D-Day"The Allied landings in 1944 had all the prospects for disaster. Churchill thought he would be woken up to be told of massive casualties. Eisenhower prepared a somber broadcast announcing that the enterprise had failed. The specter of failure was always present. After a failed landing the Nazi regime would have regained the ascendant. New, terrifying bombs and rockets were ready to be launched. Long-distance submarines were in the final stage of development. The last million Jews of Europe were listed for deportation and death. Failure at Normandy could have given Hitler the chance of continuing to rule western Europe, particularly if the United States, bloodied and defeated in Normandy, had decided-after two and a half years of focusing on Europe-to turn all its energies to the ever-growing demands of the Pacific, leaving Europe to its own devices. Had that happened, I doubt if I would have been alive to write this book, or free to express my opinions without fear of arrest." --Martin Gilbert |
Contents
The Genesis of a Plan | 1 |
Adversaries and Allies | 9 |
Toward Overlord | 20 |
Copyright | |
9 other sections not shown
Common terms and phrases
aircraft Allied forces Allied landings American amphibious landing Anglo-American Army Group Arromanches ashore Atlantic Wall attack battery beachhead bombers bombing bridges Britain British Caen Calais Canadian Cherbourg Chiefs of Staff Churchill code-named COSSAC Cotentin Peninsula cross cross-Channel assault cross-Channel landing D-Day deception plans decrypted at Bletchley defenses destroyer Dieppe Dieppe raid dropped Eisenhower Eisenhower's enemy Europe fighters France French Resistance German Air Force German Intelligence glider harbor headquarters High Command Hitler Infantry Division inland June Juno Juno Beach killed kilometres landing beaches landing craft later launched London Marshal Martin Gilbert 2003 midnight miles military Montgomery months Mulberry naval night Normandy landings Norway obstacles Omaha Beach operation Overlord Panzer parachute parachutists Pas-de-Calais planners preparation radar radio raid railway River Rommel Roosevelt Royal Rundstedt ships Sir Martin Gilbert soldiers Soviet Stalin Sword Beach tanks told troops Ultra United States Army Utah Beach yards