NOTES

PART 1: TWILIGHT OF THE IDOLS

1. “Research Starters: D-Day,” National WWII Museum, http://www.nationalww2museum.org/learn/education/for-students/ww2-history/d-day-june-6-1944.html??referrer=https://www.google.com/.

CHAPTER 1: JUNE 5, 1944

1. Dwight D. Eisenhower, interview by Walter Cronkite, CBS Reports, CBS, August 1963.

2. Smith, Eisenhower’s Six Great Decisions, pp. 53–54.

3. Collier, D-Day, p. 20.

4. Collier, D-Day, p. 29.

5. Reynolds, Rich Relations, p. 360.

6. Collier, D-Day, p. 21.

7. “I’m sure it wasn’t five minutes,” Eisenhower told Walter Cronkite in 1963. “Five minutes under such conditions would seem like a year.” Eisenhower, interview by Walter Cronkite.

8. Pogue, Supreme Command, p. 170.

9. Tim Rives, “OK, We’ll Go,” National Archives (US), https://www.archives.gov/files/publications/prologue/2014/spring/d-day.pdf.

10. John S. D. Eisenhower, Allies, p. 469.

11. Koskimaki, D-Day with the Screaming Eagles, p. 27.

12. Moran, American Airborne Pathfinders, p. 41. “My commanders figured that here was an excellent opportunity to get rid of their right balls by sending them to my pathfinder group. I had no TO [table of organization] so there was no rank among enlisted men. I had inherited former first sergeants and other NCOs, who were excellent men, but who had been busted to private because they had discipline problems. A few didn’t even know what the Morse code was.”

13. Moran, American Airborne Pathfinders, p. 41.

14. The Guardian, May 22, 2004.

15. Howarth, Dawn of D-Day, p. 126.

16. In basic training, Howard had had a tough time. “I freely admit I cried my eyes out for the first couple of nights when I was in the barracks room with these toughs and wondered if I’d survive.”

17. Barber, The Pegasus and Orne Bridges, p. 63.

18. Imperial War Museum (hereafter cited as IWM), Sound Recording no. 11061.

19. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/lord-lovat-1611984.html.

20. The Independent, March 20, 1995.

21. http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/lord_lovat.htm.

22. Hugh Schofield, “Veteran Feels at Home on D-Day Beach,” BBCNews, May 23, 2004, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3735307.stm.

23. Stasi, Ennemis et frères, p. 91.

24. Simonnet, Commandant Kieffer, pp. 339–40.

25. http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/lord_lovat.htm.

26. http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/lord_lovat.htm.

27. Collier, D-Day, p. 113.

28. Lovat, March Past, p. 304.

29. http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/lord_lovat.htm.

30. Saunders, The Green Beret, p. 261.

31. http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,164496,00.html.

32. Miller, Nothing Less Than Victory, pp. 148–49.

33. Lovat, March Past, p. 299.

34. Léon Gautier, interview with author.

35. Stasi, Ennemis et frères, p. 92.

36. Miller, Nothing Less Than Victory, p. 190.

37. Saunders, The Green Beret, p. 261.

38. Stasi, Ennemis et frères, pp. 92–93.

39. http://historyarticles.com/southwick-house/.

40. Barbara Wyden Papers, 1944–1945, Dwight D. Eisenhower Library, Abilene, Kansas.

41. Smith, Eisenhower in War and Peace, p. 315.

42. Collier, D-Day, p. 27.

43. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe, p. 249.

44. Collier, D-Day, p. 27.

45. Eloise Lee, “Here’s the Chilling Letter General Eisenhower Drafted in Case the Nazis Won on D-Day,” Business Insider, June 6, 2012.

46. Morgan, Past Forgetting, pp. 191–92.

47. Washington Post, June 6, 1984.

48. Bob Moen, Sun Journal (Maine), May 19, 1994.

49. Koskimaki, D-Day with the Screaming Eagles, p. 21.

50. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe, p. 251.

51. Morgan, Past Forgetting, p. 216.

52. http://www.americandday.org/Documents/1st_SSB-No3_Commando-War%20Diaries.html.

53. Léon Gautier, interview with author.

54. Lovat, March Past, p. 305.

55. http://anthem4england.co.uk/anthems/heart-of-oak/.

