Dahlstrom, Michael P., The Role of Airpower in the Overlord Invasion: An Effects-based Operation, Airpower Research Institute, 2007
Hallion, Richard P., D-Day 1944: Air Power Over the Normandy Beaches and Beyond, Air Force History and Museums Program, 1994
O’Brien, Phillips P., ‘East versus West in the Defeat of Nazi Germany’, Journal of Strategic Studies, 23:2, 2008
Peaty, John, ‘Myth, Reality and Carlo D’Este’, War Studies Journal, Vol. 1, No. 2, Spring 1996
Widder, Werner, ‘Auftragstaktik and Innere Führung: Trademarks of German Leadership’, Military Review, September/October 2002
Zabecki, David, Auftragstaktik
FILMS, DVDS
The Fighting Wessex Wyverns: Their Legacy, The 43rd Wessex Association
Acknowledgements
This book has only been possible thanks to significant help from a number of people. It has been fascinating to visit several archives and I am hugely grateful to Tammy Horton at the US Air Force Historical Research Agency at Maxwell, Alabama, for all her help and for allowing me to pester her with far too many questions and requests. I am also indebted to all the wonderful people at the truly brilliant National World War II Museum in New Orleans – and specifically to Rob Citino, a true friend, as well as Jeremy Collins and Seth Paridon, who allowed me access to many of the museum’s incredible oral history interviews with Normandy veterans. My thanks, too, to Sarah Kerksey, Becky Mackie and all the team in New Orleans. Thank you also to the staffs at the US Army Heritage and Education Center at Carlisle Barracks, the Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv at Freiburg, the Liddell Hart Centre for Military History at King’s College, London, the Imperial War Museum in London, the National Archives in Kew and the Mémoriale de Caen. Huge thanks as well to David Willey for all his enormous help and to all his staff at the brilliant Tank Museum, Bovington in Dorset. Thanks also to Shaun Illingworth of the Rutgers Oral History Archive for his considerable help.
A number of friends and colleagues have given me more assistance than I’m sure I deserve. In Normandy, Paul Woodadge has bent over backwards with help, advice, documents, insights and his enormous knowledge of both the campaign and the countryside over which it was fought. Professor John Buckley is a historian whom I admire enormously and who has given me much to think about. No man has done more work on the British Army in Normandy than Brigadier Ben Kite, and his book and knowledge have been invaluable. My thanks, too, to David Christopherson, son of Stanley, and a great friend. It was with David that fifteen years ago I toured Normandy and walked a quiet track on Point 103 where his father and the Sherwood Rangers had fought all those years ago. Thank you also to my great friend Trevor Chaytor-Norris and our fellow travelling companions on that trip, and to Peter Livanos and friends for two fabulous, eye-opening and highly instructive trips to Normandy. Al Murray has been a huge help and sounding board, and has pointed me in the direction of a number of works on the subject. In the US, Nicholas Moran has also been another very willing to share his immense knowledge of WWII armoured fighting vehicles and has encouraged me to think about these weapons of war in a different way. Thank you. I am also hugely grateful to Aaron Young, Freya Eden-Ellis, Jon Wood and Keith Branch, who all helped make the TV documentary Normandy 44 back in 2014. Thanks, too, for help go to Shane Greer, Christopher Jary, Michael Dolan, Michael Wharton, Ian Holmes, Andrew Whitmarsh and his team at the D-Day Story Museum in Portsmouth, Martin Bishkek at Legasee, Daphna Rubin, Steve Hoggard, and Jonathan Ware.
Jim Clark and Jamie Meachin have become good friends and the opportunity to drive around in Jim’s Sherman has added an extra experiential dimension to the research for this book. I am also hugely grateful to Tom Crawford, and especially James Shopland and Tobin Jones for all their knowledge, help and willingness to demonstrate and share their incredible collections of wartime machinery and weaponry. Several other friends have given enormous help: Simon Keeling, a brilliant meteorologist, who first alerted me to the vagaries of wartime weather forecasting. He then spent considerable time examining wartime meteorological maps and documents for the weather around the beginning of June 1944, which he then explained in painstaking detail and with immense patience. It was a reminder to me that historians do need to seek the knowledge of people beyond their own field.
Seb Cox, the Head of Air Historical Branch, has been extremely generous with his time and knowledge. Thank you, as well, to Antony Beevor for his help and advice. Paul Beaver is an expert on all matters aviation who has helped along the way, while I am also grateful to Paul Stoddart for his advice and suggestions. Two friends stand out especially: Steve Prince, Head of the Naval Historical Branch, has readily shared his enormous knowledge and I owe him for allowing me to pinch his phrases ‘the freedom of poverty’ and ‘the constraints of wealth’, for which I can claim absolutely no credit. I’m also grateful to his team in Portsmouth for all their help on naval aspects of the campaign. The second is Dr Peter Caddick-Adams, great friend, one-time neighbour, colleague and a man of immense knowledge always very happy to chew the cud, argue about Monty, and offer his services as a wise and invaluable sounding-board. Thank you, all of you.
