They are the daughters of Margaret ,(Long), and William Schroer of Cincinnati,Ohio. Their mother was the sister of my Great Grandmother, Ida Long Coder.. Sept. 28, 1906.

Omaha Beach, Fox Red sector, Normandy , France

Shot with a full frame Nikon D610 and Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 prime lens, august 2017. Tonemapped using three differently exposed (handheld) shots.

Omaha Beach

Omaha beach is a stretch of beach roughly 5 miles or 8 km. long between Vierville-sur-Mer and Ste Honorine des pertes on the coast of Normandy. It was one of the five designated landing areas for the biggest invasion ever during WWII in the summer of 1944.

Omaha was divided into ten sectors by the Allies; codenamed (from west to east): Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog Green, Dog White, Dog Red, Easy Green, Easy Red, Fox Green and Fox Red.

On june 6, 1944 -D-Day - the initial assault on Omaha was to be made by two Regimental Combat Teams (RCT), supported by two tank battalions, with two battalions of Rangers also attached. The RCT's were part of the veteran 1st Infantry division ("The Big Red One") and the untested 29th div.("Blue and Grey") , a National Guard unit.

The plan was to make frontal assaults at the "draws" (valleys) in the bluffs which dominate the coast in Normandy. Codenamed west to east they were called D-1, D-3, E-1, E-3 and F-1 . These draws could then be used to move inland with reserves and vehicles.

The German defenders were not stupid; they knew the draws were vital and concentrated their limited resources in defending them. To this end and lead by the famous "Desert Fox" Field-Marshall Erwin Rommel they built "Widerstandsneste" with AT guns, mortars, MG's in Tobruk's, trenches and bunkers. These were manned by soldiers of the German 716th and 352nd Infantry Division, a large portion of whom were teenagers, though they were supplemented by veterans who had fought on the Eastern Front . All in all some 1100 German soldiers defended the entire Omaha beach sector.

Preliminary bombardments were almost totally ineffective and when the initial waves landed at low tide they met with fiece opposition of an enemy well dug in and prepared. Most of the floating tanks (Sherman DD type) never made it to the beach due to the rough seas or were taken out by AT guns. Their role to support the infantry following them was reduced to almost zero before the battle even begun.

Casualties were heaviest amongst the troops landing at either end of Omaha. At Fox Green and Easy Red scattered elements of three companies were reduced to half strength by the time they gained the relative safety of the shingle, many of them having crawled the app. 300 yards (270 m) of beach just ahead of the incoming tide. Casualties were especially heavy amongst the first waves of infantry and the "gap assault teams" made by Combat Engineers - at Omaha these were tasked with blasting channels through the beach obstacles.

Situation at Dog Green and Easy Red by mid morning was so bad with nearly all the troops essentially pinned down on the beach gen. Eisenhower seriously considered to abandon the operation; in "First Wave at OMAHA Beach", S.L.A. Marshall, chief U.S. Army combat historian, called it "an epic human tragedy which in the early hours bordered on total disaster."

As the first waves of infantry, tanks and combat engineers landing directly opposite the "draws" were pinned down it was up to forces landing on the flanks of these strongpoints to penetrate the weaker German defences by climbing the bluffs. Doing this they had to overcome minefields and barbed wire as well as machinegun fire from German positions but they did and they were able to attack some key strongpoints from the side and the rear, taking them out by early afternoon.

This happened on several spots at Omaha and essentially saved the day: individual acts of initiative by lower ranked officers and courage like that of First Lieutenant Jimmy Monteith, who led a group of men to take one of the key German widerstandsneste and was killed in action, succeeded where a flawed plan failed. By the end of the day most of the German strongpoints had been taken and the battle was won - albeit at a terrible cost.

On the Photo:

Standing on Fox Red and looking east towards Ste. Honorine des Pertes and Port-en-Bessin. Fox Red is the easternmost sector of Omaha Beach and has a natural barrier of sand stone cliffs near the edge of the beach. On june 6 troops men of the 3/16th RCT used the cliffs here as a natural protection against the relentless MG fire from the German Widerstandsneste WN-60 and WN-61 guarding the Easy-3 exit near Colleville; one of the biggest "draws" in the terrain which would allow heavy weapons and tanks to go inland.

Some of the iconic pictures of d-day were taken here in the early hours of june 6 when the first assault waves of the 1st infantry division attacking the Colleville draw were pretty much pinned down on the beach. Many assault boats designated for the Easy Red sector ended up here due to the strong current, the heavy fire from the Germans at Easy-3 and the proximity of the cliffs here which offered at least some protecion. Check this photo.

A smaller exit, code named Fox-1 near here was used to breach the german defenses and eventually take the strong WN's to the west.

Official US Army history:

"Four sections of Company L had landed and reorganized on the western end of Fox Red sector, where the bluff, merging here into a partial cliff just beyond the highwater shingle, afforded good cover. The company commander was killed as he exposed himself to direct the fire of some nearby tanks, and 1st Lt. Robert R. Cutler, Jr., took command. The sections were moved west, out of the shelter of the cliff and to a position where they were just below the strongpoint commanding F-1 draw. Two tanks were called on for fire support. As a scheme of maneuver, Lieutenant Cutler sent three sections and headquarters, 2d and 3d Sections leading, up the draw a little to the west of the strongpoint. There were no hostile prepared positions at the head or the west side of the draw. The heavy brush gave good cover from enemy small-arms fire, and the 2d and 3d Sections worked to the top in squad columns without serious losses, despite crossing enemy minefields. Here the 2d Section moved left and got in position to take the strongpoint from behind; a little to the right, the 3d and 5th Sections moved a short distance inland and organized a hasty defensive position. The three sections kept in contact with each other and with the beach." ("Omaha Beachhead", AMERICAN FORCES IN ACTION official US War department series)

"Private Steve Kellman's story:

"In the pre-dawn darkness aboard the HMS Empire Anvil, 21-year-old Private Steve Kellman, a rifleman in L Company, 16th Infantry, felt the crushing weight of the moment: "In the hours before the invasion, while we were below decks, a buddy of mine, Bill Lanaghan said to me, ‘Steve, I’m scared.’ And I said, ‘I’m scared, too.’"

