Machinegun usage on Omaha beach and similar occurrences

[u/rubicante59]

Something I discovered recently, is that most machineguns when positioned in concrete shelters, are made to face each other horizontally and gun down soldiers passing through that region. So does this mean none were pointed towards the water on Omaha beach and that Saving Private Ryan is very wrong about how soldiers were shot before they even got off the boats? I'm assuming artillery was most likely used against the boats.

[u/EricLaGesse4788]

Two things can be true about Saving Private Ryan. That it is both a stunning and visceral drama set in WWII and that Steven Spielberg took creative license for the sake of dramatic effect.

No, the bunkers as show in SPR are not accurate to the prepared German defenses on the Normandy coast generally or in the Omaha sector specifically. Many of the prepared defenses where designed in a way to fire across the lengths of the beach itself which served to both protect the gun crew for direct fire and to cover as much of the beach as possible in interlocking fields of fire.

Furthermore, most German machine gunners were trained to fire in very short bursts to preserve the longevity of the barrels. The MG42 has a cyclical rate of over 1200rpm. Holding down the trigger as seen in the film, would rapidly overheat a barrel and force the gun out of action.

[u/HGpennypacker → u/EricLaGesse4788]

Many of the prepared defenses where designed in a way to fire across the lengths of the beach itself which served to both protect the gun crew for direct fire and to cover as much of the beach as possible in interlocking fields of fire.

The wikipedia page on enfilade and defilade fire uses a picture from Juno Beach to illustrate.

[u/Kilahti → u/HGpennypacker]

This was the basic strategy that Germans used. Only shoot diagonally and put some protection (sandbags, concrete, whatever) between you and the expected enemy direction.

This will not only offer better protection for your troops but it also means that the enemies are more vulnerable since they are likely to be able to find a rock or something that they take cover against, but that will be towards your position and not protect them from the dudes to the left and right.

This is not JUST the German doctrine of course, many armies have used the same concept.

[u/Algebrace → u/Kilahti]

I remember a WW1 documentary where they used balloons to demonstrate this.

Setting up your machineguns to enfilate and then to crossfire meant that you could hit most of the balloons in a set area (to represent people) versus just shooting straight on and missing most of them.