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On June 6, 1944, 7,000 ships carrying 160,000 Allied soldiers stormed the beaches of Normandy. Here is the dramatic story of that climatic battle and the men who planned and fought in it. The Normandy invasion altered the course of World War II and led to the defeat of Nazi Germany and the end of the Third Reich. It is a story of courage and fear, tragedy and determination.
- GenresHistoryWarNonfiction
160 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 1962
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
March 13, 2020
This quick read about D-Day gave a fair amount of information and anecdotes but was not satisfying. Will try to read something longer before I go to Normandy to visit the sites. One glaring deficiency: No maps. Perhaps the hard copy had a map. The e-book did not.
April 29, 2019
As a 12-year-old gazing out of my bedroom window in south London on that epic morning, I marvelled at the armada of black-and-white striped planes flying on their way to France. Rumours that the allied invasion was imminent had been around for weeks, and I remember thinking: this must be it.
Al Hine's book is a well-written and readable account of what happened next. It's a superb sweeping history of those D-day events and a nutshell record of the days that followed.
Al Hine's book is a well-written and readable account of what happened next. It's a superb sweeping history of those D-day events and a nutshell record of the days that followed.
March 3, 2018
Interesting read
A concise and factual account of the D-Day invasion. Lots of personal experiences of the men who made the landings coupled with obscure but interesting incidents that could have altered the outcome. Recommend to anyone wanting to learn about the planning and execution of the battle.
A concise and factual account of the D-Day invasion. Lots of personal experiences of the men who made the landings coupled with obscure but interesting incidents that could have altered the outcome. Recommend to anyone wanting to learn about the planning and execution of the battle.
April 19, 2019
Good explanation
I read this book in preparation for a trip to Normandy. I liked the background in the beginning, a the story of what happened the next day and beyond. D-Day itself was told in a quick fashion, yet the details were good. This book will help me understand a lot on my tour.
I read this book in preparation for a trip to Normandy. I liked the background in the beginning, a the story of what happened the next day and beyond. D-Day itself was told in a quick fashion, yet the details were good. This book will help me understand a lot on my tour.
June 14, 2019
Read this right after reading D-Day by Stephen Ambrose and it paled in comparison. If you're looking for a good summary version of D-Day events, this covers it well. But if you want more flavor and depth, I recommend Ambrose.
January 5, 2019
This book is about the invasion of Normandy. The book was written in 1962, but wow! The invasion took two years of intensive planning and was the result of unbelievable human courage.
February 4, 2019
Clear, concise, intriguing account of the invasion of Normandy in 1944.
February 12, 2019
Excellent and to the point. History is something the left wants to destroy or rewrite it. We must keep our History.
March 20, 2014
D-Day
“D-DAY THE INVASION OF EUROPE” by Al Hine tells about the planning and execution and D-Day, the biggest invasion/ costliest military move of all time. With the whole invasion resting on such simple things as a weather report, breakfast, and seasickness.
D-Day simply stands for the day when the Allies (the people who fought the axis in World War I and World War II) landed on the beaches of Normandy, France. The attack of Normandy consisted of 5 (technically 6) areas. Pointe Du Hoc (American Landing), Utah (American Landing), Omaha (American Landing), Gold (British Landing), Juno (Canadian Landing), Sword (British Landing).
Pointe Du Hoc was the most important target because it was where most of the artillery and big guns were, about 135 Americans were killed and about 3 Germans captured. It was not captured until the 7 of June (a day after June 6th or D-Day) because of how fortified it was.
Utah was the beach that was the most successful. Only 12 people were killed and about 135 wounded, this was nothing compared to the people that were killed at Omaha. After the Utah landing the people there helped out the people of the (I think) 101st Airborne Division. By the time reinforcements came the troops that were on the beach had left.
