US troops landed in Omaha Beach at 6.35 am. The soldiers advanced under intense fire on almost 3.71 miles (6 km) of beach, between Sainte-Honorine-des-Pertes to the east and Vierville-sur-Mer to the west. Perched as high as 131 ft (40 m) above sea level, the German batteries inflicted significant damage. Some 27 tanks equipped with floating skirts sank anyway, and the headquarters had to wait until 11.00 am for the first positive reports to arrive. At 3.30 pm, the last German machine gunner, Heinrich Severloh, left his bunker.