Footsteps of WWII · Normandy
Omaha Beach: Les Braves, Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer
Landing beach · 6 Jun 1944
The story
Omaha was the bloodiest of the five beaches. On 6 June 1944 the US 1st and 29th Infantry Divisions landed below bluffs held by German strongpoints that the air bombardment had largely missed. Many amphibious tanks sank in the rough sea, landing craft drifted off their sectors, and the first waves were pinned on the sand. For several hours General Bradley considered diverting follow-up forces elsewhere. Small groups of infantry, helped by destroyers firing at close range, worked up the bluffs between the strongpoints, and by nightfall the Americans held a shallow beachhead. The stainless-steel sculpture Les Braves now stands on the sand at Saint-Laurent.
What to look for
Les Braves, three groups of tall steel 'wings', stands on the beach, with a granite memorial behind it. Look up at the bluffs and the draws (valleys) the Americans had to open; remains of German strongpoints survive along the slope, and the American Cemetery is on the plateau to the east.
Plan your visit
Public beach, free and open at all times. Parking along the seafront road (D514/D517) at Saint-Laurent; busy in summer and around 6 June.
Things change, so check opening times before you travel.
Nearby sites
- Normandy American Cemetery, Colleville-sur-Mer · 2 km
- Overlord Museum, Colleville-sur-Mer · 3 km
- Pointe du Hoc · 8 km
- La Cambe German war cemetery · 11 km
- Longues-sur-Mer battery · 14 km
- Bayeux War Cemetery and Memorial · 16 km
All 160 sites in Footsteps of WWII →
Footsteps of WWII: Europe 1939–1945
A free field guide for your phone: the route, the maps and the stories built in, even with no signal. The whole Second World War in Europe, from the first shots at Westerplatte on 1 September 1939 to the German surrender in May 1945: Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, Normandy, Arnhem, Bastogne, Stalingrad, Berlin and the camps, in 15 areas from Britain to Russia.
Open the guide