Maisy 88-mm guns vs Omaha
88-mm Flak gun has the range to hit Omaha Beach from the Maisy Battery
The German 88-mm Flak gun has a range of 14,815 metres - long enough to hit most of Omaha Beach from the Maisy Battery, though accuracy would be an issue at that extreme range. The other guns at Maisy didn't have the range to threaten most of Omaha.
Accuracy would not be the same issue for the 88 firing from its bunker from Vierville-sur-Mer at targets the gunners could actually see - by far the greater and urgent threat to the Omaha landings.
If I remember correctly, the 88 at this position was silenced by 5" 127mm calibre fire from the guns of the USS McCook.
So there was the option to operate around Maisy for a few days but it would have remained a thorn in the side of Allied attempts to supply via Utah and Omaha so the Rangers were needed to take Maisy out if not on D-day then soon after.
Interesting programme.
Peter Dow
12:13am Fri 5 Jun
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