Omaha was the beach that went wrong. Basically everything that could go wrong did go wrong. On the other beaches artillery rained down on the beaches making holes in the sand for the troops on the beaches to take cover in. But on Omaha that did happen because all the shells missed. It also didn't help that Second Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel had ordered reinforcements on Omaha because it was like the beach that the Allies used when invading Italy. So he didn’t want to repeat history and reinforced Omaha. So the soldiers there had to cross the length of 3 football fields with no cover, go through landmines, and then climb the hills to complete their objective. All of this under constant Mg42 fire, which at the time was the fastest firing gun in the world. It is not known just how many died at Omaha, some estimates take the list as far as 35,000. Omaha remains the bloodiest landing of D-Day.
Gold beach wasn't to hard to capture, except for it’s most western side. The obstacles had to be cleared first though. It was so easy that some British units started singing army songs! Lieutenant Alan Houghton and two other Officers even took a tour of the beach and the land to go sight seeing before going back to base. The Germans were so confused that some didn't even fire because they just didn't expect an invasion. But at the western end things didn't go so well. Mortars and MG42 fire just kept killing the British troop there. But eventually they killed the MG nest and moved up. The DD or “Funnies” thanks made a good defense line and without the funnies the British sectors could have been as bad as Omaha.
Juno was a costly affair for the Canadians. The DD tanks most failed to get onto the beach so they couldn't take cover behind the tanks. The sea was rough and many of the underwater obstacles could not be cleared. But the obstacles were spaced so wide that the landing craft could slip by them. Over all the landing was successful.
Sword beach was full of Germans but most of the DD tanks were successful in landing. This was where Luftwaffe put up the biggest fight. There was only one air raid and there was very few casualties. The British here had to climb cliffs with grappling hook and take out the Germans. The grappling hook was experimental technology.
There was a German counter attack which failed. But if the 21st Panzer Divisions had made it Erwin Rommel said himself that if they were to make it then the Germans could take Normandy back in three days.
It took the Allies 12 hours to capture the main beachheads, Pointe Du Hoc was captured the next day. After the Allies capture the main beachheads, reinforcements came in fast. There was Operation Pluto, in which was there was pumped mass amounts of fuel (oil) into France. Hitler, being the “Strategic Genius” (the thing in quotes is pure sarcasm) overruled all of his generals thinking that he could repel the Allied invasion. On June 12 Carentan fell which was one of the American air targets that was supposed to fall on June 6. The gear that Allied troop had to take made most drown, in fact most of death of D-Day were because of drowning. The weather was a huge factor because most troop that landed on Normandy were seasick, which would impact performance.
That, without going into too much detail was D-Day.
“D-DAY THE INVASION OF EUROPE” by Al Hine tells about the planning and execution and D-Day, the biggest invasion/ costliest military move of all time. With the whole invasion resting on such simple things as a weather report, breakfast, and seasickness.
D-Day simply stands for the day when the Allies (the people who fought the axis in World War I and World War II) landed on the beaches of Normandy, France. The attack of Normandy consisted of 5 (technically 6) areas. Pointe Du Hoc (American Landing), Utah (American Landing), Omaha (American Landing), Gold (British Landing), Juno (Canadian Landing), Sword (British Landing).
Pointe Du Hoc was the most important target because it was where most of the artillery and big guns were, about 135 Americans were killed and about 3 Germans captured. It was not captured until the 7 of June (a day after June 6th or D-Day) because of how fortified it was.
Utah was the beach that was the most successful. Only 12 people were killed and about 135 wounded, this was nothing compared to the people that were killed at Omaha. After the Utah landing the people there helped out the people of the (I think) 101st Airborne Division. By the time reinforcements came the troops that were on the beach had left.
Omaha was the beach that went wrong. Basically everything that could go wrong did go wrong. On the other beaches artillery rained down on the beaches making holes in the sand for the troops on the beaches to take cover in. But on Omaha that did happen because all the shells missed. It also didn't help that Second Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel had ordered reinforcements on Omaha because it was like the beach that the Allies used when invading Italy. So he didn’t want to repeat history and reinforced Omaha. So the soldiers there had to cross the length of 3 football fields with no cover, go through landmines, and then climb the hills to complete their objective. All of this under constant Mg42 fire, which at the time was the fastest firing gun in the world. It is not known just how many died at Omaha, some estimates take the list as far as 35,000. Omaha remains the bloodiest landing of D-Day.
