World War 2: Navy Seals by Ryan Jenkins

Author:Ryan Jenkins
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: World War II, Intelligence & Espionage, Two Hours or More (65-100 Pages), Military, Special Forces, History
Publisher: Success First Publishing
Published: 2015-01-30T06:00:00+00:00

“Tetrahedrons” were another beach obstacle encountered during the Normandy invasion,

As were long poles held at an angle by wooden or metal beams and set at an angle at the surf/tide line with the intention of impaling approaching landing craft. Mines too often topped these obstacles.

Though the number of obstacles on the beaches of Normandy were far less than those placed in the Pas de Calais area, where the Germans believed the invasion would come, there were still significant numbers of them that required the skills of the demolition men of the NCDU.

On June 6th, NCDU men were tasked with destroying obstacles on every section of the American beaches. At Easy Red and Fox Green sections of Omaha Beach, 44 men loaded into 15 LCMS' (Landing Craft Men and Supplies) landed in the first two waves. Their job was to clear sixteen fifty yard gaps. Once the gaps were cleared, specific landing craft with vehicles, etc were to land and they would, theoretically, see the gaps in the obstacles with the aid of five-foot high markers that would be planted in the sand. Red markers were to be placed on obstacles that remained nearby for (again, theoretically) greater visibility.

Movies, books, TV, radio cannot do justice to the intensity of German fire on Omaha Beach. That there were as many survivors as there were is remarkable in itself. Many of the men of the first wave were cut down like ripe corn by machine gun fire from the bunkers and strong points manned by the Germans on the bluffs that overlooked the beach. Artillery fire claimed hundreds of others. While the men of the assault teams attempted to get across the beach behind some semblance of cover behind the sea wall and sand embankment that ran down much of the length of the beach, the men of NCDU had to remain at the water line, out in the open. Sitting ducks.

Like other units, some of the NCDU men landed far from their designated landing area. Many of the NCDU men who were wounded as they approached their target, drowned in the surf, weighed down by their equipment.

Some gaps in the obstacles were left purposely by the Germans, so the Allied troops and the vehicles which followed after the first wave would attempt to advance there. Of course, German machine guns waited for them.

Still the men of the NCDU persevered. On Easy Red, men under Ensign Lawrence Karnowski landed in the first wave and began working. Within twenty-five minutes of landing, they had blown most of the obstacles on a hundred yard section of beach by detonating connected charges. This of course brought additional attention from German machine guns. Then they began to prepare a second set of obstacles for demolition. One of the men, SeaBee and Chief Conrad Millis, grabbed a length of explosive primacord and went from one obstacle to another while under fire, until he was killed. Man after man ran out and continued Millis' work, each one of them being wounded in one way or another.

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