Various others have given assistance along the way. Elisabeth Gausseron in France has helped with both research and translation, Michelle Miles and Ingo Maerker in Freiburg, Emily Brown with further French translation and Rob Schaefer in Germany has interviewed several veterans so brilliantly. Lalla Hitchings and Rachel Sykes have also helped with transcriptions, for which huge thanks, as always. Extra special thanks, however, are due to two people. The first is Laura Bailey, who has done a huge amount of photographing of documents at the National Archives in Kew and the Imperial War Museum and has been a truly enormous help. The second is Dorothee Schneider, a great friend and wonderful person, who went more than the extra mile with translations of German testimonies. Thank you so much, both of you.
Any book like this is, to a certain extent, a collaboration, and I consider myself immensely lucky to have had Brenda Updegraff to copy-edit the book. It has been a Herculean task and Brenda has done this with incredible skill and good judgement. I really am eternally grateful and simply cannot thank her enough for her phenomenal help. Enormous thanks, too, are due to all at Grove Atlantic in New York: Deb Seeger, Justina Batchelor, Morgan Entrekin and everyone who has worked on the book, but I owe especial thanks to George Gibson for all his patience, advice, wisdom and immense support. Thank you. In London, thank you to all at Bantam Press: the brilliant Phil Lord, Darcy Nicholson, Eloisa Clegg, Tom Hill and all who have helped get this book into being. Particular thanks, however, go to Bill Scott-Kerr: great friend, supporter, brilliant publisher and all-round lovely person, and to whom this book is dedicated. Thank you.
Finally, I’d like to thank Patrick Walsh for being not only a great friend but also a brilliant literary agent, advisor and advocate, and also my family, Rachel, Ned and Daisy. This book has been possible only by sacrificing many mornings, evenings and weekends, and they have been extraordinarily supportive, as always, from start to finish. Thank you.
Picture Acknowledgements
All photographs have been kindly supplied by the author except those listed below. Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders; those overlooked are invited to get in touch with the publishers.
1. Anti-invasion beach obstacles along the Normandy coast: Helmut Grosse/Bundesarchiv, bild: 101I-674-7773-07
2. Pegasus Bridge on 7 June. On the far – Ranville – side, crashed gliders: © IWM (B5288)
3. Cromwells and Shermans of the 4th County of London Yeomanry heading inland from Gold Beach on 7 June: © IWM (B5251)
4. 12. SS troops moving through the much-fought-over village of Rauray: dpa picture alliance / Alamy Stock Photo
5. Fallschirmjäger (paratroopers) moving by horse and cart: Zimmermann/Bundesarchiv, bild: 101I-583-2145-31
6. Robert Capa’s photograph of German troops surrendering in Cherbourg, as witnessed and reported by Er
nie Pyle on 27 June 1944: Robert Capa © International Center of Photography/Magnum Photos
7. Churchill tanks and men of the 15th (Scottish) Division move forward through the mist and drizzle at the start of Operation EPSOM, 26 June 1944: © IWM (B5956)
8. Fontenay-le-Pesnel, the scene of vicious fighting. A knocked-out Pak 40 75mm anti-tank gun alongside its dead gunner, 25 June 1944: © IWM (B5939)
9. Shermans of the Sherwood Rangers near Rauray on 30 June 1944: © IWM (B6218)
10. A Panzer IV well camouflaged in the hedgerows: Reich/Bundesarchiv, bild: 101I-586-2215-34A
11. British troops awaiting a counter-attack in hastily dug trenches and foxholes between hills 112 and 113 on 16 July 1944: © IWM (B7441)
12. Allied armoured units were supported by large numbers of low loaders: © IWM (B9091)
13. A British ammunition truck is hit and explodes during the EPSOM battle, 26 June 1944: © IWM (B6017)
Gallery of Portraits
14. All pictures supplied by the author
Integrated Pictures
All pictures supplied by the author except where listed below:
15. Hawker Typhoon rocket attack: © IWM (CL617)
Front endpaper
Supplied by the author
Back endpaper
Courtesy of After the Battle
For more photographs, please visit www.griffonmerlin.com/normandy44
General Eisenhower (left) confers with Generals Omar Bradley (centre) and J. Lawton Collins.
Index
The page references in this index correspond to the print edition from which this ebook was created, and clicking on them will take you to the the location in the ebook where the equivalent print page would begin. To find a specific word or phrase from the index, please use the search feature of your ebook reader.
