ld not be pushed back into
             Utah beach was a stretch of beachfront approximately five miles long and located
             in the dunes of Varreville. Like most beach attacks that day, the planned
             attack time was 06:30 or H hour. As early as 02:00 (H-4:30) the preparations
             for attack were being made as minesweepers started working at creating a safe
             path for allied battleships, frigates, corvettes, etc. At about 02:30 the
             flagship for Utah beach was in place and the order was given for the landing
             crafts to be loaded and placed into the water. The four waves of troops were
             ready to go and the German radar had not spotted any buildup of ships. The
             first gunfire occurred at daybreak when some ships were spotted and fired upon
             by coastal guns. 276 planes, all B-26 Marauder's flew in to drop their payload
             of 4400 bombs on the targets. Almost all missed and nearly a third fell onto
             the beaches and into the sea, far away from their targets. Although some guns
             ...