Comments by "David Himmelsbach" (@davidhimmelsbach557) on "The Floating Harbors of D-Day" video.

  1. The flat beach at Omaha was so unforeseen that it shocked all. It turned out that nature provided the Anglo-Allies the perfect 'port' -- without needing any engineering -- save the DUKW and the Deuce-and-a-half. Omaha provided virtually ALL of the US Army's lift. It's Mulberry was fully erected in time for the storm to destroy it. The British mulberry had not yet been assembled -- and thus was spared. Even so, the British found that they needed to vector HALF of all their stuff across Omaha Beach. Highway 13 was choked with British lorries hauling stuff from the American beachhead to the 21st Army Group. This reality is virtually NEVER to be found in print or video. I know be cause my own father was there to see the sight. The shocker was that Omaha was entirely improvised after the storm. Liberty ships, Victory ships all had FLAT bottoms -- a pretty common feature for cargo ships of any nation at that time. So all that was necessary was for the ships to sail in at high tide and watch the water recede. The tide at Omaha was so great that only the most sea-ward ships did not bottom out. Such ships had their own cranes/ davits, so it was no big deal to unload straight onto GMC 2.5 ton trucks -- which took the bulk of the cargo. As the waters rose, DUKWs replaced the GMC trucks. { DUKWs ARE GMC trucks modified to float and with propulsion to boot.} If DUKWs were used, they'd crawl up the bluff -- they needed the room -- and then their loads were man-handled off to GMC 2.5 trucks. No Fords, Dodges, Studebakers were to be found in 12th Army Group. { 6th Army Group had Fords. It had come up out of the Med -- which was Ford country. Dodges went to the Pacific: Burma Road, Marines, etc. Studebakers went to the USSR.} See how simple that was? In sum, the Mulberrys were a bust -- especially considering their expense and expectation. Omaha, alone, was able to support BOTH Army Groups. (!!!!!) PLUTO was another bust. My father saw it come ashore. It was ultra-secret at the time. It did not flow petrol/gasoline at all in time for the breakout. Just a trickle. So many problems. Ultimately, though PLUTO finally did flow fuel. Still, it did not merit its creation. Too expensive, too slow. As for the Nazis, they never did figure out where all of the sea lift was coming from.
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