Contents
List of Maps
Maps
Principal Personalities
Gallery of Portraits
Foreword
Prologue
Part I: The Battle Before D-Day
1 The Atlantic Wall
2 Command of the Skies
3 Understanding Montgomery and the Master Plan
4 Countdown
5 The Winds of War
6 Big War
7 Air Power
Part II: Invasion
8 D-Day Minus One
9 D-Day: The First Hours
10 D-Day: Dawn
11 D-Day: The American Landings
12 D-Day: The British and Canadian Landings
13 D-Day: The Turning of the Battle
14 D-Day: Foothold
Part III: Attrition
15 Bridgehead
16 Fighter-Bomber Racecourse
17 Linking Up
18 The Constraints of Wealth and the Freedom of Poverty
19 Behind the Lines
20 The Grinding Battle
21 The Great Storm
22 EPSOM
23 Cherbourg and the Scottish Corridor
24 Trouble at the Top
25 Bloody Bocage
26 Living Like Foxes
Part IV: Breakout
27 A Brief Discourse On Weapons And the Operational Level of War
28 Crisis of Command
29 GOODWOOD
30 Saint-Lô
31 COBRA
32 BLUECOAT
33 LÜTTICH
34 Tank Battle At Saint-Aignan
35 The Corridor of Death
Postscript
Picture Section
Glossary
Appendices
Timeline: Normandy 1944
Timeline: D-Day
Notes
Selected Sources
Acknowledgements
Picture Acknowledgements
Index
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
James Holland is an award-winning historian, writer and broadcaster. The author of a number of bestselling histories, including Battle of Britain, Dam Busters, Burma ’44 and, most recently, Big Week, he has also written nine works of historical fiction, including the Jack Tanner novels.
He is currently writing an acclaimed three-volume new history of the Second World War, The War in the West. He has presented – and written – many television programmes and series for the BBC, Channel 4, National Geographic, History and Discovery Channels.
He is also co-founder of the Chalke Valley History Festival and of WarGen.org, an online Second World War resource site, and presents the Chalke Valley History Hit podcast. A fellow of the Royal Historical Society, he also has a weekly podcast with Al Murray, We Have Ways of Making You Talk: Al Murray and James Holland talk World War II. He can be found on Twitter and Instagram as @James 1940.
For more photographs, please visit www.griffonmerlin.com/normandy44
Also by James Holland
Non-fiction
FORTRESS MALTA
TOGETHER WE STAND
HEROES
ITALY’S SORROW
THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN
DAM BUSTERS
AN ENGLISHMAN AT WAR
BURMA ’44
RAF 100: The Official Story
BIG WEEK
THE WAR IN THE WEST
Volume I: Germany Ascendant 1939–1941
THE WAR IN THE WEST
Volume II: The Allies Fight Back 1941–1943
Ladybird Experts
BLITZKRIEG
THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN
THE BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC
THE DESERT WAR
THE EASTERN FRONT 1941–43
Fiction
THE BURNING BLUE
A PAIR OF SILVER WINGS
THE ODIN MISSION
DARKEST HOUR
BLOOD OF HONOUR
HELLFIRE
DEVIL’S PACT
DUTY CALLS: DUNKIRK
DUTY CALLS: BATTLE OF BRITAIN
For more information on James Holland and his books, see his website at www.griffonmerlin.com
For Bill Scott-Kerr
List of Maps
1 The Pre-invasion Phase Lines
2 Allied Bombing Targets in Northern France Before D-Day
3 D-Day Air Dispositions
4 Order of Battle OB West
5 D-Day US Airborne Drop Patterns
6 The British Airborne Battlefield
7 D-Day Assault on Omaha Beach
8 D-Day Assault on the British and Canadian Beaches
9 D-Day British and Canadian Beaches at Midnight
10 The Allied Front, 10 June
11 Allied Bridgehead, 13 June
12 The Capture of Cherbourg, 23–30 June
13 Operation EPSOM, 25 June–1 July
14 Operation CHARNWOOD, 7–9 July
15 Attacks in the Odon Valley, 10–18 July
16 The Battle for Saint-Lô, 11–18 July
17 Operation GOODWOOD, 18–21 July
18 Operation COBRA, 25–31 July
19 The Normandy Front, 31 July
20 Operation BLUECOAT, 29 July–6 August
21 The Breakout, 1–13 August
22 Operation LŰTTICH, 7–9 August
23 Operation TOTALIZE, 7–11 August
24 The Falaise Pocket and the Corridor of Death, 13–20 August
25 The Drive to the German Border, 26 August–10 September
Map Key
ALLIED UNITS
Static division
Infantry division
Parachute division
Armoured division
GERMAN UNITS
Static division
Infantry division
Fallschirmjäger (paratrooper) division
Panzer division
Panzergrenadier division
Artillery division
STANDARD MILITARY SYMBOLS
I = Company
II = Battalion
III = Regiment
X = Brigade
XX = Division
XXX = Corps
XXXX = Army
XXXXX = Army group
Aerial photo: Gold Beach.
Troops of the 6th Airborne Division meet up with Commandos in Bénouville.
