Memorial to the U.S. 1st Infantry Division at WN 62 overlooking Omaha Beach at Colleville Sur Mer

On D Day, Omaha beach was divided into 10 sections by the American forces:-  Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog Green, Dog White, Dog Red, Easy Green, Easy Red, Fox Green and Fox Red. WN 62  or Widerstandsnest 62  (Resistance Nest 62) overlooks Easy Red and Fox Green Sectors of OMAHA Beach at Colleville sur Mer.  WN-62 was the most powerful resistance nest on the OMAHA beach coastline.

The Beast of Omaha, Heinrich Severloh

It was here that Heinrich Severloh a German soldier of 352nd Infantry Division manned an MG42 Machine Gun. Following his defence of the beach Severloh became known as ‘The Beast of OMAHA. Severloh claimed in his autobiography that he had shot more than 1,000 American soldiers on D Day. He claimed to have fired more than 12,000 rounds of ammunition from his MG42 and 400 rounds from two Karabiner 98k rifles. If his claims are true, this amounts to more than half a tonne of ammunition.