A few miles west of Arromanches is probably the most famous, and certainly the bloodiest, landing beach of all - Omaha.

The cliffs here are still riddled with German bunkers, and deeply scarred with shell holes from the bombardment that this most heavily defended beach of all underwent.

With German strongpoints commanding the high ground overlooking all approaches, the advance group of US 1st and 29th Divisions, supported by the 5th Rangers and 5th Engineer Special Brigade, faced a terrifying task.

The only way forward was by scaling the cliffs and taking out the German positions in a series of direct attacks. The fact that there were around 2,000 US casualties within the first few hours of the landing here speaks for itself.

Visiting the beach today, it is difficult to imagine what faced the Allieds when they landed on this picturesque golden beach. The memorial and the Les Braves sculpture by Anilore Banons are dedicated to those that fell here. 

A striking metal sculpture, Les Braves is in 3 parts rising up out of the sand - The Wings of Hope, Rise of Freedom, and The Wings of Fraternity.

Remains of machine gun placements and Geman bunkers can still be found along the beach. In Colleville-sur-Mer the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial overlooks the now peaceful Omaha Beach below.