D-Day Landing Craft How 4,126 ‘Ugly and Unorthodox’ Allied Craft made the Normandy Landings Possible

by Whitmarsh, Andrew

• ISBN13: 9781803994451
• ISBN10: 1803994452
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2025-04-08
• Publisher: The History Press

Summary

The contribution of landing craft and their crews to the 1944 Normandy campaign was enormous, and often overlooked. Most of the more than 132,000 Allied troops who landed on the beaches on D-Day came ashore from landing craft. The book examines why so many different types of landing craft were used in the operation; how they were built in both the UK and North America, over several years and with many competing war production requirements and operational needs. In the lead up to D-Day the Allies never seemed to have enough landing craft, their availability and production regularly discussed by top Allied leaders. This account is essential to anyone who wants to fully understand the course of D-Day, and the nature of Allied preparations for the campaign.

 

Author Biography

Andrew Whitmarsh has worked as a curator in military history museums for over 25 years, and since 2001 as the curator of The D-Day Story (until 2018, known as the D-Day Museum) in Portsmouth. He has written a number of articles and two books for The History Press, Portsmouth at War and D-Day in Photographs. He is a regular public lecturer on the topic, with a number of TV and radio appearances about D-Day.