How dangerous were coastal defenses to landing craft if bombardment failed?
Short answerExtremely dangerous; Omaha showed how concealed, unsuppressed guns and mortars could turn a landing into a crisis.
NotesLanding craft were highly vulnerable when defensive positions survived the preliminary attack. At Omaha, local geography concealed German positions and made them harder to suppress or overrun than defenses on other beaches. Other beaches benefited from faster attacks on strongpoints, direct fire, and in one case a rocket craft firing at close range. Surviving machine guns, mortars, and small artillery could turn an assault into a crisis.