D-Day Beaches: Omaha Beach, the American Cemetery and the Pointe du Hoc
Normandy, France
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300
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+100 France
= 400 total
1 day
D-Day Beaches: Omaha Beach, the American Cemetery and the Pointe du Hoc
300 + 100 XP
On 6 June 1944 American troops landed under heavy fire on the eight kilometres of Omaha Beach between Sainte-Honorine-des-Pertes and Vierville-sur-Mer, and above it the Normandy American Cemetery holds the graves of 9,388 people, 307 of them unknown. A few kilometres west, US Army Rangers scaled the 25 to 30 m cliff of the Pointe du Hoc to silence a battery of six 155 mm guns — and found wooden poles in the emplacements, the real guns having been moved 1,300 m inland. Bomb craters and casemates still pock the clifftop.
Required Activities
1
of 4
Walk out onto Omaha Beach at Les Moulins and find Anilore Banon's three stainless-steel sculptures standing in the sand — the wings of brotherhood, rise freedom, the wings of hope — then turn to the signal monument behind them and pick out the two frescoes to the US 1st Infantry Division and the 116th Regimental Combat Team
2
of 4
In the Normandy American Cemetery, walk the ten grave blocks of the 9,388 buried here, 307 of them unknown, and find block F, row 15, graves 11 and 12 — the brothers Preston and Robert Niland, whose story gave Spielberg the idea for Saving Private Ryan
3
of 4
At the Pointe du Hoc, look over the 25 to 30 m cliff the Rangers climbed, then walk the cratered clifftop to the gun emplacements and work out how many of the six held only wooden poles when the Rangers reached them — the real 155 mm guns had been moved 1,300 m inland
4
of 4
Visit the Musée Mémorial d'Omaha Beach at Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, a few hundred metres up from the Les Moulins draw, and compare the German gunner's view from the WN 62 position east of it with the beach the landing craft came in on
Walk out onto Omaha Beach at Les Moulins and find Anilore Banon's three stainless-steel sculptures standing in the sand — the wings of brotherhood, rise freedom, the wings of hope — then turn to the signal monument behind them and pick out the two frescoes to the US 1st Infantry Division and the 116th Regimental Combat Team
In the Normandy American Cemetery, walk the ten grave blocks of the 9,388 buried here, 307 of them unknown, and find block F, row 15, graves 11 and 12 — the brothers Preston and Robert Niland, whose story gave Spielberg the idea for Saving Private Ryan
At the Pointe du Hoc, look over the 25 to 30 m cliff the Rangers climbed, then walk the cratered clifftop to the gun emplacements and work out how many of the six held only wooden poles when the Rangers reached them — the real 155 mm guns had been moved 1,300 m inland
Visit the Musée Mémorial d'Omaha Beach at Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, a few hundred metres up from the Les Moulins draw, and compare the German gunner's view from the WN 62 position east of it with the beach the landing craft came in on
Before you go
The Musée Mémorial d'Omaha Beach is closed from 15 November to 15 February, and the ticket office shuts an hour before the museum. The path up to the cemetery from the beach has been closed from the beach side since 2015 for safety, so drive or walk round by the Les Moulins or Colleville draws.
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
300 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
400 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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