Then, about three or three-thirty that morning, an officer gave the order and Kellman and Lanaghan and the nearly 200 men in L Company began to climb awkwardly over the gunwales of their transport and descend the unsteady "scramble nets," just as they had done in training so many times before.

"The nets were flapping against the side of the vessel, and the little landing craft were bouncing up and down," said Kellman.

"It was critical that you tried to get into the landing craft when it was on the rise because there was a gap - the nets didn't quite reach and you had to jump down. That was something we hadn¹t practiced before. We had practiced going down the nets, but the sea was calm. This was a whole new experience."

"We circled in our landing craft for what seemed like an eternity," recalled Steve Kellman. "The battleships opened up and the bombers were going over.

Every once in a while, I looked over the side and I could see the smoke and the fire, and I thought to myself, ‘we're pounding the hell out of them and there isn¹t going to be much opposition.’

As we got in closer, we passed some yellow life rafts and I had the impression that they must have been from a plane that went down, or maybe they were from the

amphibious tanks that might have sunk; I don’t know.

These guys were floating in these rafts and, as we went by, they gave us the ‘thumbs up’ sign. We thought, ‘they don't seem very worried - what the hell do we have to be worried about?’ But, as we got in closer, we could hear the machine-gun bullets hitting the sides of the vessel and the ramp in front." "While in training, we were told of all the things that would be done in order," recalled Harley Reynolds. "But to see it all come together was mind-boggling." What Reynolds saw was a heavily fortified, enemy-held beachhead that had barely been touched by Allied bombs and shells. (..) All but five of the 32 amphibious Sherman tanks had sunk, carrying their crewmen to their deaths.

There was not so much as a single bomb crater on the beach in which to hide, and the German gunners were all alert and zeroed in on the narrow strip of beach, five miles long, code-named "Omaha."

(The Battle for Easy Red, Fox Green By Flint Whitlock)

See my other Omaha beach photo's for more viewpoints, panorama shots and notes on the fighting

For a map of the eastern part of Omaha click here. The German WN's are marked as well as the Draws and beach sections.

Omaha Beach, Fox Red sector, Normandy , France

Omaha Beach

Omaha was divided into ten sectors, codenamed (from west to east): Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog Green, Dog White, Dog Red, Easy Green, Easy Red, Fox Green and Fox Red. On june 6, 1944 -D-Day - the initial assault on Omaha was to be made by two Regimental Combat Teams (RCT), supported by two tank battalions, with two battalions of Rangers also attached. The RCT's were part of the veteran 1st Infantry division ("The Big Red One") and the untested 29th ("Blue and Grey") , a National Guard unit.

The plan was to make frontal assaults at the "draws" (valleys) in the bluffs which dominate the coast in Normandy , codenamed west to east they were called D-1, D-3, E-1, E-3 and F-1 . These draws could then be used to move inland with reserves and vehicles.

The Germans were not stupid; they knew the draws were vital and concentrated their limited resources in defending them. To this end they built "Widerstandsneste" with AT guns, mortars, MG's in Tobrul's, trenches and bunkers, manned by soldiers of the German 716th and - more recently - 352nd Infantry Division, a large portion of whom were teenagers, though they were supplemented by veterans who had fought on the Eastern Front. All in all some 1100 German soldiers defended the entire Omaha beach sector of over 5 miles.

Preliminary bombardments were almost totally ineffective and when the initial waves landed at low tide they met with fiece opposition of an enemy well dug in and prepared.

Casualties were heaviest amongst the troops landing at either end of Omaha. At Fox Green and Easy Red, scattered elements of three companies were reduced to half strength by the time they gained the relative safety of the shingle, many of them having crawled the 300 yards (270 m) of beach just ahead of the incoming tide. Casualties were especially heavy amongst the first waves of soldiers and the gap assault teams - at Omaha these were tasked with blasting channels through the beach obstacles. German gunfire from the bluffs above the beach took a heavy toll on these men. The demolition teams managed to blast only six complete gaps and three partial ones; more than half their engineers were killed in the process.

Situation at Dog Green and on Easy Red on the other end of Omaha by mid morning was so bad with nearly all the troops essentially pinned down on the beach gen. Eisenhower seriously considered to abandon the operation; in "First Wave at OMAHA Beach", S.L.A. Marshall, chief U.S. Army combat historian, called it "an epic human tragedy which in the early hours bordered on total disaster."

As the US first waves assault forces and combat engineers landing directly opposite the "draws" were pinned down it was up to forces landing on the flanks of the strongpoints to penetrate the weaker German defences by climbing the bluffs. Doing this they had to overcome the minefields and barbed wire as well as machinegun fire from German positions but they did and they were able to attack some key strongpoints from the side and the rear, taking them out by early afternoon.

This happened on several spots at Omaha and essentially saved the day: individual acts of initiative by lower ranked officers and courage like that of First Lieutenant Jimmy Monteith, who led a group of men to take one of the key German widerstandsneste and was killed in action, succeeded where a flawed plan failed.

On the Photo:

Fox Red is the easternmost sector of Omaha Beach (Omaha was divided into ten sectors, codenamed (from west to east): Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog Green, Dog White, Dog Red, Easy Green, Easy Red, Fox Green and Fox Red) .

On june 6 troops men of the 3/16th RCT used the cliffs here as a natural protection against the relentless MG fire from the German Widerstandsnests WN-60 and WN-61 guarding the Easy-3 exit near Colleville; one of the "draws" in the terrain which would allow heavy weapons and tanks to go inland.

Some of the iconic pictures of d-day were taken here in the early hours of june 6 when the first assault waves of the 1st infantry division attacking the Colleville draw were pretty much pinned down on the beach. Check this photo.

As it was a smaller exit, code named Fox-1 near here was used to breach the german defenses and eventually take the strong WN's to the west.

