| Original Caption: “American troops wade through the surf to the Northern Coast of France, part of the ever-increasing number of men bolstering the forces which made the initial landings on the beachheads.” Rocky ledges outcrop on the beach at Fox Red, where the foot of the bluff is cliff-like. Troops of the 5th Engineer Special Brigade are carrying heavy weapons equipment, coming in at the sector where Company L, 16th Infantry Regiment found shelter before moving right to assault the F-1 strongpoint. These men are carrying M2HB 50-caliber (12.7 millimeter) machine guns and all of the equipment associated with them. 1 man carries the weapon’s M3 tripod tied to a United States Navy M1926 Inflatable Lifebelt while the man closest to the camera carries an M17 Ammunition Chest that contains linked 50 caliber cartridges, also attached to a lifebelt. The 5th Engineer Special Brigade was organized in the United Kingdom on November 12, 1943, from the 1119th Engineer Combat Group with 3 attached engineer combat battalions (the 37th, 336th, and 348th). The 5th Engineer Special Brigade divided itself into 3 battalion beach groups. Each consisted of an engineer combat battalion, a naval beach company, a quartermaster service company, a DUKW 6 by 6 amphibious truck company, a medical collection company, a quartermaster railhead company, a platoon of a quartermaster gasoline supply company, a platoon of an ordnance ammunition company, a platoon of an ordnance medium automotive maintenance company, military police, chemical decontamination and joint assault signal platoons, and 2 auxiliary surgical teams. 1st Army authorized the grouping of the 5th and 6th Engineer Special Brigades under a headquarters known as the Provisional Engineer Special Brigade Group The combat battalions of both of the Engineer Special Brigades had had amphibious training on the Atlantic coast at Fort Pierce, Florida, the US Navy’s Amphibious Training Base. But some units, notably quartermaster units, had no amphibious training before joining the brigades, and the training the 5th Engineer Special Brigade’s combat battalions received in the United States proved “elementary” in the light of the heavy demands soon to be placed upon the units. Brigade units received further training in mine work, Bailey bridge construction, road maintenance, and demolitions upon arrival at Swansea on the south coast of Wales early in November, by early January 1944 they were receiving training in landing operations at nearby Oxwich Beach. Battalion beach groups formed from the 5th and 6th Engineer Brigade Groups, the latter initially under the 5th Engineer Special Brigade, were to support the V Corps landings on the 7,000-yard stretch of beach fronting the Vierville-Colleville area. The 5th Engineer Special Brigade was to operate all shore installations in sectors Easy, Fox, and George to the left of the common brigade boundary. The 6th Engineer Special Brigade was to operate those in sectors Charlie, Dog, and Easy to the right of the brigade boundary. Headquarters, Provisional Engineer Special Brigade Group, was to assume control of the 2 brigades as soon as its command post was established ashore. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0457.jpg |
| Image Size | 892.56 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 3000 x 2360 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | United States Army Signal Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | June 12, 1944 |
| Location | Fox Red |
| City | Omaha Beach |
| State or Province | Normandy |
| Country | France |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | 111-SC-190248 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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