Canadians landing at Juno Beach.
US Army Rangers coming ashore at Pointe du Hoc.
British troops advancing.
Shermans assembling for Operation EPSOM.
The Battle for Saint-Lô: a Sherman Firefly and crew before Operation GOODWOOD.
Heavy bombing during Operation TOTALIZE.
Principal Personalities
American
Lieutenant-Colonel Mark Alexander
Executive Officer, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, then XO 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division.
Private William Biehler
Company K, 3rd Battalion, 357th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division.
2nd Lieutenant Richard Blackburn
Company A, 121st Regiment, 8th Infantry Division.
Pfc Henry ‘Dee’ Bowles
18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division.
Pfc Tom Bowles
18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division.
Lieutenant Joe Boylan
B-26 Marauder pilot, 573rd Squadron, 391st Bomb Group, Ninth Air Force.
Corporal Walter Halloran
165th Signal Photographic Company.
Major Chester B. Hansen
Aide to General Omar Bradley, US First Army.
Lieutenant Archie Maltbie
P-47 Thunderbolt pilot, 388th Fighter Squadron, 365th Fighter Group, Ninth Air Force.
Ernie Pyle
Journalist, Scripps-Howard Newspapers.
Brigadier-General Elwood ‘Pete’ Quesada
CO IX Fighter Command, Ninth Air Force.
Captain John Raaen
CO HQ Company, 5th Ranger Battalion.
Sergeant Carl Rambo
Company B, 70th Tank Battalion.
Captain John Rogers
CO Company E, 2nd Armored Division.
Lieutenant Orion Shockley
Company B, 1st Battalion, 47th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division.
Sergeant Bob Slaughter
Company D, 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry, 29th Infantry Division.
Lieutenant Bert Stiles
401st Bomb Squadron, 91st Bomb Group, Eighth Air Force.
Major Dick Turner
CO 356th Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group, IX Fighter Command, Ninth Air Force.
Lieutenant Dick Winters
CO Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.
British
Flight Sergeant Klaus ‘Ken’ Adam (German)
609 Squadron, 123 Wing, Second Tactical Air Force.
Corporal Arthur Blizzard
Pioneer Platoon, 1st Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, 8th Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division.
Sergeant Walter Caines
Signals Company, 4th Battalion, Dorset Regiment, 130th Brigade, 43rd Wessex Division.
Lieutenant-Colonel Stanley Christopherson
CO Nottingham Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry, 8th Armoured Brigade.
Private Denis Edwards
D Company, 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, 6th Airlanding Brigade, 6th Airborne Division.
Flight Sergeant Ken Handley
Flight Engineer, 466 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, 4 Group, Bomber Command.
Captain Carol Mather
Liaison Officer, 21st Army Group Tactical Headquarters.
Lieutenant-General Dick O’Connor
Commander, VIII Corps.
Corporal Reg Spittles
2 Troop, A Squadron, 2nd Northamptonshire Yeomanry, 11th Armoured Division.
Captain Richard Todd
7th Battalion, 5th Parachute Brigade, 6th Airborne Division.
Lance Corporal Ken Tout
1st Battalion, Northamptonshire Yeomanry, 33rd (Independent) Armoured Brigade.
Captain Robert Woollcombe
7 Platoon, A Company, 6th King’s Own Scottish Borderers, 44th (Lowland) Brigade, 15th (Scottish) Division.
Lance Corporal Frank Wright
X Troop, 47 Marine Commando.
Canadian
Lieutenant Latham B. ‘Yogi’ Jenson, RCN
1st Lieutenant, HMCS Algonquin, Force J.
Sergeant-Major Charlie Martin
A Company, Queen’s Own Rifles, 8th Infantry Brigade, 3rd Division.
Corporal Eldon ‘Bob’ Roberts
B Company, North Shore New Brunswick Regiment, 8th Infantry Brigade, 3rd Division.
French
Flight Lieutenant Pierre Clostermann
602 Squadron, Second Tactical Air Force.
Geneviève Dubosq
Lieutenant Hubert Fauré
Kieffer Commandos, 4 Commando.
Robert Leblanc
Commander, Maquis Surcouf.
German
Generalleutnant Fritz Bayerlein
Commander, Panzer-Lehr Division.
Kanonier Eberhard Beck
10. Batterie, Artillerie-Regiment 277, 277. Infanterie-Division.
Jäger Johannes Börner
15. Kompanie, III. Bataillon, Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 5, 3. Fallschirmjäger.
Grenadier Martin Eineg
Infanterie-Regiment 726, 716. Infanterie-Division.
Leutnant Wolfgang Fischer
Fighter pilot flying with 3./Jagdgeschwader 2.
Gefreiter Franz Gockel
3. Kompanie, I. Bataillon, Grenadier-Regiment 726, 716. Infanterie-Division.
Leutnant Hans Heinze
Ordnanz Offizier, 5. Kompanie, II. Bataillon, Grenadier-Regiment 916, 352. Infanterie-Division.
Major Hans von Luck
Commander, Panzergrenadier-Regiment 125, 21. Division.