Official US Army history:

"Four sections of Company L had landed and reorganized on the western end of Fox Red sector, where the bluff, merging here into a partial cliff just beyond the highwater shingle, afforded good cover. The company commander was killed as he exposed himself to direct the fire of some nearby tanks, and 1st Lt. Robert R. Cutler, Jr., took command. The sections were moved west, out of the shelter of the cliff and to a position where they were just below the strongpoint commanding F-1 draw. Two tanks were called on for fire support. As a scheme of maneuver, Lieutenant Cutler sent three sections and headquarters, 2d and 3d Sections leading, up the draw a little to the west of the strongpoint. There were no hostile prepared positions at the head or the west side of the draw. The heavy brush gave good cover from enemy small-arms fire, and the 2d and 3d Sections worked to the top in squad columns without serious losses, despite crossing enemy minefields. Here the 2d Section moved left and got in position to take the strongpoint from behind; a little to the right, the 3d and 5th Sections moved a short distance inland and organized a hasty defensive position. The three sections kept in contact with each other and with the beach." ("Omaha Beachhead", AMERICAN FORCES IN ACTION official US War department series)

"Private Steve Kellman's story:

"In the pre-dawn darkness aboard the HMS Empire Anvil, 21-year-old Private Steve Kellman, a rifleman in L Company, 16th Infantry, felt the crushing weight of the moment: "In the hours before the invasion, while we were below decks, a buddy of mine, Bill Lanaghan said to me, ‘Steve, I’m scared.’ And I said, ‘I’m scared, too.’"

Then, about three or three-thirty that morning, an officer gave the order and Kellman and Lanaghan and the nearly 200 men in L Company began to climb awkwardly over the gunwales of their transport and descend the unsteady "scramble nets," just as they had done in training so many times before.

"The nets were flapping against the side of the vessel, and the little landing craft were bouncing up and down," said Kellman.

"It was critical that you tried to get into the landing craft when it was on the rise because there was a gap - the nets didn't quite reach and you had to jump down. That was something we hadn¹t practiced before. We had practiced going down the nets, but the sea was calm. This was a whole new experience."

"We circled in our landing craft for what seemed like an eternity," recalled Steve Kellman. "The battleships opened up and the bombers were going over.

Every once in a while, I looked over the side and I could see the smoke and the fire, and I thought to myself, ‘we're pounding the hell out of them and there isn¹t going to be much opposition.’

As we got in closer, we passed some yellow life rafts and I had the impression that they must have been from a plane that went down, or maybe they were from the

amphibious tanks that might have sunk; I don’t know.

These guys were floating in these rafts and, as we went by, they gave us the ‘thumbs up’ sign. We thought, ‘they don't seem very worried - what the hell do we have to be worried about?’ But, as we got in closer, we could hear the machine-gun bullets hitting the sides of the vessel and the ramp in front." "While in training, we were told of all the things that would be done in order," recalled Harley Reynolds. "But to see it all come together was mind-boggling." What Reynolds saw was a heavily fortified, enemy-held beachhead that had barely been touched by Allied bombs and shells. (..) All but five of the 32 amphibious Sherman tanks had sunk, carrying their crewmen to their deaths.

There was not so much as a single bomb crater on the beach in which to hide, and the German gunners were all alert and zeroed in on the narrow strip of beach, five miles long, code-named "Omaha."

(The Battle for Easy Red, Fox Green By Flint Whitlock)

The viewpoint is from roughly the centre of fox Red looking towards the east. Shot with a Nikon D7000 and Tokina AT-X Pro SD 12-24mm F4 lens, august 2012. Tonemapped using three differently exposed (handheld) shots.

See my other Omaha beach photo's for more viewpoints, panorama shots and notes on the fighting

For a map of the eastern part of Omaha click here. The German WN's are marked as well as the Draws and beach sections.

Ak based weapon.

Upper receiver and bolt is 100% shapes

Here is the 15 837 rows long code:

pastebin.com/fccatqLh

Credit to Worlock for the wooden parts.

0% white shapes (except for the seal of approval's teamug and shine on monocle)

Omaha Beach, Fox Red sector, Normandy , France

Omaha Beach

Omaha was divided into ten sectors, codenamed (from west to east): Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog Green, Dog White, Dog Red, Easy Green, Easy Red, Fox Green and Fox Red. On june 6, 1944 -D-Day - the initial assault on Omaha was to be made by two Regimental Combat Teams (RCT), supported by two tank battalions, with two battalions of Rangers also attached. The RCT's were part of the veteran 1st Infantry division ("The Big Red One") and the untested 29th ("Blue and Grey") , a National Guard unit.

The plan was to make frontal assaults at the "draws" (valleys) in the bluffs which dominate the coast in Normandy , codenamed west to east they were called D-1, D-3, E-1, E-3 and F-1 . These draws could then be used to move inland with reserves and vehicles.

The Germans were not stupid; they knew the draws were vital and concentrated their limited resources in defending them. To this end they built "Widerstandsneste" with AT guns, mortars, MG's in Tobrul's, trenches and bunkers, manned by soldiers of the German 716th and - more recently - 352nd Infantry Division, a large portion of whom were teenagers, though they were supplemented by veterans who had fought on the Eastern Front. All in all some 1100 German soldiers defended the entire Omaha beach sector of over 5 miles.

Preliminary bombardments were almost totally ineffective and when the initial waves - on this sector units of the 1st American division "The Big Red One" and combat engineers of the 299th - landed on low tide they met with fiece opposition of an enemy well dug in and prepared.

Casualties were heaviest amongst the troops landing at either end of Omaha. At Fox Green and Easy Red, scattered elements of three companies were reduced to half strength by the time they gained the relative safety of the shingle, many of them having crawled the 300 yards (270 m) of beach just ahead of the incoming tide. Casualties on this spot were especially heavy amongst the first waves of soldiers and the demolition teams - at Omaha these were tasked with blasting 16 channels through the beach obstacles, each 70 meters wide. German gunfire from the bluffs above the beach took a heavy toll on these men. The demolition teams managed to blast only six complete gaps and three partial ones; more than half their engineers were killed in the process.

Situation here, on Easy Red and at Dog Green on the other end of Omaha by mid morning was so bad with nearly all the troops essentially pinned down on the beach gen. Eisenhower seriously considered to abandon the operation.

