VITAL ASSAULT

by Simon Smith

The Allies believed Pointe du Hoc to be the most dangerous battery on the Normandy coast. If the D-Day landings were to succeed, the guns that threatened the American beaches had to be destroyed.

Sited on a high rocky headland jutting out into the sea four miles to the west of Omaha beach, Pointe du Hoc would be a tough nut to crack. Despite intensive Allied bombing in the months leading up to D-Day the concrete casements remained stubbornly unscathed and, although reports from the French Resistance suggested the guns might have been moved, nobody knew for sure. It was equally possible the guns were in place and that was a risk that couldn’t be taken if the amphibious assault of Omaha beach was to stand any chance of success.

The Pointe du Hoc battery was protected to seaward by near-vertical cliffs and, on the land side, by a web of intricate defences. To take it would need a crack unit and the task was given to three companies of the US 2nd Ranger Battalion and on the morning of 6 June 1944 the Rangers would need to call on all of their elite training.

Scaling the 90-foot cliffs under relentless enemy fire, the first Rangers hit the top intent on destroying the guns – guns that had remained ominously silent. The French Resistance had been right; the guns had been moved. The Americans quickly sent out patrols in search of their quarry and soon found the guns, hidden in an orchard and trained directly on Utah beach, ready to fire. They were swiftly destroyed with grenades but the men now had to hold their ground enduring ferocious fighting for almost two days before reinforcements could get through.

Overall print size: 30 ¼” wide x 21 ½” high

Image size: 24” wide x 14” high

Joining artist Simon Smith in individually signing each print in every edition is a distinguished veteran who took part in the assault of Pointe du Hoc with the US 2nd Rangers:

Captain GEORGE KLEIN

Platoon Leader of ‘Fox’ Company, 2nd Ranger Battalion, 80th Infantry Division, on D-Day.