCAs) containing three Ranger companies headed for Pointe-du-Hoc to undertake one of D-Day's most dangerous missions. The Allied seaborne effort was to be preceded by the Rangers, whose objective was to prevent wholesale slaughter by a German battery whose guns could be zeroed in on the American landing beaches. Not all went according to plan for the Rangers in Normandy, however. Much of the equipment that had been perfected specifically for the assault did not stand up to the rigors of combat. Each LCA contained six rocket launchers that were supposed to propel grappling hooks and ropes over the edge of the cliff. But the ropes became soaked from the heavy seas and coated with slimy clay during the pre-invasion bombardment, and many failed to reach the cliff top when fired. Even those that did reach the top were slippery and hard to climb. That the Rangers were able to scale the cliff under those conditions and under fire is a tribute to their excellent conditioning and competitive drive. Another disappointment on D-Day was the ladder-equipped DUKW (amphibious truck) that Staff Sgt. Jack Kuhn had worked on. The idea was to drive the DUKWs onto the shale beach at low tide and raise extension ladders right to the edge of the cliff. One DUKW included a dual Lewis machine-gun mount at the top of the ladder, which was to be raised while the DUKW was still offshore and spray the summit with automatic fire while the Rangers were scaling the cliff. Unfortunately, the choppy seas caused considerable yaw to the DUKW, resulting in Sergeant William Stivison's fire having practically no effect on the German defenders. The pre-invasion bombardment had left enormous craters across the beach along the waterline, making it impossible for other DUKWs to come ashore. In the end, it was the training, courage and tenacity of the Rangers that carried the day. Their experience emphasized the need to concentrate on the basic infantry principles of fire and maneuver and to avoid complicated technical experiments. Less than two hours after the Ranger assault, the guns near Pointe du Hoc were inoperable.