56. The Independent, August 22, 2010.

57. The Scotsman, March 11, 2016.

58. Saunders, The Green Beret, p. 261.

59. Moorehead, Eclipse, p. 107.

60. Lovat, March Past, p. 305.

61. Lovat, March Past, p. 256.

62. Lovat, March Past, p. 9.

63. Lovat, March Past, p. 260.

64. Collier, D-Day, p. 13.

65. Lovat, March Past, p. 277.

66. Lovat, March Past, p. 266.

67. Lovat, March Past, p. 305.

68. Fuller, A Third Face, p. 158.

69. http://www.americandday.org/D-Day/1st_Infantry_Division-Order_of_battle.html.

70. John Spalding, medical record, courtesy of Max Poorthuis, president, 16th Infantry Regiment Historical Society.

71. http://www.ssqq.com/travel/oslo2010dday5.htm.

72. John Spalding questionnaire, Cornelius Ryan Collection of World War II Papers, Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections, Ohio University Libraries, Box 12, Folder 55. All of E Company had been told several times that a pre-invasion air force bombing would be highly effective, destroying beach defenses and German strongpoints. “We had been led to believe,” recalled Spalding, “[that] German troops would be in a state of shock from aerial and naval bombardment. How little we knew, how great our faith! The navy promised us we would be dumped ashore without even getting our shoes wet.”

73. Capa, Slightly out of Focus, p. 134.

74. Howard and Bates, The Pegasus Diaries, p. 115.

75. http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/john_howard.htm.

76. Drez, Voices of D-Day, pp. 98–104.

77. Barber, The Pegasus and Orne Bridges, p. 64.

78. IWM, SR 11357.

79. Fowler, Pegasus Bridge, p. 21.

80. D-Day: Turning the Tide, written and presented by Charles Wheeler (Bristol, UK: BBC Bristol, 1994).

81. IWM, SR 11357.

82. The Independent, May 30, 2009.

83. Howard and Bates, The Pegasus Diaries, p. 118.

84. Daily Telegraph, December 16, 2005.

85. Fowler, Pegasus Bridge, p. 15.

86. IWM, SR 11357.

87. Fowler, Pegasus Bridge, p. 28.

88. http://monologues.co.uk/musichall/Songs-A/A-be-My-Boy.htm.

89. Fowler, Pegasus Bridge, p. 28.

90. Howard and Bates, The Pegasus Diaries, p. 116.

91. https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/soldier.

92. Howard and Bates, The Pegasus Diaries, p. 1.

93. New York Times, May 9, 1999.

94. http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/jim_wallwork.htm.

95. Daily Express, February 2, 2013.

96. Masters, Glidermen of Neptune, p. 40.

97. Johnson and Dunphie, Brightly Shone the Dawn, pp. 30–31.

98. http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/jim_wallwork.htm.

99. North Witham was one of twenty-two scattered across England from which some twenty thousand airborne troops would take off in the next few hours.

100. Botting, The D-Day Invasion, p. 91.

101. http://paul.rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/html/DDay.html.

102. Air and Space magazine, June 6, 2014. He would fly 125 missions supporting special forces in Vietnam.

103. Polk, World War II Army Airborne Troop Carriers, p. 106.

104. http://legendsofflightnurses.org/TheStoryOfAirEvacuation/FullText.pdf.

105. Air Force Association, Air Force Fifty, p. 173.

106. http://www.americanairmuseum.com/person/242977.

107. https://amcmuseum.org/history/troop-carrier-d-day-flights/.

108. Frank L. Lillyman, “Report of D-Day Pathfinder Activities,” July 1, 1944, 101st Airborne Division Pathfinder Group, APO 472–US ARMY, National Archives (US), http://www.6juin1944.com/assaut/aeropus/en_page.php?page=after_pathf_101.

109. The Ninth Flyer (official newsletter of the Ninth Air Force Association), vol. 2, no. 2 (Summer 1992), p. 22.

110. http://www.americanairmuseum.com/place/271.

111. Lillyman, “Report of D-Day Pathfinder Activities.”

112. Air and Space, June 6, 2014.

113. Balkoski, Utah Beach, p. 102.

114. Kaufman and Kaufman, The American GI in Europe in World War II, p. 169.

115. http://paul.rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/html/DDay.html.

116. https://amcmuseum.org/history/troop-carrier-d-day-flights/.

