After bouncing all night in cold, cramped steel boats, then waiting all day in broiling heat, the men of the Allied Expeditionary Force got the word: shortly after sundown, they would finally be getting off their floating, seasick prisons. All they had to do then was run straight into machine gun fire, smash the Nazi army, and liberate Europe.
On June 6, 1944, about 100,000 American, British, and Canadian soldiers climbed out of the water at high tide and landed in German-occupied France. Hundreds were cut down before they even touched the sand; thousands more were hit crossing the beach. Nearly everyone, especially the Americans, landed in the wrong place, far from their commanders, their support, and their buddies. But the ones who weren't killed, and even some who were wounded, pressed on into the teeth of murderous fire from defenses the Germans had been building for four entire years.
"Honest reappraisal of the Canadian experience in Normandy. Special focus on the struggle to close the Falaise Gap. Relies on archival records, including Bernard Montgomery's personal correspondence. John A. English presents a detailed examination of the role of the Canadian Army in Normandy from the D-Day landings in June 1944 though the closing of the Falaise Gap in August."
"The story of the Special Forces in World War II has never fully been told before. Information about them began to be declassified only in the 1980s. Known as the Jedburghs, these Special Forces were selected from members of the British, American, and Free French armies to be dropped in teams of three deep behind German lines. There, in preparation for D-Day, they carried out what we now know as unconventional warfare: supporting the French Resistance in guerrilla attacks, supply-route disruption, and the harassment and obstruction of German reinforcements. Always, they operated against extraordinary odds. They had to be prepared to survive pitched battles with German troops and Gestapo manhunts for weeks and months while awaiting the arrival of Allied ground forces. They were, in short, heroes."
The story of the Normandy Invasion from the point of view of the Desert Fox, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel.
Written to commemorate the 50th anniversary of D-Day, this encyclopedia has alphabetized entries, maps, charts, and photos. A main selection of the Military Book of the Month Club.
No American town suffered such a great one-day loss in World War II as Bedford, Virginia, which saw 21 of its young men perish on the beaches of Normandy. This is the poignant story of these soldiers and the small town they called home.
The man "who writes about the war better than almost anyone in our century" (The Washington Post Book World) here details how the armies of six nations met on the battlefields of Normandy in what was to be the greatest allied achievement of World War II.
Pegasus Bridge was the first engagement of D-Day. The allies knew that the bridges over the Orne River and the adjacent canal were the key to D-Day and so did the Germans. This is the story of Major John Howard and the 181 troops under his command. It was their task to seize Pegasus Bridge.
Details problems that the Allied troops encountered, particularly the inexperienced American units, and the key role played by British commanders. Describes battles that played out immediately following D-Day. The author also interviewed German soldiers to get their perspective on the fighting.
"Omaha Beach witnessed the greatest drama and loss of life on D-Day. Across a four-and-a-half-mile front consisting of sand, stones, and cliffs, largely untested American troops assaulted Germany's Atlantic Wall head-on, encountering fierce resistance but eventually securing the beachhead."
"No other chronicle of D-Day can match Gerald Astor's extraordinary work--a vivid first-person account told with stunning immediacy by the men who were there. From soldiers who waded through the bullet-riddled water to those who dropped behind enemy lines, from moments of terror and confusion to acts of incredible camaraderie and heroism, June 6, 1944 plunges us into history in the making--and the most pivotal battle ever waged."
