 Like the infantry , the engineers had been pushed off their targets , and only five of the 16 teams arrived at their assigned locations . Three teams came in where there were no infantry or armor to cover them . Working under heavy fire , the engineers set about their task of clearing gaps through the beach obstacles — work made more difficult by loss of equipment , and by infantry passing through or taking cover behind the obstacles they were trying to blow . They also suffered heavy casualties as enemy fire set off the explosives they were working with . Eight men of one team were dragging their pre @-@ loaded rubber boat off the LCM when artillery hit ; only one survived the resulting detonation of their supplies . Another team had just finished laying its explosives when the area was struck by mortar fire . The premature explosion of the charges killed or wounded 19 engineers , as well as some nearby infantry . Nevertheless , the engineers succeeded in clearing six gaps , one each at Dog White and Easy Green on the 116th RCT front , the other four at Easy Red on the 16th RCT front . They had suffered casualties of over 40 % . 
