D-Day. The Battle for Normandy

qualities and from the sacrifice of his troops, who had held down the vast bulk of the German panzer formations and faced the greatest concentration of 88 mm anti-tank guns.
    Montgomery’s unplanned battle of attrition, as unplanned as the Americans’ bloody slog through the bocage , had of course been handicapped by the delays caused by the appalling weather in mid-June. Yet British and American alike had gravely underestimated the tenacity and discipline of Wehrmacht troops. This was partly because they had failed to appreciate the effectiveness of Nazi propaganda in persuading its soldiers that defeat in Normandy meant the annihilation of their Fatherland. These soldiers, especially the SS, were bound to believe that they had everything to lose. Their armies had already provided so many reasons for Allied anger.
    The battle for Normandy did not go as planned, but even the armchair critics could never dispute the eventual outcome, however imperfect. One must also consider what might have happened should the extraordinary undertaking of D-Day have failed: for example, if the invasion fleet had sailed into the great storm of mid-June. The post-war map and the history of Europe would have been very different indeed.

Acknowledgements
    There is an old joke that the collective noun for those in my profession is a ‘mischief of historians’. In my experience, this is certainly not true about historians of the Second World War. Facing many lonely months in foreign archives, it makes an enormous difference to be able to discuss sources and theories with others whose opinions and experience you value. Over the years, the unstinting support of colleagues and friends has been both a comfort and a pleasure.
    Nearly a decade ago, when I was still fixated with the eastern front, the late Martin Blumenson first urged me to take on the subject of Normandy. He too was interested in comparing the Nazi-Soviet war with the campaign in north-west Europe. Sir Max Hastings has been endlessly generous in loans of material and good suggestions. Professor Tami Davis Biddle of the US Army War College has given wise advice on the air war and provided me with books, papers and photocopies of documents. James Holland has also lent many books and material from his own interviews. Sebastian Cox, the head of the Ministry of Defence Air Historical Branch, is another in the circle of friends forming an irregular lunch-time tertulia , discussing the war. Many other historians have helped with advice and material. They include Rick Atkinson, Professor Michael Burleigh, Professor M. R. D. Foot, Professor Donald L. Miller, Claude Quétel and Niklas Zetterling.
    I have been extraordinarily lucky in all the assistance I have received from archivists while researching this book, especially Dr Tim Nenninger, the Chief of Modern Military Records at the National Archives,

Index

    Abbaye Blanche
    Abbaye d’Ardennes
    Abetz, Otto
    Abwehr (German military intelligence)
    Adair, Maj Gen A.
    Airborne assault
    aerial support
    American (map)
    British(map)
    casualties
    deception measures
    embarkation
    heavy equipment landings
    Alençon
    Allied propaganda
    Allied troops
    British girlfriends
    with Frenchwomen
    relations with French see also Looting
    AMGOT (Allied Military Government of Occupied Territories)
    Amiens
    Amis, Kingsley
    Andrew, Lt Tom
    Angers
    Argentan
    Arletty (Léonie Bathiat)
    Arnim, Lt Dankwart Graf v.
    Arromanche
    Asnelles
    Atlantic Wall
    Aulock, GenMaj Hubertus v.
    Aunay-sur-Odon
    Authie
    Avranches
    Ay, river

    Barenton
    Barneville
    Barton, Maj Gen Raymond O.
    Bavent, Bois de
    Bayerlein, GenLt Fritz
    Bayeux
    de Gaulle visits
    liberation of
    Bayeux tapestry
    BBC
    Beauvoir, Simone de
    Beck, Sdt Eberhard
    Beck, GenOb Ludwig
    Bedell Smith, Maj Gen Walter
    Below, ObLt Nicolaus v.
    Bénouville
    Bény-sur-Mer
    Berghof (Berchtesgaden)
    Berlichingen, Oberst Freiherr v.
    Bernay
    Bidault, Georges
    Billotte, Col Pierre
    Bingham, Maj S. V.
    Birks, Col Hammond D.
    Bittrich, Gruppenführer
    Bletchley Park; see also Ultra intercepts
    Blumentritt, Gen der Inf. Günther
    Bocage
    artillery observation
    battle of the
    descriptions
    fighting in
    lessons of fighting in implemented
    Boegner, Pastor Marc
    Boineburg-Lengsfeld, GenLt Hans Freiherr v.
    Boissieu, Cpte Alain de
    Bombing operations
    the airborne assault
    Caen
    Cherbourg
    the crossing
    Omaha beach
    Operation Cobra
    Operation Goodwood
    Operation Totalize
    Operation Tractable
    Saint-Lô, 6 June
    sealing off