Naval guns

All along the Atlantic Wall were concrete casemates containing naval guns of various sizes and calibers.  The ones stationed along the coast of Normandy were intended to prevent the Allies from launching an effective seaborne attack on France.

To ensure they couldn’t be attacked from the water, they were set farther back from the shore.

While these guns were effective weapons and capable of inflicting heavy casualties and destroying Allied watercraft, they were ultimately unable to prevent those involved in the D-Day landings from advancing into France, where they were met by German ground troops.

Nebelwerfer 42 

 Initially starting life as a series of mortars, the German Nebelwefer developed into a weapon capable of launching rockets. The one to see use on D-Day was the 42, which came in two sizes: 21 cm and 30 cm. The former had a range of 7,850 meters and was primarily used by ground troops. That being said, it was also adopted by the  Luftwaffe (under the name Werfer-Granate 21) for use against Allied bomber formations.

 The 30-cm Nebelwefer 42, while effective, saw far less use than the smaller variant.

Walther P38

The German Army’s service pistol throughout WWII, the 9 mm Walther P38 was developed to replace the much more expensive and complicated Luger P08. It was a semi-automatic weapon that was relatively user-friendly, with the majority of troops based on the Eastern Front praising its reliability.

 Given it was the Wehrmacht‘s standard service pistol, it’s no surprise German soldiers equipped the weapon on D-Day. While records vary as to how many were produced over the course of the war, it’s believed around 1.2 million  left the production line.

Panzerschreck

 A portable 88 mm anti-tank rocket launcher, the Panzerschreck  was essentially an enlarged (and much more powerful) bazooka. Used by German infantry, they were so effective against armored vehicles that the Allies had to develop new methods to protect their tanks from enemy blasts.

 Despite only being introduced into service in 1943, anti-tank teams operated the Panzerschreck during the Battle of Normandy, where they inflicted devastating results.

MG 42

 MG-42 and its predecessor, the MG 34, were among the best light machine guns operated on the frontlines of  WW2. Known as the “Buzz Saw” for the speed at which it could fire its lethal ammunition, the weapon was among those operated by the German forces on D-Day.

By 1944, the MG 42 had earned itself a scary reputation on the battlefield, with it reaching a point where Allied soldiers had developed a fear of coming face-to-face with one. While the Department of War tried to convince new recruits that the gun’s reputation was worse than “its bite,” the words did little to convince those slated to land on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944.