War movies aren't always the best at depicting historical events. Budgets, time constraints and the desire to focus an audience, lead to creative decisions being made which may not reflect the history. The use of dramatic effect to tell a story, can sometimes override the need to depict the reality of the situation. The relative silence of the Rangers' drive in to the beach is offset by the violence that occurs when the ramp goes down. This lends drama to the situation and shocks the audience. A lot of things did not go to plan on Omaha and it's a real credit to the men that when everything went wrong, they still moved off the beach and take the bluffs.

Some of the events being depicted are fairly accurate, but the actual ride into the beach would have been very different than the film. Omaha Beach is around 6.4 km's long, or around 3.4 miles. Dog Green, the designation for the part of beach shown in the film, is on the the far western side of the landing area and is about 500 meters wide. Dog Green is known as being the 'worst' part of the Omaha sector. It lays before the Vierville Draw, and important exit off the beach which held three main pockets of German resistance. D-Day is hugely complex and contradictory, with one area of Omaha being catastrophic and an area a few hundred yards away being relatively safe. The film (sort of) depicts C Company of the 2nd Ranger Battalion. This company landed in two LCA's, as part the third assault wave at Dog Green at H+3 (H means H-hour or the 'start' point for the landings, so h+3 is H hour plus three minutes. or 6:30am). C Company, like the other Ranger units that landed on D-Day, had a special mission: to assault the enemy positions at Pointe de la Percee, which lies to the west of Charlie Beach.

What would the Rangers have seen and heard on the way into Dog Green?

The Naval, aerial, howitzer and rocket artillery would have gone silent at H-5 minutes before the landing of the first wave. After the bombers had come over, the Rangers would have heard the naval artillery lift from firing at targets overlooking the beach, to targets inland. The 29th Division, which the Rangers were going in with, had the support of Naval Support Group I, which consisted of a Battleship, a Cruiser and four destroyers. If the Rangers looked behind them they would see these ships and the remaining 10 waves of landing craft for Dog Green forming up, well in the distance behind them. Beyond that, the 'Mother' ships for the infantry formations as well as many other Combat ships and support vessels. Hundreds and hundreds of vessels. Above them they would have heard the fast spotter aircraft for the Naval gunfire, as well as the shells of the ships behind them firing over their heads. They would have heard the 47mm guns mounted on the 5 LCG's firing at beach defences. Ships returning from the first wave would have come past, these would have been rocket artillery carrying LCT R's.

Then, as they moved closer to shore, over the sound of the outgoing shells, they then would have heard cries and yells of the remains of the first wave floating in the water. Clinging to rafts and life jackets, these were the crews of the 16 DD swimming tanks from the 743 Tank Battalion, most of which had sunk on their way in. This did not bode well. These DD tanks were to land at H-5 and sit at the waters edge to provide support for the engineers to handle the beach obstacles and infantry to move off the beach. Obviously, they didn't make it (two did) and the Rangers would be landing without tank support.

Then they would have started to hear the sound of incoming German automatic weapons, mortars, artillery and rifle fire. This sound would have grown louder and louder as they approached the beach. As they drew closer the fire would increase in volume and accuracy. All that artillery had had little effect on the Germans.

The Rangers were following the Second Wave, 6 LCA's of A Company of the 116th infantry. The ocean current was moving west to east, pushing the LCA's eastward. Smoke and mist was observing the landmarks and making navigation difficult. Much of they navigation equipment such as buoys and lane marking equipment has been lost or destroyed. The Rangers would pass by LCA's stuck on sandbars, swamped and sunk. They passed men of the 116th drowning, being hit, and trying to wade or swim into shore. This was the wave that was to go in before them, and move up the beach. To their left, they would see the LCM's of the 146th Engineer Combat Team, part of the Special Engineer Task Force which was to clear pathways through the beach obstacles. LCM's comprised the bulk of this wave all along the beach. The LCM's carried tank dozers with trailers carrying explosives. Of the 16 dozers sent in, only 6 made it ashore with 3 then being destroyed by artillery. The Rangers were in 2 LCA's dwarfed by the many LCM's of the engineers in their wave. As they grew closer to the beach, they can see the LCM's being targeted by German artillery, being larger craft and full of explosives they make easy targets.

In front of them, the Rangers (if anyone wants to put their head up and look at this point) can see the remaining LCA's of A Company of the 116th. One craft has grounded about 30 yards from the shore and the men wade out in single files. The men are immediately enveloped by small arms fire and killed. One LCA full of men of the 116th, is hit by three mortar shells simultaneously, the boat disintegrates. Men from the 116th move forward and shelter behind the beach obstacles at the shore line or retreat to take cover in the water. Company A of the 116th is out action within 15 minutes of landing. The Rangers can hear artillery landing all around them, MG fire sweeping over them, men screaming and boats exploding. Their boats begin to slow down and soon ground on the seabed, they will have to wade in too.

30 yards out from the shore line, the German beach obstacles still intact, no tanks on the beach, no infantry moving up in front and with a much diminished force of engineers landing with them, the ramps drop and the Rangers are faced with about 250 meters of open sand between them and the the sea wall. German fire is sweeping down the along beach as well as from directly in front of them. The Rangers are now effectively isolated from the rest of the battle, with the nearest infantry unit 1000 yards east. The men are tired sick and demoralised, they have to drag their equipment behind them. They can't run, theres no cover, and the tide is coming in.

Sources:

Omaha Beachhead. American Forces in Action. Historical Division, War Department.

Sunday Punch in Normandy. The Tactical Use of Heavy Bombardment in the Normandy Invasion. Center for Air Force History.