Church, Colleville-sur-Mer, Omaha beach, Normandy, France

Church, Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, France

Colleville-sur-mer was one of the main objectives on D-Day as it lay behind one one of the vital draws which were needed to land tanks, trucks and heavy equipment.

This church was the scene of heavy fighting as troops of the 1st Division (“The Big Red One”) finally struggled ashore. The first Americans reached the church around noon and there was a gun battle in the churchyard with casualties on both sides but more importantly it was the scene of the worst friendly fire incident on D-Day.
Since few radios survived the landing and as radio operators were often targeted by snipers, the ships offshore had little idea of what was happening. Based on some misleading information, the USS Harding, a destroyer stationed offshore, fired over 100 shells into the village, aiming particularly at the church tower as it was believed that it was occupied by German soldiers, who were directing artillery fire on to the beach. There were many American casualties and it was some time before accurate information was relayed to the ship.

See my other Omaha beach photo's for more viewpoints, panorama shots and notes on the fighting

Shot with a Nikon D610 and Nikkor 24 mm f/2,8 lens augustus 2017.

Taken in: France / Normandy / Arrondissement de Bayeux / Colleville-sur-Mer (show map)

Taken on: August 14, 2017

Tags:

D Day

Colleville-sur-Mer

Omaha Beach

Normandy

1944

France

WWII

WW2

Easy Red

1st Infantry Division « less

Sets appears in: • Omaha Beach, Normandy, France

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Camera: Nikon D610, f/8.0, 1/640 sec, 24mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D610
Lens:	24.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture:	f/8.0
Exposure Time:	0.002 sec (1/640)
Focal Length:	24mm
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	-1 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Spot
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 12.2.1 (Windows)
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