SS-Oberführer Kurt Meyer
Commander, 12. SS-Panzer-Division ‘Hitlerjugend’.
Willi Müller
Pioneer-Bataillon 2, 17. SS-Panzergrenadier-Division ‘Götz von Berlichingen’.
Oberleutnant Martin Pöppel
12. Kompanie, III. Bataillon, Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 6.
Hauptmann Helmut Ritgen
Commander, II. Bataillon, Panzer-Lehr-Regiment 130.
Leutnant Richard Freiherr von Rosen
Bataillon HQ, Schwere Panzerabteilung 503, 21. Panzer-Division.
Vizeadmiral Friedrich Ruge
Naval advisor to Rommel, Headquarters, Heeresgruppe B.
Obersturmführer Hans Siegel
Commander, 8. Kompanie, II. Bataillon, SS-Panzer-Regiment 12, 12. SS-Panzer-Division.
Oberleutnant Cornelius Tauber
Pioneer-Kompanie, II. Grenadier-Regiment 736, 736. Infanterie-Division.
Obergrenadier Karl Wegner
3. Kompanie, Panzergrenadier-Regiment 914, 352. Infanterie-Division.
Irish
Lieutenant Mary Mulry
Nurse, 101st British General Hospital.
New Zealand
Air Marshal Sir Arthur ‘Mary’ Coningham
Commander, Second Tactical Air Force, RAF.
Flight Sergeant Ken Adam
Lieutenant-Colonel Mark Alexander
Tom (bottom left) and Henry (top right) Bowles
Lieutenant-Colonel Stanley Christopherson
Winston Churchill
Flight Lieutenant Pierre Clostermann
Air Marshal Sir Arthur ‘Mary’ Coningham (right) and Air Vice-Marshal Harry Broadhurst
Lieutenant-General Miles Dempsey
Oberstgruf. Sepp Dietrich (left), Feldm. Günther von Kluge (centre) and Gen.Hans Eberbach
Gefreiter Franz Gockel
Corporal Walter Halloran
Major Chester Hansen (left) and Lieutenant-General Omar Bradley
Robert Leblanc
Major Hans von Luck
Oberführer Kurt Meyer
General Sir Bernard Montgomery
Brigadier-General Elwood ‘Pete’ Quesada
Hauptmann Helmut Ritgen
Feldmarschall Erwin Rommel
Leutnant Richard Freiherr von Rosen
Lieutenant Orion Shockley
Obersturmführer Hans Siegel
Lance Corporal Ken Tout
Major Dick Turner
Foreword
D-Day and the Allied invasion of France is probably the best-known episode of the entire Second World War, certainly in the consciousness of most in the West. It has been the subject of countless books and television documentaries, as well as major movies and internationally successful television dramas. Each year, millions go on pilgrimage to Normandy to see the invasion beaches and the war cemeteries where so many of those who fought now lie. It is the scene where the Allies began their liberation of north-west Europe and where Nazi Germany finally lost its grip on the lands it had taken with such brilliance back in 1940.
Paradoxically, it is the very popularity of the place and the subject, as well as the repeated retelling, that has prompted me to tackle the campaign in this new narrative history. Distortions have crept into the story, while a number of assumptions, accepted as fact, have also taken root when even cursory research suggests that, at best, the truth is more nuanced and, at worst, the supposition completely wrong. For too long, the subject has also been told largely at the higher level of command and from the perspective of those at the coal-face of battle; as John ‘JJ’ Witmeyer, a soldier in the US 79th Infantry Division, quite rightly pointed out, most young men like himself knew very little indeed about their enemy or what was go
ing on around them. Far less, on the other hand, has been told about the mechanics of war – the level that allows warring sides to operate and maintain their overall objectives – their strategy – and to fight at the tactical level in a way best suited to their war aims. This is the nuts and bolts of war: the ability to produce arms and weapons, to make technological advancements, the ability to supply millions of men in the field, or in the air or at sea. It is the economics and logistics of war, and while that might sound boring, it most certainly is not, not least because, ultimately, it is also, at its basic level, about human drama, just as generalship and fighting in a tank or a fighter plane is also about extraordinary human endeavour. What’s more, by understanding this operational level and reinserting it into the narrative, a quite different and more exciting picture emerges about what really happened in Normandy in the summer of 1944. A picture that deserves to be understood and accepted far more widely than is currently the case.
Interestingly, over the past fifteen years or so a quiet revolution has been taking place in academic circles about the way in which we understand the Second World War. My own research and conclusions have been building upon this, and I believe it is vitally important that these academic shifts – possible only recently now that archives, primary sources and our ability to access them is so much greater – become more fully absorbed into the accepted narrative. My hope is that this book, a history not of D-Day but of the entire 77-day Normandy campaign, will help with that.
For such a vast subject, this is, though, designed to be an overview. There is much to say, but inevitably there is also a lot of detail that it has not been possible to include. Rather, I have chosen to demonstrate the incredible drama of this brutal battle through the eyes of a handful of people from both sides and to concentrate on the primary events that occurred, alongside fresh analysis of why events unfolded in the way that they did.