Pointe du Hoc
Promontory in Normandy, an important military objective on D-Day, 6 June 1944 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Pointe du Hoc?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
La Pointe du Hoc (French pronunciation: [pwɛ̃t dy ɔk]) is a promontory with a 35-metre (110 ft) cliff overlooking the English Channel on the northwestern coast of Normandy in the Calvados department, France.
Battle of Pointe du Hoc | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Normandy Landings | |||||||
Map of Pointe du Hoc, showing German installations and what was believed to be the locations of the 155mm guns. | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
United States United Kingdom | Germany | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Bernard Law Montgomery James Earl Rudder |
Gerd von Rundstedt Dietrich Kraiss | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
| |||||||
Strength | |||||||
225 infantry 12 Landing Craft Assault 1 Landing Craft Tank 4 DUKW 1 Fairmile B motor launch Offshore US and Royal Navy bombardment |
200 infantry 4 machine gun emplacements 6 empty casemates 1 observation bunker | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
77 killed and 152 wounded 2 Landing Craft Assault 1 DUKW |
Landing: 25+ Counter-attacks: 50+ Germans killed and 40 captured.[1] Unknown number of alleged French collaborators executed. |
In World War II, Pointe du Hoc was the location of a series of German bunkers and machine gun posts. Prior to the invasion of Normandy, the German army fortified the area with concrete casemates and gun pits. On D-Day, the United States Army Provisional Ranger Group attacked and captured Pointe du Hoc after scaling the cliffs. United States generals including Dwight D. Eisenhower had determined that the place housed artillery that could slow down nearby beach attacks.