Ultimately, the Rangers held onto the Pointe du Hoc compound until they were relieved late morning on June 8th. Throughout the intervening period they suffered five major counter attacks by German troops from 1st Battalion, 914 Regiment, who had recovered from their confusion, regrouped and begun the bloody business of repelling invaders. The extent to which the Rangers were aided by the German's own defences, which had been set-up to repel just the kind of landward attack the Wehrmact were attempting, is unclear from the histories but, despite more supporting fire from Satterlee, as well as USS Barton and USS Thompson, on occasion the Rangers were pushed close back to the cliffs. This period was the costliest for the men of D, E and F companies, with many being killed, wounded and captured but, had the Germans retaken the Pointe, they might have brought replacement artillery up and shelled the fragile Omaha beach.
By the evening of June 8th, Rudder's original force of 225 Rangers from D, E and F companies had suffered 135 killed, wounded or missing, with around eighty dead. Had the five 155m guns fired upon the Allied landings, casualties would surely have been far worse. There had once been a sixth gun atop the Pointe, but after being damaged in a bombardment it had been removed for repair. A, B and C Companies suffered equally: half of the first two units were shot down after landing on Omaha beach, while Company C lost 38 of their 64 men in a succession of bitter assaults as they tried to reach Pointe du Hoc.
2nd Battalion was the first unit to complete their assigned D-Day missions and received a Presidential Unit Citation. Colonel Rudder and Lieutenant Lomell were presented with the Distinguished Service Cross, while Lieutenant Kuhn received the Silver Star. These, and other survivors, faced another year of war.
