Military

• Article by Peter Kimenai
• Published on January 19th, 2025

Maisy Battery

On D-Day,the American Rangers, specially trained elite soldiers, captured in a spectacular way Pointe du Hoc, a cliff of over 30 metres high between Omaha Beach and Utah Beach.Pointe du Hoc had been designated as one of the prime targets for the landings in Normandy on 6 June 1944 by the Supreme Commander Dwight D.Eisenhower. According to allied intelligence services, there were six 155mm howitzers, but when the Rangers took the Pointe du Hoc it turned out that the German artillery was not present. Still Omaha Beach and to a lesser extent Utah Beach, were shelled for days by enemy artillery fire. The American invaders initially had no idea where the fire came from.