Stupid question, but how were the Allies able to soften up German machine gun fire enough to make it to the cliffs at Normandy?

by J2quared
jeffbell

There was a previous answer from /u/coinsinmyrocket at https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1vhx3q/how_long_were_soldiers_on_the_beach_during_the/ about the timeline of the landings at Omaha beach. (The other beaches are relatively flat)

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Of course there is more room for discussion.