I just received the Axis & Allies D-Day game for Christmas and there are a couple of things that I don’t understand from the instructions.

First, where do any casulties go that result in actions taken in cards 1 - 10?    Do they go to the Casulty Zone on the Battle Board or are they permanently omitted from play?

Second, I don’t understand how the Battle Board works.  I’ll try to give an example using the zone at Omaha Beach.  I understand that all land units, both Axis & Allies,  located in this zone are moved to the corresponding column on the Battle Board, with the Allies being the attacker & Axis being the defender.  The Allies player has both infantry & artillery in the second column on the Battle Board.  The Axis player has infantry, artillery, and blockhouses in all 3 columns.  The instructions say the Allies player fires first.  Is a hit determined by the numbers at the top of the Allies column or the number at the top of the Axis column?

I hope these are not really dumb questions, but I can’t figure this out from the instruction book.  Thanks to anyone for your help.