The DD tanks arrived on time at the other beache and, where supported by flail tanks, were able to move through the mined areas.
The official reason for not using the funnies was that it would take too long to train the crews to use the churchill tanks but the flails were mounted on shermans. A few days of training should have been sufficient to at least get them ashore and moving up.

But on Omaha, the DD's were launched in high seas, 8 miles offshore, EIGHT MILES! and many simply sank as soon as they dropped off the ramp. The seas were simply too riugh. It has been suggested that the US navy wallahs were overly worried about shore emplaced guns and that's why they let the DD's go so far out. One squadron of DD's was carried in to the beach and landed but they arrived late, after much of the killing had happened. It doesn't take very long for a MG to mow down a few hundred men so if there's no tank support for 15-20 minutes it ain't pretty.

Even when they got ashore they couldn't move inland for fear of mines and anti-tank guns. Most stayed hull down in the surf and crept up with the tide.

The planning for Omaha was less than optimum and the US general staff should take blame for that. But the Navy let the men down big time. The artillery didn't do the job, the LCT(rockets) shot their bolt too soon and sarpered off back to blighty for a hot cuppa, and the LCT's carrying the DD's didn't have anyone with brains to know that 8 miles is a long way to swim a tank in a gale.

Read Chester Wilmot's "The Strugle for Europe" for a good account of D-Day and a comparison of the beaches. Most of the infantry landing on the first wave got a hot reception and there were problems everywhere (as might be expected) but the Omaha fiasco would never have happened if the US Navy had done their job.

BTW, the two destroyers that finally came in real close and took on the shore batteries were both British, I've heard. Can anyone confirm that? Which two were they?

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