117. Reno Evening Gazette, June 8, 1944.

118. Reno Evening Gazette, June 8, 1944.

119. Moran, American Airborne Pathfinders in World War II, p. 54.

120. Reno Evening Gazette, June 8, 1944.

121. Koskimaki, D-Day with the Screaming Eagles, p. 27.

CHAPTER 2: HAM AND JAM

1. Drez, Voices of D-Day, pp. 98–104.

2. The Ninth Flyer (official newsletter of the Ninth Air Force Association), vol. 2, no. 2 (Summer 1992), p. 22.

3. Howard and Bates, The Pegasus Diaries, pp. 116–17.

4. Jonathan Owen, “Heroes of Pegasus Bridge (Who Also Liberated a Bar),” The Independent, May 30, 2009, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/heroes-of-pegasus-bridge-who-also-liberated-a-bar-1693512.html.

5. http://www.britisharmedforces.org/pages/nat_jim_wallwork.htm.

6. http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/jim_wallwork.htm.

7. Breuer, Geronimo, pp. 202–3.

8. http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/may/23/secondworldwar.military.

9. Bando, The Screaming Eagles at Normandy, p. 32.

10. New York Times, March 25, 2007. Pedone later “assisted in development of NATO, [was] appointed Chairman of Command and Control Committee for Joint Chiefs of Staff, briefed presidents Johnson and Kennedy. Flew 245 combat missions. Ph.D. in International Affairs. Also survived by his son, Lt. Col. Stephen (retired).”

11. Breuer, Geronimo, pp. 202–3.

12. Howard and Bates, The Pegasus Diaries, p. 117.

13. Fowler, Pegasus Bridge, p. 30.

14. Howard and Bates, The Pegasus Diaries, p. 118.

15. While the first airborne troops flew above the English Channel on D-Day, Englishman Lieutenant Norman Poole, an electrician’s son and a brilliant pianist, was already leading a six-man SAS team whose mission was to draw German attention from the landings of the American 82nd Airborne, which would begin at 1:15 A.M. As part of Operation Titanic IV, twenty-four-year-old Poole leapt from a plane at 12:10 A.M., his feet touching French soil a minute later. He jumped unarmed, a carrier pigeon strapped to his chest, among two hundred “dummy parachutists,” all called “Rupert,” each several inches tall and primed with small explosive charges that simulated rifle fire. For several minutes Poole and his men made fake battle noises using special gramophones attached to amplifiers and then went into hiding, having successfully drawn the attention of several hundred Germans in the vicinity. The pigeon Poole carried was one of only several to get back to England, unlike Poole and his comrades, who would become POWs. Daily Mail, July 7, 2015.

16. Koskimaki, D-Day with the Screaming Eagles, p. 28.

17. Koskimaki, D-Day with the Screaming Eagles, p. 28.

18. Breuer, Geronimo, p. 205.

19. Breuer, Geronimo, p. 205.

20. Frank L. Lillyman, “Report of D-Day Pathfinder Activities,” July 1, 1944, 101st Airborne Division Pathfinder Group, APO 472–US ARMY, National Archives (US), http://www.6juin1944.com/assaut/aeropus/en_page.php?page=after_pathf_101.

21. Lillyman, “Report of D-Day Pathfinder Activities.” “First reception was received at approximately 0045,” according to one report. “Lights were turned on at 0040.”

22. Koskimaki, D-Day with the Screaming Eagles, p. 28.

23. Drez, Voices of D-Day, pp. 98–104.

24. http://www.britisharmedforces.org/pages/nat_jim_wallwork.htm.

25. http://www.keepitsoaring.com/LKSC/Downloads/Horsa_Glider_Notes.pdf [inactive].

26. http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/jim_wallwork.htm.

27. Howard and Bates, The Pegasus Diaries, p. 120.

28. Drez, Voices of D-Day, pp. 98–104.

29. http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/jim_wallwork.htm.

30. Fowler, Pegasus Bridge, p. 35.

31. Howard and Bates, The Pegasus Diaries, p. 121.

32. http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/jim_wallwork.htm.

33. http://www.britisharmedforces.org/pages/nat_jim_wallwork.htm.

34. Drez, Voices of D-Day, pp. 98–104.

35. Fowler, Pegasus Bridge, p. 39.

36. Barber, The Pegasus and Orne Bridges, p. 88.

37. Fowler, Pegasus Bridge, p. 39.

38. The Independent, December 21, 2013.

39. Daily Telegraph, June 5, 2004.

40. Hastings, Overlord, p. 229.

41. Shilleto, Pegasus Bridge and Merville Battery, p. 51.

42. Richard Spalding, ‘‘D-Day, Discovering the Father I Never Knew,” BBC News, June 3, 2014, http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-27610572.

