Table Of ContentContents
List of Illustrations
Introduction
Author’s Note
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: The Guns of Pointe-du-Hoc
Chapter 2: The Coastal Gun Threat
Chapter 3: “Hard Men for Dirty Work”
Chapter 4: Refining the Ranger Plan
Chapter 5: Spying on Pointe-du-Hoc: The Intelligence Battle
Chapter 6: Softening Pointe-du-Hoc
Chapter 7: Obliteration
Chapter 8: Assault Group O-4
Chapter 9: Carnage on Charlie Beach
Chapter 10: The Stormy Voyage to Pointe-du-Hoc
Chapter 11: Force A Strikes Pointe-du-Hoc
Chapter 12: Spiking the Guns
Chapter 13: The Germans Strike Back
Chapter 14: Night Attack
Chapter 15: Ranger Force C on Dog Green Beach
Chapter 16: The Crazy March on D+1
Chapter 17: Relief from the Sea
Chapter 18: Final Mission: The Maisy Gun Batteries
Chapter 19: Battle Analysis
Afterword: The Rangers in Cinema
Appendix A: Ranger Organization, Equipment, and Combat
Awards
Appendix B: The Pointe-du-Hoc Guns: Doctrine and
Technology
Appendix C: Naval Fire Support for the Rangers
Appendix D: The Guns of Maisy
Endnotes
Further Reading
Glossary
Plates
List of Illustrations
PLATE SECTION IMAGES
1 Ranger missions on D-Day have become a core legend to
the US Army’s contemporary special operations forces. In
commemoration of the 75th anniversary of D-Day, in June
2019 the 75th Ranger Regiment scaled the cliffs of Pointe-
du-Hoc. The Ranger to the left is wearing D-Day combat
gear while assisting a fellow Ranger in contemporary
battle-dress. (US Army photo by Markus Rauchenberger,
Training Support Activity Europe. DoD)
2 President Ronald Reagan’s commemoration of the Ranger
memorial on top of the observation bunker at Pointe-du-
Hoc was the centerpiece of the American D-Day 40th
anniversary in Normandy in June 1984. The granite
Ranger memorial is located on top of the German fire
control bunker and the monument was formally transferred
to the American Battle Monuments Commission for
perpetual care on January 11, 1979. (DoD)
3 A C-47 Skytrain transport aircraft in D-Day invasion stripe
markings passes over the west side of the Pointe-du-Hoc
promontory on June 8, 2019 during the 75th anniversary
ceremonies. Named “That’s All Brother,” this aircraft was
flown on D-Day by Lt Col John M. Donalson, commander
of the 438th Troop Carrier Group. It was restored and
operated by the Commemorative Air Force. (US Air Force
photo by Senior Airman Devin M. Rumbaugh, 86th Airlift
Wing/Public Affairs. DoD)
4 A view of the eastern side of Pointe-du-Hoc from the
eastern Flak bunker overlooking the cliffs climbed by the
Rangers on D-Day. The Regelbau 636a command post
bunker with the Ranger memorial can be seen to the upper
left. (Author)
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5 An aerial view of Pointe-du-Hoc looking eastward with the
town of Grandcamp and the Vire river estuary visible in
the background. This view was taken from a MC-130J
Commando II of the 67th Special Operations Squadron
during a commemorative paratrooper air jump on the 71st
anniversary of the D-Day landings in 2015. (US Air Force
photo by Tech. Sgt. Stacia Zachary. DoD)
6 A view of the eastern side of Pointe-du-Hoc from the
command bunker overlooking the cliffs climbed by the
Rangers on D-Day. German machine gun nests on the
cliffs in the center of this image were a lingering problem
for the Rangers until silenced by destroyer fire. (Author)
7 An aerial view looking eastward with the Pointe-du-Hoc
promontory in the upper left. In the foreground is the WN
76 defense nest, which contained dummy artillery
batteries.
8 One of the 155mm GPF guns in its kettle gun pit on
Pointe-du-Hoc in August 1943. The gun is mounted on a
standard Rheinmetall-Borsig Drehsockel mount to
facilitate traverse of the gun. The guns were subsequently
fitted with a camouflage umbrella overhead.
9 The 155mm GPF guns used a Drehsockel (swivel socket)
mounting in the kettle gun pits as seen on the right. To
conserve space in the enclosed casemates, the guns were
supposed to be re-mounted on the more compact schwere
Drehbettung 32.To. These were in short supply and never
reached Pointe-du-Hoc before D-Day. As a result, none of
the 155mm guns was deployed in the completed
casemates. (Author)
10 The US Army was very familiar with the 155mm GPF gun
deployed at Pointe-du-Hoc, since the American
Expeditionary Force had been equipped with the same
weapon in 1917–1918. It continued to serve in the US
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Army for coastal defense in World War II. This example
was preserved for many years at the Ordnance Museum at
Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. It was displayed in
transport mode as seen here. (Author)
11 The Regelbau H636a command post bunker on Pointe-du-
Hoc in August 1943 as construction was nearing
completion. The shed in front of it housed the battery’s
optical rangefinder until the new bunker was completed.