As the US first waves assault forces and combat engineers landing directly opposite the "draws" were pinned down it was up to forces landing on the flanks of the strongpoints to penetrate the weaker German defences by climbing the bluffs. Doing this they had to overcome the minefields and barbed wire as well as machinegun fire from German positions but they did and they were able to attack some key strongpoints from the side and the rear, taking them out by early afternoon.

This happened on several spots at Omaha and essentially saved the day: individual acts of initiative by lower ranked officers and courage like that of First Lieutenant Jimmy Monteith, who led a group of men to take one of the key German widerstandsneste and was killed in action, succeeded where a flawed plan failed.

On the Photo:

Fox Red is the easternmost sector of Omaha Beach. I was facing towards the east with St. Honorine des Pertes in the far distance. Fox Red was the only sector on Omaha with this kind of natural protection so close to the water. On june 6 men of the 3/16th RCT used the cliffs here as a natural protection against the relentless MG fire from the German Widerstandsnests WN-60 and WN-61 guarding the Easy-3 exit near Colleville; one of the "draws" in the terrain which would allow heavy weapons and tanks to go inland.

Shot with a Nikon D7000 and Tokina AT-X Pro SD 12-24mm F4 lens, august 2012. Tonemapped using three differently exposed (handheld) shots.

Some of the iconic pictures of d-day were taken here in the early hours of june 6 when the first assault waves of the 1st infantry division attacking the Colleville draw were pretty much pinned down on the beach. Check this photo.

As it was a smaller exit, code named Fox-1 near here was used to breach the german defenses and eventually take the strong WN's to the west.

Official US Army history:

"Four sections of Company L had landed and reorganized on the western end of Fox Red sector, where the bluff, merging here into a partial cliff just beyond the highwater shingle, afforded good cover. The company commander was killed as he exposed himself to direct the fire of some nearby tanks, and 1st Lt. Robert R. Cutler, Jr., took command. The sections were moved west, out of the shelter of the cliff and to a position where they were just below the strongpoint commanding F-1 draw. Two tanks were called on for fire support. As a scheme of maneuver, Lieutenant Cutler sent three sections and headquarters, 2d and 3d Sections leading, up the draw a little to the west of the strongpoint. There were no hostile prepared positions at the head or the west side of the draw. The heavy brush gave good cover from enemy small-arms fire, and the 2d and 3d Sections worked to the top in squad columns without serious losses, despite crossing enemy minefields. Here the 2d Section moved left and got in position to take the strongpoint from behind; a little to the right, the 3d and 5th Sections moved a short distance inland and organized a hasty defensive position. The three sections kept in contact with each other and with the beach." ("Omaha Beachhead", AMERICAN FORCES IN ACTION official US War department series)

"Private Steve Kellman's story:

"In the pre-dawn darkness aboard the HMS Empire Anvil, 21-year-old Private Steve Kellman, a rifleman in L Company, 16th Infantry, felt the crushing weight of the moment: "In the hours before the invasion, while we were below decks, a buddy of mine, Bill Lanaghan said to me, ‘Steve, I’m scared.’ And I said, ‘I’m scared, too.’"

Then, about three or three-thirty that morning, an officer gave the order and Kellman and Lanaghan and the nearly 200 men in L Company began to climb awkwardly over the gunwales of their transport and descend the unsteady "scramble nets," just as they had done in training so many times before.

"The nets were flapping against the side of the vessel, and the little landing craft were bouncing up and down," said Kellman.

"It was critical that you tried to get into the landing craft when it was on the rise because there was a gap ­ the nets didn't quite reach and you had to jump down. That was something we hadn¹t practiced before. We had practiced going down the nets, but the sea was calm. This was a whole new experience."

"We circled in our landing craft for what seemed like an eternity," recalled Steve Kellman. "The battleships opened up and the bombers were going over.

Every once in a while, I looked over the side and I could see the smoke and the fire, and I thought to myself, ‘we're pounding the hell out of them and there isn¹t going to be much opposition.’

As we got in closer, we passed some yellow life rafts and I had the impression that they must have been from a plane that went down, or maybe they were from the

amphibious tanks that might have sunk; I don’t know.

These guys were floating in these rafts and, as we went by, they gave us the ‘thumbs up’ sign. We thought, ‘they don't seem very worried ­ what the hell do we have to be worried about?’ But, as we got in closer, we could hear the machine-gun bullets hitting the sides of the vessel and the ramp in front." "While in training, we were told of all the things that would be done in order," recalled Harley Reynolds. "But to see it all come together was mind-boggling." What Reynolds saw was a heavily fortified, enemy-held beachhead that had barely been touched by Allied bombs and shells. (..) All but five of the 32 amphibious Sherman tanks had sunk, carrying their crewmen to their deaths.

There was not so much as a single bomb crater on the beach in which to hide, and the German gunners were all alert and zeroed in on the narrow strip of beach, five miles long, code-named "Omaha."

(The Battle for Easy Red, Fox Green By Flint Whitlock)

See my other Omaha beach photo's for more viewpoints, panorama shots and notes on the fighting

For a map of the eastern part of Omaha click here. The German WN's are marked as well as the Draws and beach sections.

Omaha Beach, Fox Red sector, Normandy , France

Omaha Beach

Omaha beach is a stretch of beach roughly 5 miles or 8 km. long between Vierville-sur-Mer and Ste Honorine des pertes on the coast of Normandy. It was one of the five designated landing areas for the biggest invasion ever during WWII in the summer of 1944.

Omaha was divided into ten sectors by the Allies; codenamed (from west to east): Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog Green, Dog White, Dog Red, Easy Green, Easy Red, Fox Green and Fox Red.

On june 6, 1944 -D-Day - the initial assault on Omaha was to be made by two Regimental Combat Teams (RCT), supported by two tank battalions, with two battalions of Rangers also attached. The RCT's were part of the veteran 1st Infantry division ("The Big Red One") and the untested 29th div.("Blue and Grey") , a National Guard unit.

The plan was to make frontal assaults at the "draws" (valleys) in the bluffs which dominate the coast in Normandy. Codenamed west to east they were called D-1, D-3, E-1, E-3 and F-1 . These draws could then be used to move inland with reserves and vehicles.