Aachen 37, 96
Abbeville 19, 148
Achernar, USS 75, 208
Adam, Flight Sergeant Klaus ‘Ken’ liii, lvi, 100–1, 219, 226, 385, 438, 439, 457, 520–21, 532, 537
Adam, General Ronald ‘Bill’ 434
AEAF see Allied Expeditionary Air Force
Ainsworth, John (pilot) 121
Aisne, River 95
Ajax, HMS 170
Alam Halfa, Battle of (1942) 33, 60
Alamein, Battle of (1942) 14, 33, 42, 43, 60, 68, 128, 365, 423
Alençon 523
Alexander, General Sir Harold 86, 432
Alexander, Lt-Colonel Mark lii, lvi, 109–11, 117, 134, 213–14, 232, 261–2, 303–4, 379–81, 538
Alexander, Mary (née Collins) 110
Algonquin, HMCS 118, 119, 168, 175, 313, 319, 320, 471
Allied Expeditionary Air Force (AEAF) 30, 254, 365
Allied Military Government for Occupied Territories (AMGOT) 69
Allied Naval Expeditionary Force 4
Alynbank (blockship) 257, 258, 315
Ambrose, Stephen: Band of Brothers 538
American War Production Board 82
Amfreville 272, 274
Amos, Corporal 246
Angoville 234
Anguerny 211
Anisy 211
ANVIL, Operation 49, 82, 435, 507
Anzio, Italy 49, 163
Apollo, HMS 229
Arazo (member of Maquis Surcouf) 121
Argentan 250, 523
Argonaut, HMS 170
ARGUMENT, Operation 28
‘Armored Column Cover’ 447–9, 480
Armstrong, Lieutenant 244
Arnold, Kanonier Fritz 466
Arnold, General Henry ‘Hap’ 29, 35, 76, 90, 114
Arromanches 169, 170, 257, 258, 314–15, 321, 421, 538
Asnelles 210
Atlantic Wall, the 9–10, 11, 13, 15, 53, 55, 220, 229, 345
AT&T 255–6
Audrieu 249
Augusta, USS 75, 93–4, 153–4, 163, 207, 208
Aunay-sur-Odon 488, 489, 493, 523, 531
Aure, River 247, 253
Australian airmen 146–7, 255, 295, 374, 451
Authie 240, 241, 242, 276, 387
Avranches 473, 480, 483, 491, 500, 501, 502, 506, 515
AVREs (Armoured Vehicles, Royal Engineers) 171, 175, 181, 182, 183, 197, 212
‘Axis Sally’ 71
B-17s, B-24s, B26s see under United States Army Air Forces
Bagguly, Bill (tank crew) 322;
BAGRATION, Operation 325
Bailey, Corporal Alec 239
Bailey bridges 423, 426
Baldwin, Hanson 406
Balfour Beatty 86
Bangalore torpedoes see weaponry
Banneville 451
BARBAROSSA, Operation 15, 21, 48, 428
Barbie, Klaus 290
Barkhausen, Oberleutnant 496
Barnett, Bill (tank crew) 322
Barneville 311
Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire 124
Battle of Britain 31, 90, 93, 100, 269
Baumann, Lieutenant Ernest ‘Moon’ 96, 226, 476
Bayerlein, Generalleutnant Fritz liv, 202; commands Panzer-Lehr Division 17, 55; moves to the front 202–3, 219, 249–50, 251; attacks British positions 260–61; and Allied air forces 281; angry at lack of support 423; in the bocage 425; proposes withdrawal 475–6, 478, 484; later service 538–9
Bayeux 191, 206, 210, 247, 248, 251, 289, 313, 321, 519; fire brigade 249; hospital 218
Bazenville: airfield B-2 294, 295–6
BBC 70, 71, 72, 102, 128, 433, 497, 498
Beau-Coudray 403, 404
Beck, Kanonier Eberhard liv, 397–9, 414, 445, 462, 463, 466, 523–4, 533, 536
Becker, Major 56, 416, 454
Bedell Smith, Lt-General Walter 2, 78, 79
beehives see weaponry
Bégau (French soldier) 273
Belfast, HMS 168
Bellême 523
Bellengreville 128, 151
Belval 483
Benitz, Karl 294
Benmore, Bill ‘Benny’ 322 (tank crew) 322
Bennett, George (Canadian soldier) 455
Bénouville 136
Bénouville Bridge (PEGASUS) 116, 122–3, 125, 134, 182, 200, 204
Bény-Bocage, Le 250, 491
Berjou 530
Berlichingen, Oberstleutnant Wolf Freiherr von 151
Bernard (member of Maquis Surcouf) 290
