Landing Beaches

by Jean Quellien

The Normandy Landings were the first operations of the Allied Powers' invasion of Normandy, also known as Operation Neptune and Operation Overlord, during World War II. D-Day for the operation, postponed 24 hours, became June 6, 1944, H-Hour was 6:30 am. The assault was conducted in two an air assault landing of American and British airborne divisions shortly after midnight, and an amphibious landing of Allied infantry and armoured divisions on the coast of France commencing at 06:30 British Double Summer Time. It required the transport of soldiers and materiel from England and Wales by troop carrying aeroplanes and ships, the assault landings, air support, naval interdiction of the English Channel and naval fire-support. There were also subsidiary operations to distract the Kriegsmarine and prevent its interference in the landing areas. The operation was the largest single-day invasion of all time, with over 130,000 troops landed on June 6, 1944. 195,700 Allied naval and merchant navy personnel were involved. The landings took place along a stretch of the Normandy coast divided into five Gold, Juno, Omaha, Sword and Utah. Sainte-Mère-Église, Pointe du Hoc, Ouistreham, Omaha Beach, Pegasus Bridge, Arromanches… so many names entered into history on the morning of the 6th of June 1944, to remain forever engraved in our memories. This fully illustrated guide, including period documents and colour photographs, offers an insight, sector by sector, place by place, not only of the legendary D-day landing sites, but also of the less widely known, but just as crucial areas. Enhanced by original maps, a series of “close-up views” offering detailed explanations, “at a glance” pages devoted to specific towns or sites and an introduction to the many museums available to history enthusiasts keen to see where it all happened.

Genres: History, World War II, War, Nonfiction

127 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this was an overview book of the D-Day landings, it provided an unusual amount of detail about the many small villages that soldiers passed through while establishing the Normandy beachhead. It provided detailed maps and photos of the various statues reflecting D-Day casualties and heavy fighting, as well as locations of the various museums about each of the 5 landing beaches, as well as about the various cemeteries. In 2 days of visiting the area, I now realize how much more there is still to see.

[Marc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice tourist guide.

[Glenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent overview of the Normandie Landing Beaches and surrounds. Well worth a read…

[Silvio · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are e-guides to Normandy’s beaches, or this book. Combining history with maps, infographies and pictures, it is the best book to plan a trip to the landing beaches.

It helped me to create a Google Maps to tour the region: [D-Day Normandie](https://maps.app.goo.gl/muaHAoBSvDyvd...), which we used in the last trip there. For each location, you understand the critical moments during the first days of the landing and the characters and main events.

A must-have before planning your next trip to the area.

[Alexandre · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read before visiting the actual locations. I've been there once before reading this book, and now I really want to go again.

[Jim Blessing · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nicely detailed guide to D-Day landing beaches, which we visited on a recent trip.