Word: days
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Early on the morning of June 6, 1944, a cluster of ships huddled 5,000 yards off the inviting stretch of French coastline between Vierville-sur-Mer and Ste.-Honorine-des-Pertes, which for the purposes of that day had been rechristened Omaha Beach. On board were two companies from the 741st Tank Battalion of the U.S. Army. They were facing the uninviting task of driving their tanks to the shore...
...Allied commanders knew Omaha would be the hardest beach to take on D-day. Its gentle curve and imposing bluffs made it a natural killing ground. But even so, the lack of foresight seems breathtaking. Bombers were supposed to have softened up the German defenses, but they released their payloads too late - they were worried about hitting the landing parties - and missed the bunkers completely. Rockets were supposed to pound the beach from offshore, but they fell short. The German defenses were practically untouched. "All it's done is wake them up!" one officer remarked. That the assault on Omaha...
...Day is the first comprehensive account of this vast operation in 20 years. It's an imposing volume: Beevor, author of The Fall of Berlin 1945 and Stalingrad, deftly marshals vast tranches of information with his customary unflappability. Just crossing the English Channel involved assembling almost 5,000 vessels, the largest fleet in history. Although Beevor had access to a great deal of new material, there are no major revelations in D-Day. But it contains some surprises...
...focuses on things other writers have neglected. For example, he doesn't gloss over the hideous costs paid by French civilians. The Allies, before liberating them, bombed them relentlessly in an attempt to paralyze the German army. Three thousand French civilians died during the first 24 hours of D-day. That's twice the number of American soldiers who died...
Beevor also gives considerable weight - two-thirds of the book - to the bloody fighting that took place in the weeks following D-day. Bad as the beach landings were, there was even worse to come...