A battle that left many Allied troops dead before they could step off their transport ship, let alone fire a shot at their enemies to seal their fate, will forever remain in the mind of Americans across the nation consider it one of the most memorable battles that have ever shone in the history of the United States. June 6, 1944 left a mark on the United States and a sign to the Axis forces that the Allies could endure even in the most gruesome conflicts. The numbers were so clear in favor of the Nazi troops that the idea that the Allies had succeeded could convince the most hopeful thinkers. The weapons used in that conflict and the arduous but glorious victory achieved by the Allied forces on such a fateful day should provide inspiration to those who feel overwhelmed and hopeless. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayWhen people think about World War II, their minds will venture to one of two places: Pearl Harbor or the Battle of Omaha Beach. The Battle of Omaha Beach was ferocious, and although the Allied forces managed to overcome it, it demonstrated the ever-clear fact that no one is invincible, no matter the circumstances. Shortly before six in the morning a bombardment of the Axis-controlled beach began. Allied infantry and armor began landing on the beach around half past six in the morning. The forces didn't just get off the boat and approach the Germans, they faced serious obstacles throughout their advance towards the beach. The troops were immediately targeted and the numbers of Allied forces were significantly reduced by gun emplacements along the beach heights. Lieutenant Junior Grade Coit Hendley, the commanding officer of the transport ship USS LCI(L)-85, was quoted as saying: “The 88s began hitting the ship, penetrated the compartments and exploded on the exposed deck. The machine guns opened. Men were shot and men were maimed. There was no such thing as a minor wound.” The positions along the beach were protected by concrete bunkers and sandbag walls that lined the German front areas. These bunkers had protected much of the Axis forces from previous bombardment and allowed troops to remain patiently stationed waiting to saw off boat after boat of Allied infantry. Sandbags protected artillery positions along the beach from infantry fire. Another obstacle to the Allied forces' path to victory was the Axis troops' strategic placement of barbed wire, minefields, wooden stakes, and a multitude of steel tripods. While the defenses maintained by the Germans seemed endless, the line along which the regimes were stationed was actually quite thin. Just because the defensive line created by the Germans was so thin didn't mean it wasn't strong. The Germans had taken advantage of their high ground, using to their great advantage the limited visibility this had provided the Allies. As strong as these defenses were, in a sense they were very weak: the defenses were very dependent on each other. If the infantry managed to reach the line, the defenses would collapse and fall completely. Another major factor contributing to the German defeat at Omaha Beach was a reinforcement group that was never sent. If reinforcements had arrived at the front, the Americans would most likely never have managed to overcome the defensive line and the Germans would have tasted victory. However, the Germans seemed to believe that there was no need, thatthey had already defeated the Allies at Omaha Beach and that the reserves could be better used elsewhere. Although the Germans had quickly discovered their mistake in this matter, they had not learned quickly enough to provide reserves before the defenses completely collapsed and it was too late. Each side used a wide variety of weapons as a means of winning the battle at hand. The Allies had attacked the beach days before the invasion with bombing and artillery attacks to break the German foothold before putting boots on the ground. The bombers hit the beach quite hard, but the bunkers that the Germans had designed for such a case could not be easily destroyed by the standard shells carried by ordinary Allied bomber planes. The bombs dropped on Omaha weighed between one hundred and five hundred pounds and had no chance of destroying the Germans' well-designed bunkers on the cliff sides. Another problem with the Allied bombing of Omaha Beach was the use of anti-aircraft guns. The particular anti-aircraft gun in question is the 88mm Flak gun, commonly referred to as an eighty-eight. This gun was an artillery masterpiece of German engineering. Although the gun was designed to drop aircraft like flies, which happened quite often, it could also be used as an anti-tank/artillery gun, anti-infantry gun, and naval defense gun. The Allies had also used ships off the coast of Normandy to bombard Omaha Beach, but the bombing proved only mildly effective. Although all the shelling and shelling that occurred that morning took a toll on the Germans' defenses and tore the beach to pieces, the guns were not accurate enough at long range to pinpoint specific targets behind the German line and were not powerful enough, much like the bombs brought by the battle planes, to pierce the German bunkers. Furthermore, although it seemed like a useful idea for bombing defenses and obstacles that hindered the Allies' path to the German lines, explosives are not very effective on barbed wire or steel tripods. The barbed wire was not destroyed but was instead shaken a bit before moving back into the path of the Allied forces. When Allied troops began their invasion of the beach, they encountered a cannon that would go down in history for its extraordinary ability to shoot down groups of soldiers. The MG42, a light machine gun manufactured by Grossfuss Johannes AG, was a large machine gun that fired 7.92 mm rounds at up to 1800 rounds per minute with an effective range of one thousand meters. These guns were fed with ammunition from belts of up to two hundred and fifty rounds a piece. The pistol often required two men to operate to prevent the belt from jamming against the pistol's chamber. This cannon opened on boats full of Allied troops and shot down entire infantry boats, each carrying thirty to fifty men. The Allies also attempted to drop tanks on Omaha Beach. The boats carrying each tank came from each end of the beach. The original plan for deploying armored forces to Omaha Beach called for dropping the tanks a few meters offshore and allowing the armor to reach the beach. However, this plan soon seemed to fall to the mercy of time. The water was rough and dangerous for the tanks which would have been semi-submerged during the journey, especially at a distance of almost a hundred meters from the coast. Both groups of ships noted the dangers of the waters at hand. A group informed the.