Normandy: The Search for Sidney = Normandie: A La Recherche de Sidney

by Tom Bates

This is a book in three parts: Part one concerns the search for the site of the battle in which Corporal Sidney Bates (no relation to the author) was killed after undertaking an individual action against a German position, for which he was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross. Part two recounts the story of Madame Suzanne Lenauld, a resident of Colleville-sur-Orne (renamed Colleville-Montgomery after the war), who experienced the D-Day invasion at first hand, and later provided extensive assistance to the author, Tom Bates, when conducting his research in the region. The third part recounts the assault on the German battery known to the British and Americans as Hillman, which was a key objective on the first day, and an extremely strongly held position capable of inflicting much damage over a wide area, including nearby Sword Beach itself.

The book contains a French translation of the original text in a second column on each page.

210 pages, Hardcover

First published January 28, 2000

Reviews

[Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rather special text, more of an oral history than anything else, but very well written and certainly of interest to anyone looking for first-hand accounts of that momentous day, the 6th of June 1944. It is a curious thing to see how the book came about: the author more or less stumbled on the "Bates" coincidence and, being interested in D-Day in general, decided to try and find out more about the young man who died all those years ago. To this end, he enlists the help of two veterans who both knew Sidney Bates and who were nearby on the day of his famous action. Once in Normandy, the trio is assisted by Madame Suzanne Lenaud and others, and the intricate story of how they locate the right battlefield is told against the background story of D-Day itself, and notably the part played by the veterans, Ernie and Bill.

The whole text has been translated into French, which appears on the opposite side of each page, a most unusual undertaking which naturally makes what looks at first like a thickish book, quite quick to read.