Vital Assault by Simon Smith

The Allies believed Pointe du Hoc to be the most dangerous battery on the Normandy coast. If the D-Day landings were to succeed, the guns that threatened the American beaches had to be destroyed.

Sited on a high rocky headland jutting out into the sea four miles to the west of Omaha beach, Pointe du Hoc would be a tough nut to crack. Protected to seaward by near-vertical cliffs and, on the land side, by a web of intricate defenses, to take it would need a crack unit. The task was given to three companies of the US 2nd Ranger Battalion and on the morning of 6 June 1944 the Rangers would need to call on all of their elite training.

Scaling the 90-foot cliffs under impossible odds and relentless enemy fire, the Rangers found and destroyed the German guns trained directly onto the landing beaches. The men now had to hold their ground enduring ferocious fighting for almost two days before reinforcements could get through.

In one of the most dramatic depictions of the assault, Simon Smith portrays the men of Dog Company as they unleash a withering volley of return fire, forcing the Germans to retreat.

Signatures:

Signed & Numbered Edition

Captain GEORGE KLEIN - Platoon Leader of 'Fox' Company, 2nd Ranger Battalion, assaulted Pointe du Hoc on D-Day.

Collectors Edition

Captain GEORGE KLEIN - Platoon Leader of 'Fox' Company, 2nd Ranger Battalion, assaulted Pointe du Hoc on D-Day.

Pvt 1st Class VINCE HAGG - Served with 'Dog' Company, 2nd Ranger Battalion, landing on D-Day+1.

The D-Day Tribute Edition also includes two veterans of the 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division, who landed in the first wave at ‘Bloody’ Omaha Beach on D-Day and went on to join the Rangers in their advance through Normandy on the original matted pencil drawing:

Pvt 1st Class NORMAN GROSSMAN

Pvt DON McCARTHY