The Shingle at Omaha

I took these photos in September 2006 in the Fox Green Sector, Omaha Beach, Normandy, to provide a visual reference for the term “shingle” when encountered in reading about that part of the beach. A rock shingle is a large field of loose waterworn stones between the tidal flat and beginning of what was called the “upper beach.” At this, the eastern end of Omaha, the upper beach was the rather low, grass-covered dune pictured. Further west, the geography of the upper beach varied greatly, ranging from wider grassy and marshy stretches, to gently rising bluffs, to steep cliffs topping out at over 100 feet high. The stones comprising the shingle embankment were generally swept ashore by storm surges over time, and normal tidal action was not strong enough to wash them back into the sea. The shingle at Omaha was approximately 15 yards wide at its widest point, with the stones averaging about 3 inches in size, often necessitating breaches to be bulldozed in the embankment to allow vehicular access to the flat ribbons of sand beyond. The seaward edge of the shingle was the high water mark, the furthest point the incoming tide reached under normal surf conditions. The photos show the general location where the men of L Company, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division (The Big Red One) came ashore on the morning of June 6, 1944.