12 The Regelbau H636a command post bunker at Pointe-du-
Hoc after its capture by the Rangers. The forward
observation cupola had an applique of rough concrete and
stone added over the basic concrete shell for camouflage.
13 Kettle gun pit No. 6 is the least damaged example at
Pointe-du-Hoc. The area around the gun pedestal had been
filled with earth over the years. (Author)
14 Bauwerk 468 is one of two surviving Regelbau 694 gun
casemates at Pointe-du-Hoc. It was heavily damaged by
bombing and naval gun fire. The small concrete structure
to the right is the remains of the personnel shelter of kettle
gun pit No. 5 that had been located immediately in front of
it. (Author)
15 The western Regelbau H502 Doppelgruppenstand
personnel bunker, located between gun pits No. 4 and No.
5. This bunker had accommodations for twenty troops in
two rooms. It has a defensive Tobruk machine gun pit on
the roof to the left. The Ranger memorial can be seen off
in the distance in the upper right. (Author)
16 Life in an Atlantic Wall strongpoint was cramped, damp,
and dank. This is the interior of a restored Regelbau 502
Gruppenstand bunker at Stützpunkt Lohengrin near
Vlissingen. This small room would have accommodated
ten soldiers and their equipment. (Author)
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17 The only element of the Pointe-du-Hoc strongpoint to
remain in German hands through June 8 was the western
Regelbau L409A Flak bunker. The two surviving Regelbau
694 gun casemates can be seen near the skyline toward the
right. (Author)
18 A view of the back side of the Regelbau H636 command
post bunker with the Ranger memorial on top. This
structure has been significantly rebuilt over the years for
safety reasons. For example, the observation post on the
top of the bunker has been plated over. (Author)
19 The Rangers undertook extensive cliff-scaling exercises
along the English coast using a variety of toggle ropes and
lightweight ladders. This is an exercise at Hive Beach,
Burton Bradstock, Dorset in the spring of 1944.
20 Able Company, 2nd Rangers on the march to the
embarkation area in Weymouth harbor on June 1, 1944
with Col Earl Rudder in the lower right. The officers on
the left are Capt Harvey Cook (S-2) and the company
commander, Capt Joseph Rafferty.
21 The Project Scam LCAs were fitted with six J-Projectors
to fire rocket-propelled grapnel hooks up the cliffs of
Pointe-du-Hoc as shown in these illustrations. (Author)
22 This is LCA 1377 of the 507 LCA Flotilla from LSI(S)-3
Prince Baudoin seen during pre-invasion exercises. On D-
Day, this craft landed a team from the 5th Rangers
headquarters company headed by Capt John Raaen on Dog
White Beach on D-Day. The LCAs from Force B lacked
the grapnel launchers fitted on the Project Scam LCAs of
Force A.
23 The LCAs assigned to Ranger Force A were fitted with
special J-Projectors under Project Scam. This photo was
taken during training exercises along the Devon coast in
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April 1944 when the LCAs were still painted in Royal
Navy disruptive camouflage.
24 This LCA is seen launching its grapnels during pre-
invasion exercises off the British coast.
25 Teams from the 5th Rangers and the 507 LCA Flotilla are
loaded aboard LSI(S)-3 Prince Baudoin off the English
coast. The Prince Baudoin was converted into a Landing
Ship Infantry from a Belgian cross-Channel ferry in 1943,
after serving as a troopship in the Mediterranean earlier in
the war.
26 The Swan DUKW had a machine gun position fitted to the
top of the ladder to sweep the top of the cliff once the
ladder was elevated. This consisted of a flexible Vickers K
gun in the center, and two horizontally mounted Vickers K
guns on either side.
27 Four DUKW amphibious trucks were fitted with
Merryweather 100-foot Turntable Ladders obtained from
the London fire brigade. One of these Swan DUKWs is
seen during cliff-scaling exercises at Hive Beach, Burton
Bradstock, Dorset in the spring of 1944.
28 Pointe-du-Hoc was subjected to its first major bombing
attack on the evening of April 25, 1944 by the A-20
Havocs of the 409th and 416th Bomb Groups. Smoke and
dust can be seen rising from the Pointe-du-Hoc
promontory to the lower right.
29 Pointe-du-Hoc was subjected to an intense bombardment
by RAF Bomber Command in the pre-dawn hours of D-
Day as shown in this illustration of the Operation
Flashlamp raid. (Author)
30 The devastating power of the Operation Flashlamp bomber
attacks on Pointe-du-Hoc can be seen in this image of one
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