The German defenders were not stupid; they knew the draws were vital and concentrated their limited resources in defending them. To this end and lead by the famous "Desert Fox" Field-Marshall Erwin Rommel they built "Widerstandsneste" with AT guns, mortars, MG's in Tobruk's, trenches and bunkers. These were manned by soldiers of the German 716th and 352nd Infantry Division, a large portion of whom were teenagers, though they were supplemented by veterans who had fought on the Eastern Front . All in all some 1100 German soldiers defended the entire Omaha beach sector.

Preliminary bombardments were almost totally ineffective and when the initial waves landed at low tide they met with fiece opposition of an enemy well dug in and prepared. Most of the floating tanks (Sherman DD type) never made it to the beach due to the rough seas or were taken out by AT guns. Their role to support the infantry following them was reduced to almost zero before the battle even begun.

Casualties were heaviest amongst the troops landing at either end of Omaha. At Fox Green and Easy Red scattered elements of three companies were reduced to half strength by the time they gained the relative safety of the shingle, many of them having crawled the app. 300 yards (270 m) of beach just ahead of the incoming tide. Casualties were especially heavy amongst the first waves of infantry and the "gap assault teams" made by Combat Engineers - at Omaha these were tasked with blasting channels through the beach obstacles.

Situation at Dog Green and Easy Red by mid morning was so bad with nearly all the troops essentially pinned down on the beach gen. Eisenhower seriously considered to abandon the operation; in "First Wave at OMAHA Beach", S.L.A. Marshall, chief U.S. Army combat historian, called it "an epic human tragedy which in the early hours bordered on total disaster."

As the first waves of infantry, tanks and combat engineers landing directly opposite the "draws" were pinned down it was up to forces landing on the flanks of these strongpoints to penetrate the weaker German defences by climbing the bluffs. Doing this they had to overcome minefields and barbed wire as well as machinegun fire from German positions but they did and they were able to attack some key strongpoints from the side and the rear, taking them out by early afternoon.

This happened on several spots at Omaha and essentially saved the day: individual acts of initiative by lower ranked officers and courage like that of First Lieutenant Jimmy Monteith, who led a group of men to take one of the key German widerstandsneste and was killed in action, succeeded where a flawed plan failed. By the end of the day most of the German strongpoints had been taken and the battle was won - albeit at a terrible cost.

On the Photo:

Standing on Fox Red and looking east towards Ste. Honorine des Pertes and Port-en-Bessin. Fox Red is the easternmost sector of Omaha Beach and has a natural barrier of sand stone cliffs near the edge of the beach. On june 6 troops men of the 3/16th RCT used the cliffs here as a natural protection against the relentless MG fire from the German Widerstandsneste WN-60 and WN-61 guarding the Easy-3 exit near Colleville; one of the biggest "draws" in the terrain which would allow heavy weapons and tanks to go inland.

Some of the iconic pictures of d-day were taken here in the early hours of june 6 when the first assault waves of the 1st infantry division attacking the Colleville draw were pretty much pinned down on the beach. Many assault boats designated for the Easy Red sector ended up here due to the strong current, the heavy fire from the Germans at Easy-3 and the proximity of the cliffs here which offered at least some protecion. Check this photo.

A smaller exit, code named Fox-1 near here was used to breach the german defenses and eventually take the strong WN's to the west.

Official US Army history:

"Four sections of Company L had landed and reorganized on the western end of Fox Red sector, where the bluff, merging here into a partial cliff just beyond the highwater shingle, afforded good cover. The company commander was killed as he exposed himself to direct the fire of some nearby tanks, and 1st Lt. Robert R. Cutler, Jr., took command. The sections were moved west, out of the shelter of the cliff and to a position where they were just below the strongpoint commanding F-1 draw. Two tanks were called on for fire support. As a scheme of maneuver, Lieutenant Cutler sent three sections and headquarters, 2d and 3d Sections leading, up the draw a little to the west of the strongpoint. There were no hostile prepared positions at the head or the west side of the draw. The heavy brush gave good cover from enemy small-arms fire, and the 2d and 3d Sections worked to the top in squad columns without serious losses, despite crossing enemy minefields. Here the 2d Section moved left and got in position to take the strongpoint from behind; a little to the right, the 3d and 5th Sections moved a short distance inland and organized a hasty defensive position. The three sections kept in contact with each other and with the beach." ("Omaha Beachhead", AMERICAN FORCES IN ACTION official US War department series)

"Private Steve Kellman's story:

"In the pre-dawn darkness aboard the HMS Empire Anvil, 21-year-old Private Steve Kellman, a rifleman in L Company, 16th Infantry, felt the crushing weight of the moment: "In the hours before the invasion, while we were below decks, a buddy of mine, Bill Lanaghan said to me, ‘Steve, I’m scared.’ And I said, ‘I’m scared, too.’"

Then, about three or three-thirty that morning, an officer gave the order and Kellman and Lanaghan and the nearly 200 men in L Company began to climb awkwardly over the gunwales of their transport and descend the unsteady "scramble nets," just as they had done in training so many times before.

"The nets were flapping against the side of the vessel, and the little landing craft were bouncing up and down," said Kellman.

"It was critical that you tried to get into the landing craft when it was on the rise because there was a gap - the nets didn't quite reach and you had to jump down. That was something we hadn¹t practiced before. We had practiced going down the nets, but the sea was calm. This was a whole new experience."

"We circled in our landing craft for what seemed like an eternity," recalled Steve Kellman. "The battleships opened up and the bombers were going over.

Every once in a while, I looked over the side and I could see the smoke and the fire, and I thought to myself, ‘we're pounding the hell out of them and there isn¹t going to be much opposition.’

As we got in closer, we passed some yellow life rafts and I had the impression that they must have been from a plane that went down, or maybe they were from the

amphibious tanks that might have sunk; I don’t know.

