George Taylor during an amphibious traning exercise in england early 1944
Omaha beach saw the highest casulties at the hands of the Germans on 6th June 1944
...It was Colonel George Taylor, 16th Regimental Commander who famously told his troops:
"Two kinds of people are staying on this beach, the dead and those who are going to die. Now, let's get the hell out of here!"
Company G, 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry, led the way off beach sector Easy Red, up a mine field to the bluffs beyond. Using bangalore torpedoes to good effect, they blasted a way through the barb wire defences making an escape from the beach. They left behind 3,000 casualties including 1,200 killed.
The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial is built on the site of a burial ground established by American forces on 8th June 1944. This is located East of St Laurent, directly overlooking Omaha beach where so many lost their lives. It contains the graves of 9,387 US Soldiers, most of whom lost their lives in the D-Day landings and ensuing operations. Inscribed on the Memorial walls are the names of a further 1,557 soldiers 'missing in action'.
In the Colleville Military Cemetery are the graves of two brothers, Robert and Preston Niland. A third brother, Edward, was not in fact killed in action but had been taken prisoner in the Far East. These brothers were the inspiration for the acclaimed motion picture “Saving Private Ryan”.
