Footsteps of WWII · Normandy
Pointe du Hoc
Fortification · 6–8 Jun 1944
The story
German guns on this 35-metre headland between Utah and Omaha were thought to threaten both beaches. On 6 June 1944, 225 men of the 2nd Ranger Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel James Earl Rudder landed late, at about 07:10, and climbed the cliffs with rocket-fired grapnels and ladders under fire. At the top they found the casemates empty: the guns had been moved inland. Patrols found five of the six in an orchard and wrecked them with thermite grenades by about 09:00. The Rangers then held the headland against counter-attacks until relieved on 8 June, by when only about 90 were still fit to fight.
What to look for
The ground is still a moonscape of bomb craters around ruined casemates and the observation bunker at the cliff edge, topped by the granite Ranger Monument. Look over the edge at the cliffs the Rangers climbed.
Plan your visit
Free; open daily 09:00–17:00. ABMC works run until mid-2027: the visitor centre and main car park (P1) are closed, and some paths and bunkers are fenced off. Access is by the west path only, with temporary parking signposted. Check the website before you go.
Things change, so check opening times before you travel.
Nearby sites
- La Cambe German war cemetery · 7 km
- Omaha Beach: Les Braves, Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer · 8 km
- Normandy American Cemetery, Colleville-sur-Mer · 11 km
- Overlord Museum, Colleville-sur-Mer · 11 km
- Utah Beach Museum, Sainte-Marie-du-Mont · 14 km
- Longues-sur-Mer battery · 22 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.
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