The story behind D-Day begins in 1939 when Nazi Germany, led by Adolf Hitler, attacked Poland and ignited World War Two. The following year, the Germans occupied France and Western Europe and launched a vicious air war against Britain. In 1941, they invaded the Soviet Union. Seemingly unstoppable, the Nazis now held virtually all of Europe. They imposed a ruthless system of control and unleashed the horror of the Holocaust. However, by 1943, the tide had begun to turn in favor of the Allies, the forces opposed to Germany. In the east, despite huge losses, the Soviets began to force the Germans back.
A rare account of the Allied forces' naval involvement, this heavily illustrated book looks at the D-Day landings from the perspective of the development of amphibious operations throughout World War II. It explores strategic and tactical planning, the channel voyage, Mulberry Harbour, the great storm, and more.
Balkoski's depiction of 'Bloody Omaha' is the literary accompaniment to the white-knuckle Omaha Beach scene that opens Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan. -- John Hillen, New York Post
On June 6, 1944 the greatest armada in history stood off Normandy and the largest amphibious invasion ever began as 107,000 men aboard 6,000 ships pressed toward the coast. Among this number were 18,000 Canadians, who were to land on a five-mile long stretch of rocky ledges fronted by a wide expanse of sand. Code named Juno Beach. Here, sheltered inside concrete bunkers and deep trenches, hundreds of German soldiers waited to strike the first assault wave with some ninety 88-millimetre guns, fifty mortars, and four hundred machineguns. A four-foot-high sea wall ran across the breadth of the beach and extending from it into the surf itself were ranks of tangled barbed wire, tank and vessel obstacles, and a maze of mines. Of the five Allied forces landing that day, they were scheduled to be the last to reach the sand. Juno was also the most exposed beach, their day’s objectives eleven miles inland were farther away than any others, and the opposition awaiting them was believed greater than that facing any other force. At battle's end one out of every six Canadians in the invasion force was either dead or wounded. Yet their grip on Juno Beach was firm.
A world-renowned British historian recounts the actions of one of Hitler’s most elite armor units in one of World War II’s most horrific months. June 1944, the month of the D-Day landings carried out by Allied forces in Normandy, France. Germany’s 2nd SS Panzer Division, one of Adolf Hitler’s most elite armor units, had recently been pulled from the Eastern Front and relocated to France in order to regroup, recruit more troops, and restock equipment. With Allied forces suddenly on European ground, the division—Das Reich—was called up to counter the invasion. Its march northward to the shores of Normandy, 15,000 men strong, would become infamous as a tale of unparalleled brutality in World War II. Das Reich is Sir Max Hastings’s narrative of the atrocities committed by the 2nd SS Panzer Division during June of 1944: first, the execution of 99 French civilians in the village of Tulle on June 9; and second, the massacre of 642 more in the village of Oradour-sur-Glane on June 10. Throughout the book, Hastings expertly shifts perspective between French resistance fighters, the British Secret Service (who helped coordinate the French resistance from afar and on the ground), and the German soldiers themselves. With its rare, unbiased approach to the ruthlessness of World War II, Das Reich explores the fragile moral fabric of wartime mentality. Praise for Das Reich “A gripping blend of narrative and investigation.” —Evening Standard “This classic account of WWII is a microcosm of the global conflict. Hastings brings to life the horror that the 2nd SS Panzer division, Das Reich, inflicted upon the citizens living in a bucolic corner of France.” —Dennis Showalter, author of Patton and Rommel and Hitler’s Panzers
A companion to the Utah Beach publication, provides a historical narrative dealing with American military operations in France during the month of June 1944 including D-Day in Normandy. Prepared by the 2d Information and Historical Service, attached to the First Army, and by the Historical Section, European Theater of Operations. Other products in the American Forces in Action Series are listed below: Salerno: American Operations From the Beaches to the Volturno, 9 September - 6 October 1943 is available here:https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-029-00196-9 Papuan Campaign: The Buna-Sananada Operation (16 November 1942-23 January 1943) is available here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-029-00205-1 The Capture of Makin, November 20-24, 1942-Print Hardcover/Clothbound format can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-029-00206-0 Guam: Operations of the 77th Division, July 21-Aug. 10, 1944 is available here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-029-00204-3 Fifth Army at the Winter Line (15 November 1943 - 15 January 1944) --Print Paperback format can be found here:https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-029-00198-5 St. Lo -Print Paperback format is available here:https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-029-00127-6 From the Volturno to the Winter Line, 6 Oct.