These guys were floating in these rafts and, as we went by, they gave us the ‘thumbs up’ sign. We thought, ‘they don't seem very worried - what the hell do we have to be worried about?’ But, as we got in closer, we could hear the machine-gun bullets hitting the sides of the vessel and the ramp in front." "While in training, we were told of all the things that would be done in order," recalled Harley Reynolds. "But to see it all come together was mind-boggling." What Reynolds saw was a heavily fortified, enemy-held beachhead that had barely been touched by Allied bombs and shells. (..) All but five of the 32 amphibious Sherman tanks had sunk, carrying their crewmen to their deaths.

There was not so much as a single bomb crater on the beach in which to hide, and the German gunners were all alert and zeroed in on the narrow strip of beach, five miles long, code-named "Omaha."

(The Battle for Easy Red, Fox Green By Flint Whitlock)

Shot with a Nikon D7000 and Tokina AT-X Pro SD 12-24mm F4 lens, august 2012. Tonemapped using three differently exposed (handheld) shots.

See my other Omaha beach photo's for more viewpoints, panorama shots and notes on the fighting

For a map of the eastern part of Omaha click here. The German WN's are marked as well as the Draws and beach sections.

Sufficient progress has been made with the bell code machine for a bit of testing. The is a designed long pause for an answer to 'call attention', 3-2-5 is the longest bellcode we are likely to send for now though i'm sure there will be a suggestion of adding longer codes. 2-2-3 was regularly used between Soham and Chippenham Junction for trains of condemned stock heading for King's Siding near Snailwell.

There is a slightly shorter pause in answering 'train on line' as the Bobby should be out of his chair etc...

There is a short pause before 1-4 is answered as 'we don't get many of those round here mate'

The BCR is in circuit and works nicely. I can post a video of this if there is any interest. It does make a fair clunk of it's own but is hidden by the gong.

Omaha Beach, Fox Red sector, Normandy , France

Omaha Beach

Omaha was divided into ten sectors, codenamed (from west to east): Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog Green, Dog White, Dog Red, Easy Green, Easy Red, Fox Green and Fox Red. On june 6, 1944 -D-Day - the initial assault on Omaha was to be made by two Regimental Combat Teams (RCT), supported by two tank battalions, with two battalions of Rangers also attached. The RCT's were part of the veteran 1st Infantry division ("The Big Red One") and the untested 29th ("Blue and Grey") , a National Guard unit.

The plan was to make frontal assaults at the "draws" (valleys) in the bluffs which dominate the coast in Normandy , codenamed west to east they were called D-1, D-3, E-1, E-3 and F-1 . These draws could then be used to move inland with reserves and vehicles.

The Germans were not stupid; they knew the draws were vital and concentrated their limited resources in defending them. To this end they built "Widerstandsneste" with AT guns, mortars, MG's in Tobrul's, trenches and bunkers, manned by soldiers of the German 716th and - more recently - 352nd Infantry Division, a large portion of whom were teenagers, though they were supplemented by veterans who had fought on the Eastern Front. All in all some 1100 German soldiers defended the entire Omaha beach sector of over 5 miles.

Preliminary bombardments were almost totally ineffective and when the initial waves landed at low tide they met with fiece opposition of an enemy well dug in and prepared.

Casualties were heaviest amongst the troops landing at either end of Omaha. At Fox Green and Easy Red, scattered elements of three companies were reduced to half strength by the time they gained the relative safety of the shingle, many of them having crawled the 300 yards (270 m) of beach just ahead of the incoming tide. Casualties were especially heavy amongst the first waves of soldiers and the gap assault teams - at Omaha these were tasked with blasting channels through the beach obstacles. German gunfire from the bluffs above the beach took a heavy toll on these men. The demolition teams managed to blast only six complete gaps and three partial ones; more than half their engineers were killed in the process.

Situation at Dog Green and on Easy Red on the other end of Omaha by mid morning was so bad with nearly all the troops essentially pinned down on the beach gen. Eisenhower seriously considered to abandon the operation; in "First Wave at OMAHA Beach", S.L.A. Marshall, chief U.S. Army combat historian, called it "an epic human tragedy which in the early hours bordered on total disaster."

As the US first waves assault forces and combat engineers landing directly opposite the "draws" were pinned down it was up to forces landing on the flanks of the strongpoints to penetrate the weaker German defences by climbing the bluffs. Doing this they had to overcome the minefields and barbed wire as well as machinegun fire from German positions but they did and they were able to attack some key strongpoints from the side and the rear, taking them out by early afternoon.

This happened on several spots at Omaha and essentially saved the day: individual acts of initiative by lower ranked officers and courage like that of First Lieutenant Jimmy Monteith, who led a group of men to take one of the key German widerstandsneste and was killed in action, succeeded where a flawed plan failed.

On the Photo:

Standing on Fox Red and looking west towards Fox Green and Easy red. Fox Red is the easternmost sector of Omaha Beach and has a natural barrier of sand stone cliffs near the edge of the beach. On june 6 troops men of the 3/16th RCT used the cliffs here as a natural protection against the relentless MG fire from the German Widerstandsneste WN-60 and WN-61 guarding the Easy-3 exit near Colleville; one of the biggest "draws" in the terrain which would allow heavy weapons and tanks to go inland.

Some of the iconic pictures of d-day were taken here in the early hours of june 6 when the first assault waves of the 1st infantry division attacking the Colleville draw were pretty much pinned down on the beach. Many assault boats designated for the Easy Red sector ended up here due to the strong current, the heavy fire from the Germans at Easy-3 and the proximity of the cliffs here which offered at least some protecion. Check this photo.

A smaller exit, code named Fox-1 near here was used to breach the german defenses and eventually take the strong WN's to the west.

