US Troops coming ashore, Omaha Beach

ustroopscomingashoreomahabeach.jpg

US Troops disembark from LST-538 between 11:30 and 12:30 on the 6th of June.

Among the troops are the engineers of the 5th 5th Engineer Special Brigade identified by the markings on their helments. They carried out many specialised tasks on the beach such as clearing German obstacles, filling in shell holes, making safe booby traps, and laying down trackway on the sand to enable vehicles to get off off the beach. They also assisted in the evacuation of casualties.

One behind the GI in the front left is carrying a 2.36" Bazooka cradled in his arms with his loader to his left, who also seems to be carrying some cans of .30 machine gun ammunition, indicating that they were prepared to deal with live Germans too.

This photo was taken by Hermann Wall of the 165th Signal Photo Co.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bazooka