Author: Anon

Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing

Published: 2014-08-15

Total Pages: 411

ISBN-13: 178289263X

Illustrated with over 40 photos and 15 maps of the engagement. The momentous events of the 6th of June 1944, D-Day, still resonate around the world, almost 200,000 Allied Soldiers were thrown against the Nazi dominated coast of France in a bid to free Western Europe from the Fascist grip that had held it since 1939. The plan was audacious, ambitious and exceptionally dangerous, the Allied Planners had decided to attack across five sectors over the beaches of Normandy, from the British and Canadian forces on the right at the mouth of the river Orne to the American Troops at the base of the Cotentin Peninsula. Without doubt the toughest sector of all was the beach code-named “Omaha” it was vital as it linked the Americans with the British landing to the east; however it was beset with sheer cliffs at either end of the beach, a deep sloping beach, the most advanced defences and the best of the German troops on the coast. As this book recounts in vivid detail, the reality on the beaches was truly hellish, wide beaches swept by artillery, mortar, machine gun and rifle fire filled with casualties as men clung to the beach obstacles for the only cover to be had. As the American troops on the ground struggled forward, errors in navigation led to reinforcements being routed to the wrong beaches and supporting amphibious tanks sank in the rough seas. That any of the men made it off the beaches at all was a miracle based on inspired leadership, hard training and sheer courage in the face of horrendous death dealing fire. As immortalised in the film Saving Private Ryan, this book produced by the American Army Historical Section recounts in superb, often brutal, detail the struggle on Omaha Beach. It is tale never to be forgotten and as the narrative based on the personal interviews with the men and officers of the 1st, 2nd and 29th divisions, along with the official reports and documents it is as engaging as it is authoritative.