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D-Day: The Dramatic Story of the World's Greatest Invasion
D-Day is the remarkable story of the planning and execution of the Normandy landings as seen through the eyes of those closest to the action—the young soldiers who were the first to storm the beaches, their pressured commanders, the daring French Resistance volunteers, and the special commandos and double-agents engaged in a deadly game of truth and deception. More than the dramatic chronicle of the greatest campaign in military history, this handsome volume is also a tribute to the veterans who, with their heroic efforts, changed the course of the war—and of history.
- GenresHistory
192 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2004
13 people want to read
About the author
Dan Parry
8 books11 followersDan Parry has worked for the BAFTA award-winning documentary team at TWI on their acclaimed "The British Empire in Colour" and has worked as script researcher on the BBC2 series "Journeys to the Bottom of the Sea." In mid-2002, Parry began researching D-Day story-lines for Dangerous Films, joining Dangerous on a full-time basis in May 2003.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 1, 2015
“All of Amsterdam, all of Holland, in fact the entire western coast of Europe all the way down to Spain, are talking about the invasion day and night, debating, making bets and … hoping.
The suspense is rising to fever pitch.”
- Anne Frank, 22 May 1944
In June 2004, on the 60th anniversary commemoration of the D-Day Normandy Landings, BBC One commissioned a 120-minute factual drama documentary titled ‘D-Day 6.6.1944’, which was directed by ‘Richard Dale’. This dramatized documentary film was directed entirely based on the experiences compiled from interviews with the actual participants who went to the shores of France on the eventful day of 6 June 1944, a key moment that turned the direction of World War II; a moment for which the millions of people who were suffering under the shroud of Nazi occupation were waiting for about 5 years.
The documentary focused on bringing the true stories of the men and women who participated in the largest sea and airborne invasion in history by retelling their perspectives using original footage and entirely new visuals shot on the shores of Normandy. The documentary and an Imperial War Museum Exhibition on this historic event was accompanied by a companion volume from BBC Books, with the same title, which brings alive the memories and the people behind the most audacious amphibious assault that mankind has ever witnessed.
Richard Dale, the director of the film makes this statement about how the actual memories of the participants guided the direction of the documentary. These interviews that were conducted with the veterans and survivors of the event – both from the Allied and the German camp - and their witness accounts are the plus points of the book (and of the documentary) as they greatly add to the value of the narrative. You can find viewpoints from the whole spectrum of participants – like the fresh soldiers who were then barely 18, battle hardened veterans, the generals, the spies, the French resistance volunteers, war reporters and photographers - who partook in the planning and execution of this military operation within this narrative.
In the initial part of the ‘D-Day 6.6.1944’ the reader gets familiarized with the events and decisions that made ‘Operation Overlord’ possible. Through draft plans and minutes of meetings and excerpts from operational dossiers the reader is given an opportunity to inspect the initial efforts that went in to the planning for invasion. The defense measures taken along the Normandy coast to prevent such an invasion is also inspected in detail. We also meet the French Resistance volunteers who braved the ruthless Gestapo for gathering intelligence including details about the shoreline which were vital for formulating the invasion plans, the various invasion troops and their rigorous and often disastrous training efforts, spies and operatives behind the enemy lines planting the seeds of disinformation aimed at keeping the Nazi’s confused about the Allied invasion plans, advance force of commandos crossing the borders with their own vital contributions to the final colossal mission all explained in great detail.
‘Operation Tarbrush’ from 1944, that played a huge impact on the success of D-Day, conducted by ‘3 Troop’ - one of the least known elite commando units of World War II – which was intended to obtain photographs and other evidence of mines and other traps along the targeted shorelines is one among the many such tiny details that the reader will get acquainted with from the initial part of this book.
The later part of the book is presented like a Countdown to the H-Hour, which presents the reader with hourly updates of the events unfolding on the final day of the invasion, right from the very first movements of the airborne divisions to the final hours of the epic battle. Each of the events from the eventful day is presented with a decent amount of detail along with photographs from the battlefront. The details of ‘Operation Gambit’ which was vital for the invasion forces reaching their predestined beaches with pinpoint accuracy; The battle for the beaches with its descriptions of the carnage at Omaha beach; the first responses from the defending German forces; British infantry breaking defenses at Sword beach and pushing into the countryside of Normandy; the push to Caen are all described with details in this hourly narration.
The book is extravagantly illustrated with rare high quality photographs, maps, copies of actual documents related to the invasion, while providing an hour-by-hour commentary on ‘Operation Overlord' and the events leading up to the epic day. Some of the details from the invasion felt not much elaborated like the role of paratroopers and missing of coverage of action from all the beachheads, yet this is a good primer book to have about the D-Day with its great photographic material.
