D-Day : Piercing the Atlantic Wall

by Kershaw, Robert

• ISBN13: 9780711033238
• ISBN10: 0711033234
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-07-19
• Publisher: Ian Allan Pub

Summary

What was it like to parachute by night into Normandy, to defend the beaches from within the German bunker, to splash fearfully ashore under machine-gun and artillery fire, to be a victim of the relentless Allied air attacks or to struggle from a burning tank brewed-up by deadly 88s? Many books have been written about the Normandy landings but this brings a new perspective, drawing on German and Allied eye-witness accounts and other sources little used in the standard accounts.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
The Narrow Channel	p. 1
'Wolves circling a wounded dog'...Lyme Bay 28 April 1944	p. 1
'It will be all right on the night'...England, Spring 1944	p. 13
The Far Shore	p. 27
The German Army in the West	p. 27
'As for the Atlantic Wall...it was sheer humbug.' The Defence Debate	p. 31
'It is essential to prepare for hard times here.' Normandy Defences. Spring 1944	p. 34
'Your objective is not the coast. Your objective is the sea!'...The Panzers	p. 43
'Cry Wolf!'...Spring 1944	p. 49
Objectives	p. 51
The Race to the Fore-shore...Objectives and Plans	p. 51
Realignment...'The situation did not look promising'	p. 56
'The day of the dashing cut-and-thrust tank attack..is past and gone'	p. 59
'Jagerschreck'...Fear of Fighters	p. 62
Waiting	p. 66
'Eternal Father Strong to Save'...The Camps	p. 66
Embarkation...	p. 73
Postponement...	p. 79
It's D-Day Tomorrow	p. 84
Manning the West Wall...5 June	p. 84
'We were coming over Lord'...airfields in southern England	p. 93
'What a night - dark and wet'...the Invasion Fleet	p. 99
Securing the Flanks	p. 109
Coup de Main...the Orne River 00.16-00.26	p. 109
The Plan...secure the flanks	p. 115
Go! Go! Go!...'a fantastic chimera of lights and flak'	p. 117
Will it suffice?...holding the flanks	p. 136
The Long Night	p. 140
'Condemned to inactivity'...the Orne and the east	p. 140
'The situation in the Seine Estuary is probably worse than ours'... the west	p. 150
'A disturbed Beehive'...co-ordinating the response	p. 156
'Look what's coming!...	p. 164
The Storm Breaks	p. 171
'The guns...were too hot to be touched'...the naval bombardment	p. 171
'The Golden City'	p. 181
'A Hollywood Show'...Utah 06.30	p. 187
'A peaceful summer's day on the Wannsee'	p. 194
First Wave Foundered	p. 201
'No sign of life or resistance'...approaching Omaha 06.15	p. 201
'Entire First Wave Foundered'...	p. 207
Assaulting the 'Jib'...Pointe du Hoc 07.10	p. 214
Coming ashore on 'Easy Red'...Omaha 06.30-08.30	p. 220
'When, and from whom will the counter-attack...come?'	p. 226
Tanks from the Sea	p. 230
'Out Ramps!'...Sword 07.30	p. 230
'The appalling number of church spires'...Juno 07	p. 244
Tanks from the sea...Gold 07.25	p. 259
A Brutal Defence	p. 269
Stalemate on Omaha	p. 269
Success or Failure?...	p. 276
'They stick tight'...the German defence Omaha	p. 281
Break-in	p. 288
Einbruchsraum West. Break-in Point West...Gold	p. 288
Einbruchsraum Mitte. Break-in Point Centre...Juno	p. 301
'Einbruchsraum Ost'. Break-in Point East...Sword	p. 305
Counter-Attack	p. 310
21st Panzer attacks...	p. 310
Assault towards Utah...	p. 322
A Tenuous Foothold	p. 328
Reinforcement	p. 328
Beyond D-Day...dusk 6 June	p. 333
Panzer-Marsch!	p. 341
Where are the Panzers?...	p. 341
Delays...the 12th SS 'Hitlerjugend'	p. 347
A Nightmare Trek...Panzer Lehr	p. 353
'Little fish! We'll throw them into the sea...'	p. 359
Village Fighting	p. 365
The Centre - before Caen...Authie	p. 365
The East - stalemate on the Orne...Breville	p. 381
The West - 'Bocage'...St Come-du-Mont	p. 394
Postscript	p. 409
The Germans...	p. 410
The Allies...	p. 420
The Human Factor...	p. 424
Appendices	p. 430
The Race to the Foreshore	p. 430
Allied Superiority on Landing	p. 431
Tables of Comparative Ranks	p. 432
Abbreviations and Glossary	p. 434
Notes to the Text	p. 436
Sources	p. 466
Index	p. 472
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