43. Fowler, Pegasus Bridge, p. 39.

44. The Independent, December 21, 2013.

45. IWM, SR 11073.

46. Shilleto, Pegasus Bridge and Merville Battery, p. 59.

47. Fowler, Pegasus Bridge, p. 41.

48. Ambrose, Pegasus Bridge, p. 104.

49. “Suicide Missions of D-Day,” Dangerous Missions, episode 28 (History Channel, 2001).

50. Koskimaki, D-Day with the Screaming Eagles, p. 28.

51. Airborne Quarterly, Summer 2003, pp. 93–95.

52. Lillyman, “Report of D-Day Pathfinder Activities.”

CHAPTER 3: THE CRUEL SEAS

1. VSD magazine, June 8, 1994.

2. King, Hilborn, and Nulton, To War with the 4th, pp. 1322–35.

3. Balkoski, Utah Beach, p. 189.

4. https://umdarchives.wordpress.com/2013/11/11/heroes-on-the-playing-field-and-on-the-battlefield-maryland-athlete-soldiers/.

5. Balkoski, Utah Beach, p. 179.

6. VSD magazine, June 8, 1994.

7. Theodore Roosevelt Jr. Papers, Box 61, Library of Congress.

8. https://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/todays-doc/?dod-date=606.

9. Balkoski, Utah Beach, p. 187.

10. Washington Post, March 12, 2012.

11. Baltimore Sun, February 20, 2012.

12. Washington Post, March 12, 2012.

13. George Kerchner, oral history, Eisenhower Center. “Then medium bombers would plaster the area, and only three minutes before six-thirty, fighters would strafe the Pointe. The attacks were designed to keep the defenders pinned down, so they wouldn’t see us approach the Pointe. They would be kept from the edge of the cliff. Otherwise they could cut our ropes before we even managed to get halfway up the cliff.”

14. http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/smallunit/smallunit-pdh.htm.

15. Zaloga, Rangers Lead the Way, p. 16.

16. Moen and Heinen, The Fool Lieutenant, p. 63.

17. Lane, Rudder’s Rangers, pp. 96–97.

18. Black, The Battalion, p. 79.

19. Moen and Heinen, The Fool Lieutenant, p. 90.

20. Ranger Jack Kuhn remembered that Rudder was far superior to any commanding officer he had encountered: “None of [the] commanders who came before him measured up. He had a steely-eyed look when he was not pleased. There was also a look of pride when we were successful at some training exercise. In spite of his rank, he was always friendly towards the troops. He knew I was married and always asked me how Mary and our baby were doing. One day during a bull session in the field—Rudder made it a habit of holding informal gripe sessions to learn the feelings of the men—a fellow mentioned that the colonel had said every man would be issued a wristwatch. This young Ranger remarked he had never been given one. Col. Rudder declared that would be corrected immediately. He walked over to the soldier, took his own wristwatch off, and gave it to the Ranger.” Astor, June 6, 1944, p. 65.

21. Lane, Rudder’s Rangers, p. 97.

22. Collier’s, June 11, 1954.

23. Collier, D-Day, p. 180.

24. Moen and Heinen, The Fool Lieutenant, p. 88.

25. Drez, Voices of D-Day, pp. 98–104. Jack Kuhn, belonging to D Company of the 2nd Ranger Battalion, waited nervously for the order to board landing craft. “I could not envision myself going into combat. It seemed so detached from me . . . The one thing I feared was not being able to face the test. I didn’t want to coward out. Then everyone else said the same thing, and I was okay. I never had the apprehension that I would be killed or wounded.”

26. http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/PDF/2004/0/0061.PDF.

27. Collier, D-Day, p. 116.

28. http://the-american-catholic.com/tag/father-joe-lacy/.

