First published in Great Britain in 2007 by Osprey Publishing, Midland Hause, West Way, Botley, Oxford OX2 OPH, UK 443 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016, USA
© 2007 Osprey Publishing Ltd, Oxford, and Rosen Book Works Inc., New York. All rights reserved.
All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrical, chemical, mechanical, optical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. Inquiries should be addressed to the Publishers.
A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 84603 056 7
Page layout by Osprey Publishing Map by The Map Studio Originated by United Graphics Pte Ltd, Singapore Printed in China through Bookbuilders
07 08 09 10 11
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
FOR A CATALOG OF ALL BOOKS PUBLISHED BY OSPREY MILITARY AND AVIATION PLEASE CONTACT:
NORTH AMERICA Osprey Direct, c/o Random House Distribution Center, 400 Hahn Road, Westminster, MD 21 157 E-mail:
[email protected] ALL OTHER REGIONS Osprey Direct UK, P.O. Box 140 Wellingborough, Northants, NN8 2FA, UK E-mail:
[email protected] www.ospreypublishing.com
•
Who's who
3
World War 2, 1939-1945
4
Fighting Back
4
The Allies are Coming
6
The D-Day Invasion
8
The Beginning of the End
44
Glossary
46
For More Information
47
Index and Website
48
General Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969) was Commander-in-Chief of SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force) and in charge of all Allied troops in the European Theater. After the war, he was twice elected President of the United States.
Field Marshall Erwin Rommel (1891-1944) was relieved from command of the famed "Afrika Korps" before their final defeat in North Africa. He was transferred to France where he was tasked with building coastal defenses against the anticipated Allied Invasion.
Field Marshall Bernard Law Montgomery (18871976) was commander of the British Eight Armythe famous "Desert Rats" who defeated Rommel in North Africa. After this success, he was appointed to be Eisenhower's chief deputy in planning Operation Overlord.
Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) was leader of Germany and commander of German forces from 1944. Convinced of his divine right to lead Germany to power over all, Hitler began his conquering of Europe in Poland in 1939.
3
Even after World War 1 (1914-1919), there were strong hostilities between many nations. The United States worked to build good relations with other countries to avoid fighting another war. However, other nations were becoming aggressive toward their neighbors. In 1936, Italy invaded Ethiopia. Japan attacked China in 1937. In 1938, Germany took control of Austria and Czechoslovakia. In 1939, Germany invaded Poland. France and England responded by declaring war on Germany. The
After the British Expeditionary Force had been evacuated from the European mainland ill 1940, the German Army had gained control of the bulk of Western Europe. From that time forward, all operations against the Nazis had been limited to areas away from the German homeland. British, and later, American forces were both confined to operations in Northern Africa and, after a seaborne assault, Crete, Sicily, and finally, Italy. In the East, the Russians were fighting against Hitler's main forces practically on their own. It was clear that it would be necessary to open a second front in Europe if only to reduce the pressure on the Russians.
United States had avoided fighting in the growing worldwide conflict, but on December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. America was at war. For the next four years, the United States and its allies fought Germany and the other Axis forces on land, sea, and in the air. One of the most decisive campaigns was the D-Day invasion, in 1944, the beginning of the Allies' plan to take back Europe. Its outcome was so important that many historians call this campaign the turning point of the war. •
... The North coast of France was dotted with concrete gun fortifications. The Germans were heavily sheltered when firing the guns, such as shown here, and this proved deadly for the Allies on D-Day. (NARA)
Planning for an invasion began as early as 1943 and, ~q.fter eliminating the option of going through the Balkans or continuing through Italy, it was agreed that an attack upon Northern France offered the best
4
... Planning for the invasion was a massive undertaking. Every available spa
,_-&iP
-
-----
-,.
,--~
,.--
26
--.---- ... ---"'---"
WITI1 TI1~ ~A5~ BOr
-
"'G£RMAN Flff,P MARSHAl, GRWIN f?OMM£f, HAS FORTIFICATIONS WITH H£AVY ARTlU£RY (POINT£ PU J.lOC GUNS) BUltT ON TH£ Cf,lFFS AROUNP TH£ B£ACH£S. 1H£ AU.I£S K.N~W TH~Y WOUf,P B£ PIFFICUf,T TO B~AT.
1W0 HOURS f,AT~R A PATROl, FINPS FIV~ BIG GUNS ANP AMMUNITION A F~W MIUS AWAY. 1"H~ POINT~ PU J.lOC GUNS THAT f?OMMff, HAP ORP~R~P HAP N£V~R B~GN PUT IN Pf,AC£.
33
A5 1ROOP5 MOV~ IN/...ANP FROM LJ1AH, GWORP, GOL-P ANP JUNO B~ACH~5, 1H05~ A1 OMAHA AR~ 51IU PINN~P POWN. -rH~Y AR~ CAUGH1 B~1W~fN 1H~ 5~A ANP 1H~ H~AVY FIR~ OF 1H~
-rHING5 AR~ 50 BAP 1HA1 AM~RICAN G~N~RAL- OMAR f3RAPUY 15 1HINKING ABOU1 GIVING UP ANP PUL-/.,/NG 1H~ 1ROOP5 BACK FROM OMAHA f3~ACH.
f3U1 G~N~RAL NORMAN C01A 15 N01 R~APY 10 GIV~ UP..
G~RMAN P~F~NP~R5.
G1RIPING 1HROUGH 1H~ RAIN OF FIR~, H~ ORP~R5 A GROUP OF t