Actual Rating:3.5/5
The suspense is rising to fever pitch.”
- Anne Frank, 22 May 1944
In June 2004, on the 60th anniversary commemoration of the D-Day Normandy Landings, BBC One commissioned a 120-minute factual drama documentary titled ‘D-Day 6.6.1944’, which was directed by ‘Richard Dale’. This dramatized documentary film was directed entirely based on the experiences compiled from interviews with the actual participants who went to the shores of France on the eventful day of 6 June 1944, a key moment that turned the direction of World War II; a moment for which the millions of people who were suffering under the shroud of Nazi occupation were waiting for about 5 years.
The documentary focused on bringing the true stories of the men and women who participated in the largest sea and airborne invasion in history by retelling their perspectives using original footage and entirely new visuals shot on the shores of Normandy. The documentary and an Imperial War Museum Exhibition on this historic event was accompanied by a companion volume from BBC Books, with the same title, which brings alive the memories and the people behind the most audacious amphibious assault that mankind has ever witnessed.
“The psychological impact on many of the troops who took part led them to bury their memories in the decades that followed. As these men and women enter the final years of their lives, many of them now find themselves reflecting on those experiences and talking about them in depth for the first time. As the number of survivors dwindles and more and more veterans’ associations close, the sixtieth anniversary offers them a final chance to share those memories and experiences with younger generation”
Richard Dale, the director of the film makes this statement about how the actual memories of the participants guided the direction of the documentary. These interviews that were conducted with the veterans and survivors of the event – both from the Allied and the German camp - and their witness accounts are the plus points of the book (and of the documentary) as they greatly add to the value of the narrative. You can find viewpoints from the whole spectrum of participants – like the fresh soldiers who were then barely 18, battle hardened veterans, the generals, the spies, the French resistance volunteers, war reporters and photographers - who partook in the planning and execution of this military operation within this narrative.
In the initial part of the ‘D-Day 6.6.1944’ the reader gets familiarized with the events and decisions that made ‘Operation Overlord’ possible. Through draft plans and minutes of meetings and excerpts from operational dossiers the reader is given an opportunity to inspect the initial efforts that went in to the planning for invasion. The defense measures taken along the Normandy coast to prevent such an invasion is also inspected in detail. We also meet the French Resistance volunteers who braved the ruthless Gestapo for gathering intelligence including details about the shoreline which were vital for formulating the invasion plans, the various invasion troops and their rigorous and often disastrous training efforts, spies and operatives behind the enemy lines planting the seeds of disinformation aimed at keeping the Nazi’s confused about the Allied invasion plans, advance force of commandos crossing the borders with their own vital contributions to the final colossal mission all explained in great detail.
‘Operation Tarbrush’ from 1944, that played a huge impact on the success of D-Day, conducted by ‘3 Troop’ - one of the least known elite commando units of World War II – which was intended to obtain photographs and other evidence of mines and other traps along the targeted shorelines is one among the many such tiny details that the reader will get acquainted with from the initial part of this book.
The later part of the book is presented like a Countdown to the H-Hour, which presents the reader with hourly updates of the events unfolding on the final day of the invasion, right from the very first movements of the airborne divisions to the final hours of the epic battle. Each of the events from the eventful day is presented with a decent amount of detail along with photographs from the battlefront. The details of ‘Operation Gambit’ which was vital for the invasion forces reaching their predestined beaches with pinpoint accuracy; The battle for the beaches with its descriptions of the carnage at Omaha beach; the first responses from the defending German forces; British infantry breaking defenses at Sword beach and pushing into the countryside of Normandy; the push to Caen are all described with details in this hourly narration.
The book is extravagantly illustrated with rare high quality photographs, maps, copies of actual documents related to the invasion, while providing an hour-by-hour commentary on ‘Operation Overlord' and the events leading up to the epic day. Some of the details from the invasion felt not much elaborated like the role of paratroopers and missing of coverage of action from all the beachheads, yet this is a good primer book to have about the D-Day with its great photographic material.
Actual Rating:3.5/5
June 6, 2024
A nicely presented and illustrated companion book to a BBC film. The focus on individuals, from enlisted personnel of both sides to the top generals to resistance fighters, presents a fairly full picture of the weeks leading up to the D-Day, and the aftermath. Doesn't shy away from presenting the shocking and unseemly, not to mention the juicy bits of gossip about Eisenhower and Summersby. An easy read and a good, colorful introduction to D-Day.
August 9, 2017
Accompanies the BBC Film
January 23, 2026
Good account of the D Day landings with lots of photos, but small print on shiny paper was hard to read.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews