Omaha Beach is the code name for one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II. The beach is located on the coast of Normandy, France, facing the English Channel, and is 5 miles (8 km) long, from east of Sainte-Honorine-des-Pertes to west of Vierville-sur-Mer on the right bank of the Douve River estuary. Landings here were necessary in order to link up the British landings to the east at Gold Beach with the American landing to the west at Utah Beach, thus providing a continuous lodgement on the Normandy coast of the Bay of the Seine. Taking Omaha was to be the responsibility of United States Army troops, with sea transport provided by the U.S. Navy and elements of the Royal Navy.

On D-Day, the untested 29th Infantry Division, joined by nine companies of U.S. Army Rangers redirected from Pointe du Hoc, were to assault the western half of the beach. The battle-hardened 1st Infantry Division was given the eastern half. The initial assault waves, consisting of tanks, infantry, and combat engineer forces, were carefully planned to reduce the coastal defenses and allow the larger ships of the follow-up waves to land.

Heinrich Severloh (23 June 1923 – 14 January 2006) was a soldier in the German 352nd Infantry Division, which was stationed in Normandy in 1944. He has been referred to as the “Beast of Omaha Beach” by the media of English speaking countries. He rose to notoriety as a gunner in a machine gun emplacement known as WN 62 “Widerstandsnest 62”. In his autobiography he claimed that in that position he inflicted 1000-2000 casualties while American soldiers were landing on Omaha Beach as part of Operation Overlord.

Severloh was born into a farming family in Metzingen (now Eldingen) in the Lüneburg Heath of north Germany, close to the small city of Celle.

Severloh was conscripted into the Wehrmacht on July 23, 1942, at the age of 19. He was assigned to the 19th Light Artillery Replacement Division in Hanover-Bothfeld. On August 9, he was transferred to France and joined the 3rd Battery of the 321st Artillery Regiment, where he was trained as a dispatch rider. In December 1942, he was sent to the Eastern Front, where he was assigned to the rear of his division as a sleigh driver. In punishment for dissenting remarks, Severloh was forced to perform physical exertions which left him with permanent health problems. The immediate consequence was a six month convalescence in a military hospital, which lasted until June 1943. Upon discharge from the hospital, he was given several weeks leave (partly because of the need for manpower during the harvest). In October 1943, Severloh was sent to junior officer training in Braunschweig, but after his unit, which had suffered heavy casualties, was transferred back to France, he was obliged to break off his training to rejoin it. In December, Severloh did rejoin his unit, which in the meantime had been reclassified as the 352nd Infantry Division and was stationed in Normandy. Severloh’s service in the Wehrmacht ended on June 7, 1944, when he was taken prisoner by the American forces.