The American army landings on Omaha beach, on the morning of the 6th of June 1944, proved to be a bloody battle. On the evening of D-Day, at the foot of the escarpment overlooking the English Channel between Vierville and Colleville-sur-Mer, half of the soldiers that were to be lost during the landings already lay.
However, excepting the landings, within the great Operation Overlord the capture of Pointe du Hoc remains one of the most glorious events in recent American military history.
In the vicinity of Pointe du Hoc, just above Omaha Beach, stands Colleville's vast cemetery, a genuine place of memory welcoming 1 million visitors each year.