Perched between Utah and Omaha Beaches, the cliff top—sometimes referred to as Pointe du Hoe—rises sharply over 100 feet above the English Channel. In the meticulous planning leading up to the Normandy invasion, Allied commanders identified several key objectives that demanded precise execution, and the capture of Pointe du Hoc was among the most vital. Due to its elevated position and heavy fortifications, it was considered one of the most dangerous German defensive strongholds along the Norman coast.

On the night of June 5, 1944, 13,400 American paratroopers boarded C-47 transport aircraft to take part in the largest airborne operation in history. Their mission: to secure key terrain behind enemy lines in advance of the seaborne invasion. However, problems emerged as the aircraft crossed into French airspace. A thick cloud bank over the Cotentin Peninsula forced many pilots to climb or dive unexpectedly, and intense German antiaircraft fire further scattered the formation. In the resulting confusion, paratroopers were often dropped far from their designated drop zones, leading to widespread disarray in the opening hours of the operation.

Utah Beach, a three-mile stretch of coastline on the Cotentin Peninsula, was one of the five designated landing areas for the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. Assigned to the U.S. First Army’s VII Corps under the command of Major General J. Lawton Collins, the objective at Utah Beach was to secure a beachhead on the western flank of the invasion front and facilitate a rapid advance toward the vital port city of Cherbourg. Despite strong German fortifications and the inherent risks of amphibious assault, the landings at Utah Beach were remarkably successful, aided in part by a serendipitous shift in landing zones caused by strong currents, which inadvertently placed American forces in a less heavily defended sector. By the end of the day, over 20,000 troops had come ashore with comparatively light casualties, marking the operation as one of the most effective of the D-Day landings and a critical first step in the liberation of Western Europe.

Orglandes War Cemetery is a German World War II burial site located on the northern edge of the village of Orglandes, in Normandy, France. It is the second smallest of the six German war cemeteries in the region, with just over 10,000 graves. Most of the soldiers buried here died during the summer of 1944, following the D-Day landings and the fierce fighting of the Battle of Normandy.