Utah Beach: The Amphibious Landing and Airborne Operations on D-day, June 6, 1944

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Stackpole Books, 2005 - History - 380 pages
  • Companion volume to the critically acclaimed Omaha Beach
  • A brilliantly researched and engagingly written comprehensive history of this momentous World War II battle that includes many never before published firsthand accounts by the men who were there
  • Features a series of detailed maps allowing the reader unparalleled insight into the minute-by-minute combat on Utah Beach, plus comprehensive lists of all Medal of Honor and Distinguished Service Cross winners at Utah Beach, and much more

    In this much-anticipated follow-up to his acclaimed Omaha Beach, historian Joseph Balkoski chronicles the amphibious landings and airborne operations at Utah Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Part of the story is already familiar: Among the paratroopers who landed with the 101st Airborne was the company Stephen Ambrose followed in Band of Brothers. Using firsthand after-action reports and unit journals, Balkoski creates a compelling narrative of the fighting at Utah Beach on D-Day, while meticulously constructed maps pinpoint key geographical features and show unit locations as the action unfolds.

    Added to the invasion plan largely at the insistence of British General Bernard Montgomery, the attack at Utah Beach aimed to secure the Cotentin Peninsula and ultimately seize the port of Cherbourg. Although the assault on Utah Beach became one of the most successful American military operations of World War II, it was fraught with risk from the beginning: Not only was Utah the most isolated of the five D-Day beaches, but the airborne operation was of unprecedented size and scope. Despite the perils, American troops cascaded into that corner of Normandy from the sea and the sky, gaining a military triumph that contributed decisively to Allied success on D-Day. This book is both an engaging narrative and a tribute to the men who stormed the beaches and dropped from the sky.

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    Contents

    Preface
    vii
    An Unsound Operation of War
    xvii
    Steadfast and Loyal
    22
    Overture to Overlord
    46
    Night of Nights
    84
    Hitting the Silk
    107
    AllAmericans
    135
    So This Is France
    162
    Get in There and Take Chances
    220
    Something to Behold
    257
    Proud of You
    280
    The First Day of a Long Struggle
    299
    Copyright

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    Page xx - Top, London 1959, page 269. points should be chosen instead of concentration as at present proposed through one narrow funnel. In his telegram to the Chiefs of Staff Committee, Churchill also had a point to make about the nomenclature being used in advance of the cross-Channel landing: I hope that all expressions such as 'Invasion of Europe' or 'Assault upon the Fortress of Europe' may be eliminated henceforward. I shall address the President again on this subject shortly pointing out that our object...
    Page xix - D+12 a total of 16 divisions have been landed on the same beaches as were used for the initial landings. This would lead to the most appalling confusion on the beaches, and the smooth development of the land battle would be made extremely difficult— if not impossible.
    Page 13 - ... Caen-Cotentin area it would be possible to make our initial landing either partly on the Cotentin Peninsula and partly on the Caen beaches, wholly in the Cotentin or wholly on the Caen beaches. An attack with part of our forces in the Cotentin and part on the Caen beaches, is, however, considered to be unsound. It would entail dividing our limited forces by the low-lying marshy ground and intricate river system at the neck of the Cotentin Peninsula; thus exposing them to defeat in detail.

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    About the author (2005)

    Joseph Balkoski is Command Historian of the Maryland National Guard and author of Omaha Beach (978-0-8117-3376-2), Utah Beach (978-0-8117-3377-9), and the classic Beyond the Beachhead (978-0-8117-3237-6). He has appeared as a D-Day expert on MSNBC, and his work has been praised by Joe Scarborough, the New York Post, the Washington Times, World War II magazine, and others. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.

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