Official US Army history:

"Four sections of Company L had landed and reorganized on the western end of Fox Red sector, where the bluff, merging here into a partial cliff just beyond the highwater shingle, afforded good cover. The company commander was killed as he exposed himself to direct the fire of some nearby tanks, and 1st Lt. Robert R. Cutler, Jr., took command. The sections were moved west, out of the shelter of the cliff and to a position where they were just below the strongpoint commanding F-1 draw. Two tanks were called on for fire support. As a scheme of maneuver, Lieutenant Cutler sent three sections and headquarters, 2d and 3d Sections leading, up the draw a little to the west of the strongpoint. There were no hostile prepared positions at the head or the west side of the draw. The heavy brush gave good cover from enemy small-arms fire, and the 2d and 3d Sections worked to the top in squad columns without serious losses, despite crossing enemy minefields. Here the 2d Section moved left and got in position to take the strongpoint from behind; a little to the right, the 3d and 5th Sections moved a short distance inland and organized a hasty defensive position. The three sections kept in contact with each other and with the beach." ("Omaha Beachhead", AMERICAN FORCES IN ACTION official US War department series)

"Private Steve Kellman's story:

"In the pre-dawn darkness aboard the HMS Empire Anvil, 21-year-old Private Steve Kellman, a rifleman in L Company, 16th Infantry, felt the crushing weight of the moment: "In the hours before the invasion, while we were below decks, a buddy of mine, Bill Lanaghan said to me, ‘Steve, I’m scared.’ And I said, ‘I’m scared, too.’"

Then, about three or three-thirty that morning, an officer gave the order and Kellman and Lanaghan and the nearly 200 men in L Company began to climb awkwardly over the gunwales of their transport and descend the unsteady "scramble nets," just as they had done in training so many times before.

"The nets were flapping against the side of the vessel, and the little landing craft were bouncing up and down," said Kellman.

"It was critical that you tried to get into the landing craft when it was on the rise because there was a gap ­ the nets didn't quite reach and you had to jump down. That was something we hadn¹t practiced before. We had practiced going down the nets, but the sea was calm. This was a whole new experience."

"We circled in our landing craft for what seemed like an eternity," recalled Steve Kellman. "The battleships opened up and the bombers were going over.

Every once in a while, I looked over the side and I could see the smoke and the fire, and I thought to myself, ‘we're pounding the hell out of them and there isn¹t going to be much opposition.’

As we got in closer, we passed some yellow life rafts and I had the impression that they must have been from a plane that went down, or maybe they were from the

amphibious tanks that might have sunk; I don’t know.

These guys were floating in these rafts and, as we went by, they gave us the ‘thumbs up’ sign. We thought, ‘they don't seem very worried ­ what the hell do we have to be worried about?’ But, as we got in closer, we could hear the machine-gun bullets hitting the sides of the vessel and the ramp in front." "While in training, we were told of all the things that would be done in order," recalled Harley Reynolds. "But to see it all come together was mind-boggling." What Reynolds saw was a heavily fortified, enemy-held beachhead that had barely been touched by Allied bombs and shells. (..) All but five of the 32 amphibious Sherman tanks had sunk, carrying their crewmen to their deaths.

There was not so much as a single bomb crater on the beach in which to hide, and the German gunners were all alert and zeroed in on the narrow strip of beach, five miles long, code-named "Omaha."

(The Battle for Easy Red, Fox Green By Flint Whitlock)

Shot with a Nikon D7000 and Tokina AT-X Pro SD 12-24mm F4 lens, august 2012. Tonemapped using three differently exposed (handheld) shots.

See my other Omaha beach photo's for more viewpoints, panorama shots and notes on the fighting

For a map of the eastern part of Omaha click here. The German WN's are marked as well as the Draws and beach sections.

via Instagram ift.tt/1NSaagr

I remember this being in a sewing box. I think it was my grandma's (Margaret Skinner) or her mother's ( Ida Long Coder) . Not sure how old this container and dice set are, but it has been in the family for a while.

From witches to fireworks, bunnies and flying church bells - European countries have a lot of different traditions to celebrate Easter. One of them is to decorate eggs, but how safe are they really? The European Parliament has worked on different laws to ensure hens and their eggs are healthy. This includes last year's ban on the use of battery cages for hens and the use of the egg code to inform shoppers how an egg was produced. Check out our infographic for more information.

Our infographic reveals which EU countries consume the most eggs, why egg shells have a long code of figures and letters printed on them and how to break an egg Audrey Hepburn style.

www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/content/20130322...

This photo is copyright free, but must be credited: "© European Union 2013 - European Parliament". (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons license). For HR files please contact: webcom-flickr(AT)europarl.europa.eu

A 39°C / 102°F day demands a Slurpee. Kane and Chris convinced me to get a Super-sized Slurpee to last the 1.5 hour long code review meeting.

The raspberry Slurpee was so sweet that I had to dilute it with cold water. The passionfruit was sickly esther flavouring.

After all that liquid, I felt a bit sick.

A 39°C / 102°F day demands a Slurpee. Kane and Chris convinced me to get a Super-sized Slurpee to last the 1.5 hour long code review meeting.

The raspberry Slurpee was so sweet that I had to dilute it with cold water. The passionfruit was sickly ester flavouring.

After all that liquid, I felt a bit sick.

I think this was taken somewhere between 1900 and 1905. My great-grandparents.

Thanks yaxchibonam for the fantastic job of restoring this photo.

Salmon Watercolour with long code in the bottom left corner.

Postally unused and in good condition.

My great grandmother Ida Marion (Long) Coder.

Circa late 1800's /early 1900's - Son of Marion and Jenny Long of Cincinnati,Ohio. He is the brother of my Great Grandma Ida Long Coder. According to family record Howell was born in 1883, however the 1920 census has his estimated birth date as 1879. He married Edith Le Sourd. They had two children, Ruth born in 1905-06 and Raymond born in 1903 according to this same censes. Howell moved his family to Washington state from Ohio. He died in 1950.

This is my maternal great grandmother. She was the daughter of Jenny (Jane Agatha) Parker Long and Marion Francis Long. She was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. She married Clement Vore Coder . They had one child, Margaret Coder who was my mom's mother. A while after Ida and Clement were divorced, Ida and her daughter moved to El Sereno, Los Angeles, California. Ida died in 1927.

Ida Long Coder and Marion Skinner.

Late night celebration after a long code session

Margaret Long Schroer was my maternal grandmother's aunt. Ida Long Coder and Margaret were the daughters of Jenny and Marion Long

Ida Long Coder ,my maternal great grandmother.

