At 8am on 6 June 1944, the situation on Omaha Beach was close to catastrophe. The first waves of soldiers had been mowed down by German guns and the beach was strewn with corpses. The officer commanding the 1st Infantry Division, Colonel George A. Taylor, motivates his troops by saying: “There are two kinds of people who are staying on this beach: those who are dead and those who are going to die. Now let’s get the hell out of here.” However, the destroyers called in as reinforcements moved closer to the shore and were able to neutralise the enemy defences overlooking the beach. Standing on the hillsides today, one can see the advantage the Germans had. On that day, American losses amounted to 2,500 men killed, wounded or missing.