- Widerstandsnest WN 62
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Located on the east side of Omaha Beach WN62 is a large strongpoint which now at the bottom has a memorial to the 5th Engineer Special Brigade and at the top a memorial to the soldiers of the US First Infantry Division (Big Red One). Sitting just below the American cemetery at Coalville during low tides you can see the depth of the beach and why it took the US soldiers so long to get off the beach. |
The fortifications include; Vf69 and Vf61a Mortar Bunkers, R669 and R667 casemates, Vf2d Shelter, Observation and Communication Bunkers, Radio Shelter, AA platforms, MG nests, Water Bunker and artillery positions. Many of the bunkers have now been filled in but the main bunkers are still visitable and the trench network connecting them is visible in places.
During D-day the site was still under construction, the hole which was dug for a future barracks is still visible to this day. Manned by 31 soldiers of the 716 Infantry Division the strongpoint held out all day until the evening even after heavy bombardments from US naval guns as well as several assaults from all sides. Some of the soldiers retreated back to Collevile-sur-mer while others stayed and defended the position until the final assault on the morning of D+1.
An incredible experience to have is to buy the book WN62: A German Soldiers Memories of the Defence of Omaha Beach, Normandy, June 6, 1944, and read it while sitting at the exact position the author, Heinrich Severloh, fought at on D-Day. Recounting his tale while looking at the beach you can get an understanding of the devastation that occurred on the beach and the many tolls it would take on everyone's lives that day.
During D-day the site was still under construction, the hole which was dug for a future barracks is still visible to this day. Manned by 31 soldiers of the 716 Infantry Division the strongpoint held out all day until the evening even after heavy bombardments from US naval guns as well as several assaults from all sides. Some of the soldiers retreated back to Collevile-sur-mer while others stayed and defended the position until the final assault on the morning of D+1.
An incredible experience to have is to buy the book WN62: A German Soldiers Memories of the Defence of Omaha Beach, Normandy, June 6, 1944, and read it while sitting at the exact position the author, Heinrich Severloh, fought at on D-Day. Recounting his tale while looking at the beach you can get an understanding of the devastation that occurred on the beach and the many tolls it would take on everyone's lives that day.