Gold beach wasn't to hard to capture, except for it’s most western side. The obstacles had to be cleared first though. It was so easy that some British units started singing army songs! Lieutenant Alan Houghton and two other Officers even took a tour of the beach and the land to go sight seeing before going back to base. The Germans were so confused that some didn't even fire because they just didn't expect an invasion. But at the western end things didn't go so well. Mortars and MG42 fire just kept killing the British troop there. But eventually they killed the MG nest and moved up. The DD or “Funnies” thanks made a good defense line and without the funnies the British sectors could have been as bad as Omaha.
Juno was a costly affair for the Canadians. The DD tanks most failed to get onto the beach so they couldn't take cover behind the tanks. The sea was rough and many of the underwater obstacles could not be cleared. But the obstacles were spaced so wide that the landing craft could slip by them. Over all the landing was successful.
Sword beach was full of Germans but most of the DD tanks were successful in landing. This was where Luftwaffe put up the biggest fight. There was only one air raid and there was very few casualties. The British here had to climb cliffs with grappling hook and take out the Germans. The grappling hook was experimental technology.
There was a German counter attack which failed. But if the 21st Panzer Divisions had made it Erwin Rommel said himself that if they were to make it then the Germans could take Normandy back in three days.
It took the Allies 12 hours to capture the main beachheads, Pointe Du Hoc was captured the next day. After the Allies capture the main beachheads, reinforcements came in fast. There was Operation Pluto, in which was there was pumped mass amounts of fuel (oil) into France. Hitler, being the “Strategic Genius” (the thing in quotes is pure sarcasm) overruled all of his generals thinking that he could repel the Allied invasion. On June 12 Carentan fell which was one of the American air targets that was supposed to fall on June 6. The gear that Allied troop had to take made most drown, in fact most of death of D-Day were because of drowning. The weather was a huge factor because most troop that landed on Normandy were seasick, which would impact performance.
That, without going into too much detail was D-Day.
January 2, 2024
This is a short, approachable history of the Normandy invasion written I would say for a bright 12-year-old. I am sad that it is out of print. The general niche of middle grades history that does not try to be too cute, but actually tell a story is sadly under occupied.
It’s distinctly more enthusiastic about the United States military than a modern book would be. It’s also a bit more focused on the American experience than an impartial book would be, but does give reasonable coverage of British operations as well.
The book is more narrative than analysis, which is good since I think the analysis is dated. The author remarks several times on the rigidity and ineffectiveness of the German military, and I believe this is a historical myth.
It’s distinctly more enthusiastic about the United States military than a modern book would be. It’s also a bit more focused on the American experience than an impartial book would be, but does give reasonable coverage of British operations as well.
The book is more narrative than analysis, which is good since I think the analysis is dated. The author remarks several times on the rigidity and ineffectiveness of the German military, and I believe this is a historical myth.
January 27, 2021
This book gives a great account of the invasion on Normandy! D-Day is one of my favorite events in history, really displaying the courage and bravery of the men. The things they went through and had to face, so haunting and so incomprehensible.. So glad to have read this, i’ve learned much more.
March 28, 2014
I enjoyed the photos and drawings and water colors. The commentary was excellent as well.
May 10, 2021
Pretty brief and nothing new
Wonder why they bothered. Lots of imuch Berger books out there. Even at a discount this book is disappointing. Sorry I wasted my time and 1.99
Wonder why they bothered. Lots of imuch Berger books out there. Even at a discount this book is disappointing. Sorry I wasted my time and 1.99
March 25, 2017
This is an extremely short book -- more like a few magazine length articles. I guess it was ok for a very high level overview of D-Day, but left me feeling disappointed.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews