The Bedford Boys One American Town's Ultimate D-day Sacrifice

by Kershaw, Alex

• ISBN13: 9780306813559
• ISBN10: 0306813556
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-05-12
• Publisher: Da Capo Press

Summary

June 6, 1944: Nineteen boys from Bedford, Virginia--population just 3,000 in 1944--died in the first bloody minutes of D-Day. They were part of Company A of the 116th Regiment of the 29th Division, and the first wave of American soldiers to hit the beaches in Normandy. Later in the campaign, three more boys from this small Virginia town died of gunshot wounds. Twenty-two sons of Bedford lost--it is a story one cannot easily forget and one that the families of Bedford will never forget.The Bedford Boysis the true and intimate story of these men and the friends and families they left behind.Based on extensive interviews with survivors and relatives, as well as diaries and letters, Kershaw's book focuses on several remarkable individuals and families to tell one of the most poignant stories of World War II--the story of one small American town that went to war and died on Omaha Beach.

Author Biography

Alex Kershaw is the author of the widely acclaimed and bestselling books The Bedford Boys, The Longest Winter, and The Few, and two biographies: Jack London and Blood and Champagne: The Life and Times of Robert Capa. He lives in Williamstown, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
The Bedford Boys	xi
Maps	xiii
1 D-Day, H-360	1	(6)
2 Going to War	7	(16)
3 Moving Out	23	(18)
4 Cruel Seas	41	(12)
5 England's Own	53	(14)
6 "29, Let's Go!"	67	(14)
7 Slapton Sands	81	(12)
8 The Sausages	93	(18)
9 The Empire Javelin	111	(10)
10 The First Wave	121	(8)
11 Dog Beach	129	(10)
12 "Medic!"	139	(10)
13 Every Man Was a Hero	149	(16)
14 Bedford's Longest Day	165	(8)
15 Bocage	173	(16)
16 The Longest Wait	189	(8)
17 His Deep Regret	197	(12)
18 Coming Home	209	(16)
19 Memorial	225	(14)
The Bedford Boys and D-Day	239	(2)
Bibliography	241	(2)
Notes	243	(20)
Index	263