D-Day Landings - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0718304470 ISBN 13: 9780718304478

Publisher: William Kimber & Co Ltd, 1980

Synopsis

The D Day Landings, though eventually a brilliant success, came close to being the greatest military disaster in history. The weather on June 6th 1944 was not much better than it had been on the 5th but the landing could not be postponed again, Disaster followed disaster but courage, ingenuity and above all a desperate determination established the Allied Forces in the French beachheads. But the cost was high. Thousands died; others were crippled by appalling wounds. This book is a unique collection of accounts of personal experiences. They range from the Royal Air Force pilots who dropped the parachutists and towed the gliders, through the Royal Navy which had to find a way in through mines and other obstacles, to the sappers, gunners, tank crews, signals, infantry and finally chaplains and surgeons. In these letters, which come from all ranks from private to brigadier, is the excitement and fear, the mixture of elation and bitter disappointment and the very smell of battle. Some of the events described are extraordinary. Previous books on D Day have tended to concentrate on the strategy and high level planning. This one is set in the front of the battle and is one of the most remarkable books of the Second World War. It is in face a military classic and will rank high in the literature of war.

About this title

About the Author:

Philip Warner (1914-2000) enlisted in the Royal Corps of Signals after graduating from St Catharine's, Cambridge in 1939. He fought in Malaya and spent 1,100 days 'as a guest of the Emperor' in Changi and on the Railway of Death, an experience he never discussed. He was a legendary figure to generations of cadets during his thirty years as a Senior Lecturer at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. Yet he will arguably be best remembered for his contribution of more than 2,000 obituaries of prominent army figures to The Daily Telegraph. In addition he wrote fifty-four books on all aspects of military history, ranging from castles and battlefields in Britain, to biographies of prominent military figures (such as Kitchener: The Man Behind the Legend; Field Marshall Earl Haig; Horrocks: The General who Led from the Front and Auchinleck: The Lonely Soldier) to major histories of the S.A.S., the Special Boat Services and the Royal Corps of Signals."

About this edition

• Publisher: William Kimber & Co Ltd
• Publication date: 1980
• ISBN 10: 0718304470
• ISBN 13: 9780718304478
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 309
• Editor: Warner Philip