D-Day, by Stephen E. Ambrose, is a superb book about the day that shaped the fate of the twentieth century- June 6^th 1944.

There are many questions that can be asked about D-Day (The day, not the book).  The most frequently asked- Why did D-Day even happen? That question has many answers. I’ll try to simplify it. On September 2^nd, 1939, Great Britain and France went to war with Germany because the latter had invaded Poland, an ally of Britain and France. World War Two had begun. From 1939-1942, the Wehrmacht, the German army, the Luftwaffe, the German air force and the Kreigsmarine, the German navy and submarine fleet, were the terror of the world. France fell, and the Allies, a coalition of forces that included Poland, the USA and Canada were facing certain defeat at the hands of the Third Reich. But the battles of Britain and El Alamein, Hitler’s first major defeats, saved the Allies and bought them much needed time. Allied planners and leaders knew that the quickest way to end the war would be an invasion of Europe, since the Japanese had already been virtually defeated in the Pacific. But which country to invade? France was chosen for two reasons: 1. With France liberated, the French Resistance could be organized into a full fledged army and support them in their campaign against Hitler. 2. France was right next to Germany. If the Normandy Breakout campaign (as the invasion came to be called) was successful, then the massive Allied war machine could invade Germany and force Hitler’s surrender.

My favorite part of the book was the chapter We Were Fairly Stuffed With Gadgets. It describes in detail the various ingenious if not strange gadgets the British divisions used on their beaches: Gold and Sword. The gadgets were named Hobart’s Funnies after the British Major General Percy Hobart, who invented these vehicles. My favorites were the flail tank, which was basically a steel drum attached to a Sherman or a Churchill tank with chains thrashing in front. The idea was that the constant flailing of the chains would set off mines in the tanks path harmlessly and the serpent tank, with would shoot an explosive-filled plastic “serpent” at enemy machine guns and mortar emplacements to provide a clear path for advancing infantry.

About the author: Stephen E. Ambrose (January 10^th, 1936- October 13^th 2002) was considered a great author. But he was accused of plagiarism in seven of his books and of false information in all of his books. Law states that an author who is using another author’s work in his or hers own book must put the passage(s) in quotes and put a footnote. Ambrose did only the latter. He said, “ I just want to know where the hell it came from” On other accounts, especially in D-Day, Ambrose was accused of putting false information in the text. One veteran said that when Ambrose described the C-47 pilots as cowardly and inexperienced  “ That he was wrong. My pilot was experienced, he had just never flown in such heavy flak fire before.”

This brings an end to this report. D-Day is a great book, and for aspiring WW2 historians out there, it is a must read.