US 2ND RANGER BATTALION RELIEVED AT POINTE DU HOC

On this day in 1944, the US 2nd Ranger Battalion at Pointe du Hoc was relieved by the 29th Infantry Division. Halfway between Omaha Beach and Utah Beach, Pointe du Hoc's 100-foot cliffs were scaled by the rangers in the early hours of D-Day, capturing and holding the vital position for two days. At a high cost of life, they successfully defended against steady German counterattacks until the beachheads in Normandy could be connected. Of the 225 soldiers who landed there on D-Day, only 90 were still able to fight when reinforcements arrived.

This photo depicts German prisoners of war being moved inland as the reinforcements arrive on D+2, June 8, 1944.

"Giving the Past a Future, One Story at a Time."

WWII Veterans History Project