normandy, beaches and dogs

[timoa]

it's the finnish guy again with his damned ww2 tourism:

We are going to visit Normandy beaches this week and would like to know about the naming convention on the beaches; omaha,utah,sword,juno,gold but what does dog1, dog 2 etc mean? were the beaches divided on different dogs? or maybe even different letters on different beaches? Any good maps on subject?

Our plan is to go Rouen->Caen->Ouistreham->Vierville sur Mer->Pointe Du hoc->St Lo

pictures will follow
http://www.angelfire.com/darkside/timo/pics

[Logan Hartke]

From what I've read, they have no rhyme or reason, because they wanted it that way. The less the enemy can put it together, the less they will understand it. Also, it's easier to confuse beach names if, for instance, you name them all after colors or something. They have little to no rhyme or reason for a reason.

Logan Hartke

[Christoph Awender]

Hello!

All beaches Omaha, Utah, Gold, Sword, Juno were divided in sectors and those were divided in sub-sectors.

OMAHA divided in DOG, EASY, FOX
DOG divided in White, red, green
EASY in Green, red
FOX in green, red

Let me know if you want to know the other sectors too.

regards,
Christoph

[timoa]

Thanks for both of you.

Christoph, if you have the information, please post it. You wouldn't have any maps on how they divided them?

Also, why, in Saving Private Ryan does Tom Hanks say "Dog 1 exit"? Is White 1 red 2 etc?

[Christoph Awender]

Hello!

I have maps of all beaches but not best quality.

Well, I wouldn´t believe everything in Private Ryan movie but the exits from the beaches were numbered.

UTAH - Tare, Uncle, Victor (green, red), William
OMAHA - Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog (green,white,red) Easy (green,red), Fox (green,red), George
GOLD - How, Item, Jig (green,red), King (green,red)
JUNO - Love, Mike (green,red), Nan (green,white,red)
SWORD - Oboe, Peter, Queen (green,white,red) Roger

Here is a link to a map with a part of Omaha-beach. I have not enough time right now to scan them all.

http://chrito.users1.50megs.com/karten/ ... abeach.jpg

regards,
Christoph

[timoa]

Thank you very much for the effort!

[Jurek]

Here's an interesting map.
http://www.dean.usma.edu/history/norman ... 7_omah.htm

There's also one on there for Utah plus a lot of interesting pictures and videos.

[tonyh]

>>but what does dog1, dog 2 etc mean? <<

These were viable exits off Omaha beach towards inland AFAICR from the dog sector. Presumably there was Baker 1, Charlie 1 etc.

Tony

[Jurek]

Due to work being fairly slow today, I've been able to have a good rummage around and the site I mentioned earlier does actually have a very extensive map section. It's well worth checking out.
http://www.dean.usma.edu/history/dhisto ... 20Page.htm

[timoa]

Here are some pictures from our trip to see Normandy beaches:

http://www.angelfire.com/apes/timo5/france/france.htm

[timoa]

anyone have any idea what Tom Hanks means in Saving Private Ryan when he says Cat-F, Cat-F?

"Shore party!" Ian was still yelling, when he had turned the other soldier around, only to find a faceless corpse.

A grenade blew up ahead of them and sand flew over them. Ian took the radio to himself and spoke to the receiver: "Cat-F, Cat-F, C.." Then he noticed a huge hole in the radio and threw it away.

Men threw themselves against the sea wall and addressed Ian. "Mortensen here, sir!" Private Viggo Mortensen informed Ian of his arrival. "

http://jbslasher.sinfree.net/SPB2.html[/b]

[Cory C]

CATF is an acronym which stands for Commander (of) Amphibious Task Force.

~Cory

[timoa]

thank you NietscheMarlowe!

timo

[Maple 01]

UTAH - Tare, Uncle, Victor (green, red), William
OMAHA - Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog (green,white,red) Easy (green,red), Fox (green,red), George
GOLD - How, Item, Jig (green,red), King (green,red)
JUNO - Love, Mike (green,red), Nan (green,white,red)
SWORD - Oboe, Peter, Queen (green,white,red) Roger

The phonetic alphabet of about 1942 was used, excuse me if I've got some of it wrong. The British changed their alphabet to fall in line with the American system so some of the pre ’42 ones might have slipped in

1942 Now

A- Able Alpha
B-Baker Bravo
C-Charlie Charlie
D-Dog Delta
F-Freddy or Fox? Foxtrot
G-George Golf
H-How Hotel
I-Indigo? India
J-Jig Juliet
K-King Kilo
L-Leather Lima
M-Mike Mike
N-Nan November
O-Orange Oscar
P-Peter Papa
Q-Queen Quebec
R-Robert Romeo
S-Sugar Sierra
T-Tommy? Tango
U-Uncle Uniform
V-Victor Victor
W-Whiskey? Whiskey
X-x-ray X-ray
Y-Yoke Yankee
Z-Zebra Zulu

Regards


-nick