Pointe du Hoc

Wow....just wow!! This was everything that I could have asked or dreamed about seeing coming to Normandy.

Pointe du Hoc is a clifftop on the coast of Normandy which lies between Omaha and Utah Beaches on top of 100 ft cliffs.  The Germans had built six gun emplacements and a number of other bunkers here due to its proximity to both beaches and its relative inaccessibility from the sea below.  The Allies had identified it as a crucial target for the invasion.  In the lead up to D-Day they area was bombarded several times from both the land and sea.  In response the Germans moved the guns away from the bunkers and hid them in the bushes and hedges nearby.  Allied command knew the guns were moved but did not tell the Rangers as the location needed to be taken anyway.

It was just amazing seeing all the craters and bunkers in ruins.  The ground looked like swiss cheese or the surface of the moon. Must have been horrible for anyone camped here before the invasion.  It looked as it the bunker's walls were 6 feet thick or so, and reinforced with rebar.  Even with all that most of them were damaged or completely destroyed.  The power of the bombs dropped here must have been incredible.  I bet when they were built they thought they were pretty safe, but they were sadly mistaken.

I was like a kid playing army.  I had to go in every bunker and see everything there was to see.  The extent and scale of the underground bunkers was really impressive.  Must have taken months or years to build.

All guns were gone and replaced by logs...guns were hidden in bushes. The pointe was finally taken by Rangers who were forced to scale the cliffs and fight the Germans at close range.

Looking down on the beach, the view was amazing.  Looking one direction and it was paradise, turn around 180 degrees and it was complete devastation.

Pulled this off the web, EVERYTHING was destroyed