This is what my vision looks like after a long coding session right through midnight, everything's blurry and my mouse started turning into an Autobot!

Rehearsal

Flytown had a 4-hour marathon rehearsal today. Shawn is always great for a photo!

I was down to 160.2 this morning after yesterday's Steak day. That is 3.2 lbs down from yesterday morning. Great for a Steak Day but I want to be in the 150s again!

I tried to be good all day but thought rehearsal might be an issue. So, I had chicken from home and bought two bags of Romaine lettuce and some tuna which would give me lunch (tuna) and dinner (chicken). I had brought one of the bottles of Bragg's Organic Apple Cider Vinaigrette from home so I would have my favorite dressing. When I made lunch I succussed the bottle to mix the ingredients then poured some in the bag of romaine to shake it up. When I set the bottle down it started erupting and was spilling all over my desk! I rushed to clean it up and stop it from erupting when I noticed the smell. It smelled awful! It had gone bad so I trashed it and one bag of lettuce. I should have had the chicken for lunch and saved the tuna for another day but I went ahead and had the tuna. I'll save the chicken for tomorrow's lunch.

This meant I had to get dinner somewhere. I ended up at the Panera in Hilliard. My rewards card wasn't being read and when I entered my phone number it kept saying Customer not found. The girl at the register told me I could enter my order number online and get credit. When I went to do that my receipt didn't have the super long code to enter so I ended up using their online chat feature to get my visit credited. The online chat was pretty cool and "Cassie" got my visit credited to my account.

So the worst I ate was the baguette at Panera and a homemade brownie cake with peanuts and icing at Jenna's. She made it for Jon's birthday yesterday. Hopefully these two transgressions didn't undo my 3.2 lb loss!

February 7, 2017 weight: 160.7 lbs (Garmin) (160.2 lbs Tanita)

February 7, 2016 weight: 199.2 lbs (Garmin)

Phylogenetic tree of the HA of influenza A(H1N1)2009 strains.

The strains included were identified in Finland during two epidemic seasons, 2009–10 and 2010–2011. Some representative viruses from other parts of the world are included for comparison. All sequences included in the phylogenetic tree constitute the entire 1698 nucleotide long coding region of HA. The horizontal lines are proportional to the number of nucleotide changes. The phylogenetic tree was constructed using the Neighbor-Joining method with Mega software version 4. Viruses used in HI tests are marked with yellow boxes. Signature amino acid changes are indicated with the colors which represent different antigenic epitopes of HA (Sa in red, Sb in blue, Ca1 in dark green, Ca2 in lighter green and Cb in orange). Amino acid changes marked in black do not locate in expected antigenic epitopes.

This is a nice dark vim color scheme designed for long code editing sessions.

The colorscheme can be downloaded here:

www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=2239

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Several cards with different backs available; all are postally unused and in good condition:

1. Salmon Watercolour with short code in the bottom centre. Two available.

2.Salmon Cameracolour with long code in the bottom left corner.

3. Salmon Watercolour with long code in the bottom left corner.

Quick Code Monkey sketch when I re-heard the song after so long. Code Monkey song by Jonathan Coulton - www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4Wy7gRGgeA

Beautiful Tibetan Orange Carnelian Phurbu - Phurba Buddhist Magic Pointer Wand.

Tibet

3" long

Code 1345

The kīla is associated with the meditational deity (Sanskrit: ishtadevata, Tibetan yidam) Vajrakīla (वज्रकील) or Vajrakīlaya (Tibetan Dorje Phurba) according to the "means for attainment" Mahayoga class. Vajrakilaya is the Buddha's activity natural expression representation

Simon's Treasures of Wisdoms private collection

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Having a cold beer this morning... after a long coding night... nice!! :)

Well, maybe it does not seem so, but this is almost the same fish than before. Just get rid of the sun and add a crown ;-) I am just joking... it has been a long coding week at work! This is a "persico reale" (literally "royal perch", commonly called perch), while the previous one is a "persico sole" ("sun perch", well known as sunfish)... The location is the same, the little but wonderful ETP aquarium in Ariis.

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Salmon Watercolour with long code in the bottom left corner. Logo has a wavy line across it. Postally unused and in good condition.

Plain back with long code in the bottom left corner. Postally unused, with sellotape marks in two corners on the back

Salmon Watercolour with long code in the bottom left corner. Postally used. date unclear; in good condition.

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Salmon Watercolour with long code in the bottom left corner. Postally unused, in good condition.

Several cards with different backs available; all are postally unused:

1.Salmon Watercolour with short code in the bottom centre, in good condition.

2. Salmon Cameracolour with long code at bottom of left corner, in good condition.

Several cards with different backs available; all are postally unused:

1 Plain back with a long code in the bottom left corner. Good condition.

2. Salmon Watercolour with short code in the bottom centre Three available - two are paler than the other one. All are in good condition.

Several cards with different backs available; all are postally unused:

1 Plain back with a long code in the bottom left corner. Good condition.

2 Salmon Cameracolour with long code in the bottom left corner. Good condition.

3. Salmon Watercolour with long code in the bottom left corner. Good condition.

Salmon Watercolour with plain back and long code in the bottom left side. Good condition, postally unused.

i loved this =] i hated how i took quite long coding this stupid layout afterwards. sighhh*

Several cards with different backs available; all are postally unused:

1. Salmon Watercolour with short code in the bottom centre

2. Salmon Watercolour with long code in the bottom left corner; logo has a wavy line across it. The back is rather discoloured and has been kept in an album.

Several cards with different backs available. All are postally unused.

1 Plain back with a long code in the bottom left corner. Good condition.

2 Salmon Watercolour with long code in the bottom left corner. Good condition.

3. Salmon Watercolour with short code in the bottom centre Good condition. Two available.

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Several cards with different backs available; all are postally unused:

1 Plain back with long and short codes in the bottom left corner. Good condition.

2. Salmon Watercolour with long code in the bottom left corner Two available, in good condition.

Several cards with different backs available; all are postally unused:

1. Salmon Watercolour with long code in the bottom left corner.. Good condition.

2. Plain back with a long code and letter E in the bottom left corner. Good condition.