Bernay: Luftwaffe hospital 443
Bernières-sur-Mer 169, 175, 211
Beslier (member of Maquis Surcouf) 120, 121
Besnardière, La 475
Bethell-Fox, Lieutenant John 61, 249, 251
Bezo (member of Maquis Surcouf) 121, 137
Biddle, Major Lawrence 180–81
Biehler, Private William lii, 320–21, 403–4
Bily, Sergeant Romeo 305
Black, Private 334
Blackburn, Second Lieutenant Richard lii, 404–5, 426, 477, 479, 483, 485, 502–3, 526–8, 536
Blandford Camp, Dorset 62–3
Blay 432
Bléhou 263
Bletchley Park 72, 505
Bliss, Flight Sergeant 438–9
Blizzard, Corporal Arthur liii, 59–60, 61, 182–3, 212–13, 239
BLUECOAT, Operation 482, 486, 487–95, 501, 503, 523, 525, 528, 530; map xlii–xliii
Blumentritt, General Günther 189
bocage 9, 132, 239, 247, 253, 282, 355, 358, 377, 378–9, 381, 396, 405–6, 418, 425–6, 445–7, 481–2, 487
Bois du Mesnil, Le 239
Bomber Command see under RAF
Bonesteel, Colonel Charles ‘Tick’ 49, 50, 82, 381, 426
Börner, Jäger Johannes liv, 300–1, 305, 441, 534
Bosq, Le 337, 339
Bosquet (member of Maquis Surcouf) 121
Bougnat (member of Maquis Surcouf) 324
Bourguébus 453, 456
Bourguébus Ridge 354, 437, 449, 450, 451, 456, 457, 458
Bowles, Pfc Henry ‘Dee’ lii, lvi, 61–2, 195, 196, 207, 252–3, 536
Bowles, Pfc Tom lii, lvi, 61–2
, 195, 196, 207, 252, 253, 272, 477–8, 503, 536
Boylan, Lieutenant Joe lii, 97–9, 226–7, 363
Bra 456, 457
Bradley, Lt-General Omar: lvi, given command of First Army 50, 435, 436, 535; and Montgomery 52; watches exercises 63; riled by Leigh-Mallory 74, 111; and Patton 74; and Hansen 74, 75; aboard USS Augusta 93, 153, 163, 207, 208–9; and Quesada 255; confers with Montgomery 229–30, 283, 301, 302; accepts Collins’s recommendations 303; crosses the Douve 304; drives on Cherbourg 310, 319, 325, 374, 376, 445; meetings with Montgomery 432–3, 434; relations with Quesada 440, 447–8; given demonstration of ‘Rhino’ 446; and COBRA 468–9, 470, 472, 473–5, 476; issues new orders 480; interviews Hartdegen 484; and Eisenhower 485; commands US 12th Army Group 485, 499; and BLUECOAT 489, 493; praised by Churchill 507; and German counter-attack 505, 522; writes post-war memoirs 539
Brannen, Lieutenant Malcolm 144–5
Brécourt 186, 189n, 213
Brécy 503
Bremen 23, 24
Brereton, Lt-General Lewis 33, 34, 89, 254, 269, 271, 364, 365, 468
Brest 84, 257, 301, 473, 498, 499, 526
Bretteville-l’Orgueilleuse 251, 332, 384
Bretteville-sur-Laize 441–2, 450, 511
Bréville 273, 274
Bréville Ridge 51, 125, 206, 272, 274
Briouze 226–7
British Army 46, 88, 317–18, 328–31, 447, 471; losses 229, 274, 354, 356, 434, 458–9, 530
21st Army Group 1, 42, 50, 63, 246, 434
Second Army xxvii, xxx, xxxiii, xli, xlii, xlviii, 182, 189, 282–3, 316, 326, 327, 367, 373, 399, 431, 435–6, 437, 438, 449–50, 458, 471, 494, 525
Eighth Army 2, 33–4, 60, 432
Fourteenth Army 82
VIII Corps 316, 317, 325, 329, 335–6, 356, 384, 437, 470, 481, 486, 487, 490, 492, 528
XXX Corps 317, 326–7, 333, 354, 481, 487, 490, 493
6th Airborne Division 126; 3rd Parachute Brigade 126–7; 5th Parachute Brigade 126, 127, 135, 274; 7th Parachute Battalion 126, 134–5, 136, 272–3, 274; 12th Parachute Battalion 274
Anti-Aircraft Command 434
Armoured Brigades: 8th 60, 180, 317, 485, 487, 489–90, see also 24th Lancers, Sherwood Rangers; 27th see 13th/18th Hussars, Staffordshire Yeomanry; 31st 330, 400; 33rd 271, 297
Normandy '44 Page 79
