Point break Assault proved key to D-day success, but came at a high cost
Standing between Utah and Omaha beaches, Pointe du Hoc was one of the most dangerous German defensive positions on the Normandy coast and had to be captured if the D-day landings were to stand any chance of success.
The first wave of the US Second Ranger Battalion landed just after 7am on June 6, 1944, with the aim of capturing the heights of the Pointe, where gun emplacements held sway over the Channel.
As the Germans rained grenades and machine gun fire onto the thin strip of beach the Rangers began climbing the cliff, some digging steps in the rocks with daggers, others using rope ladders that had not been severed by the enemy.
The assault was successful but costly. By the end of the two-day action, only 90 of the 225-strong landing force had survived.