-15 Nov. 1943 -is available here:https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-029-00197-7 To Bizerte With the II Corps (23 April - 13 May 1943) -Print Hardcover/Clothbound format can be found here:https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-029-00207-8 Utah Beach to Cherbourg (6 June-27 June 1944) can be found here:https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-029-00129-2 Merrill\'s Marauders (February - May 1944) -Print Paperback format can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-029-00203-5 World War II resources collection can be found here:https://bookstore.gpo.gov/catalog/us-military-history/battles-wars/world-war-ii
The Rout of the German-Fascist Troops in Belorussia in 1944 covers the Red Army's Belorussian strategic operation: the linchpin of the 10 major Soviet offensive efforts launched that year to clear the country of the invader. During the course of this operation, the German position along the western strategic direction was destroyed and the stage was set for an advance into Poland and Germany. The success of this operation also set the stage for the Red Army's subsequent advance into the Baltic and South-Eastern Europe. Like most works generated by the General Staff, the Belorussian study divides the operation into two parts: preparation and conduct. The first deals with the massive efforts by the First Baltic and the First, Second and Third Belorussian Fronts to accumulate the men and materiel to break through the German defenses in the swampy and forested terrain of Belorussia. This section contains valuable information on the overall correlation of forces, equipment and troops' densities along the breakthrough sectors and Soviet plans for supplying the offensive, as well as detailed information regarding the employment of the various combat arms. The second part deals with the actual conduct of the several front operations that comprised the overall effort. This section covers the initial breakthrough battles and the encirclement of the Vitebsk and Bobruisk garrisons, followed by the capture of Minsk and the encirclement of sizeable German forces east of the city. The narrative then continues with the follow-on operations to cut off German forces in the Baltic States and to seize crossings over the Vistula River in Eastern Poland. Compiled and written by professional staff officers, this study provides a detailed look at the conduct of one of the major operations of the Second World War. This latest work, along with other studies in this series, offers another insight into the Red Army's conduct of the war at the operational-strategic level.
Written by one of Britain s best known and most respected military historians, "The D-Day Experience"graphically captures the planning and execution of the Allied invasion, which ultimately led to victory. More than 30 facsimile items of rare memorabilia thrust readers right into the heart of history: they ll have the unique opportunity to relive this momentous event by holding and examining facsimiles of rarely or never-seen maps, diaries, letters, secret memos and reports, posters and logbooks. Many of these have, up until now, remained filed or exhibited only behind glass in the Imperial War Museum and other collections worldwide."Memorabilia highlights include: "U.S. Airborne secret maps showing drop zone from parachutist's eye viewOmaha Beach Intelligence message book with minute-by-minute reportsGerman radio signal log at 4:15 am on D-Day which reads " Thousands of ships tracked. They re coming. "The Wednesday, June 7, 1944, edition of Stars and StripesGold Beach Infantryman's handwritten diary from June 4June 17, 1944, describing landings, the move inland, and battlefield promotion.Propaganda leaflets dropped on Allied troops by night-flying German pilotsJuno Beach Canadian infantryman's letter written to his wife on the Channel crossing on the eve of D-Day. He survived D-Day but was killed later in Holland.And more "
This text analyses military events in every theatre of war during June 1944. It offers insights into the effect on Overlord of the Italian campaign and vice versa, and highlights the competition between the US, Britain and the Soviet Union to determine how the Allied forces should best be applied.