29. On June 6, 1944, at 7:30 A.M., LCA 1377 landed Rangers on the Dog Green sector of Omaha Beach. According to one report, “Father Lacy was the last man out just before an artillery shell hit the fantail . . . Wounded men were everywhere, both on the beach and in the water feebly trying to get to the beach. Father Lacy did not hesitate. With no thought for his own safety he waded into the water to pull men out of the ocean and onto the beach. He began treating the wounded on the beach and administering the Last Rites to those beyond human assistance . . . Father Lacy continued to tend their wounded and the wounded of other units. For his actions that day Father Lacy was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest decoration for valor, after the Medal of Honor, in the United States Army.” http://the-american-catholic.com/tag/father-joe-lacy.

30. Brinkley, The Boys of Pointe du Hoc, p. 66.

31. http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/terence_otway.htm.

32. IWM, SR 12133.

33. http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/terence_otway.htm.

34. http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/attack-on-the-merville-gun-battery-during-the-battle-of-normandy/.

35. Howarth, Dawn of D-Day, p. 53.

36. Daily Telegraph, July 25, 2006.

37. http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/terence_otway.htm.

38. http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/attack-on-the-merville-gun-battery-during-the-battle-of-normandy/.

39. D-Day: Turning the Tide, written and presented by Charles Wheeler (Bristol, UK: BBC Bristol, 1994).

40. “Suicide Missions of D-Day,” Dangerous Missions, episode 28 (History Channel, 2001).

41. IWM, SR 21061.

42. IWM, SR 12133.

43. Howard and Bates, The Pegasus Diaries, p. 125.

44. https://paradata.org.uk/people/nigel-poett.

45. http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/nigel_poett.htm.

46. IWM, SR 11559.

CHAPTER 4: A GRADE-A STINKER

1. Fred Glover, interview with author.

2. http://www.6juin1944.com/en_journee.html.

3. http://www.pegasusarchive.org/arnhem/batt_512.htm.

4. Strong, Steiner’s War, p. 89.

5. http://www.6juin1944.com/espace/merville/cartmerv_e.php.

6. Johnson and Dunphie, Brightly Shone the Dawn, p. 42.

7. http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/terence_otway.htm.

8. Howarth, Dawn of D-Day, pp. 53–54.

9. http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/attack-on-the-merville-gun-battery-during-the-battle-of-normandy/.

10. http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/terence_otway.htm.

11. No married men had been selected for the mission, described as “a grade A stinker of a job” by one senior officer. Collier, D-Day, p. 68.

12. http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/terence_otway.htm.

13. 9th Parachute Battalion, “Capture of the Merville Battery,” after-action report, 6th Airborne Division, National Archives (UK).

14. http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/terence_otway.htm.

15. http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/terence_otway.htm.

16. IWM, SR 12133.

17. Howarth, Dawn of D-Day, p. 57.

18. IWM, SR 12133.

19. IWM, SR 13723.

20. IWM, SR 12133.

21. IWM, SR 13143.

22. 9th Parachute Battalion, “Capture of the Merville Battery,” after-action report, 6th Airborne Division, National Archives (UK).

23. IWM, SR 13143.

24. IWM, SR 12133.

25. 9th Parachute Battalion, “Capture of the Merville Battery,” after-action report, 6th Airborne Division, National Archives (UK).

26. IWM, SR 12133.

27. Stars and Stripes, June 7, 1944.

28. http://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/485137/allied-air-forces-paved-way-for-d-day/.

29. According to an official after-action report, “The excited babbling of the crewmen betrayed their eagerness for the start of the all-important invasion mission, when they gathered in the crew room for the 0200 briefing on the morning of June 6, 1944. The Group, using fifty-four planes, rather than the usual thirty-six, took off at 0415 and assembled in the early morning darkness. After the long trip over the ship infested Channel to the Cherbourg Peninsula the three boxes of the Group blasted their separate targets. The bombs were away at 0617, just a few short minutes before the first wave of assault troops dashed onto the enemy shore. No planes were lost and only slight enemy opposition, in the form of light to heavy flak was encountered. The results of the bombing were classed as fair to good.” http://www.b26.com/page/historyofthe323rdbombgroup.htm.

30. Howarth, Dawn of D-Day, p. 127.

31. “Operations by IX Bomber Command,” Army Air Force Historical Study no. 36, Military History Institute, Ninth Air Force (October 1945), pp. 71–74.

32. http://www.b26.com/page/historyofthe323rdbombgroup.htm.

33. Stars and Stripes, June 7, 1944.

34. https://stanleyehollisvcmemorial.co.uk/biography/ [inactive].

35. IWM, SR 1648.

36. http://www.patricktaylor.com/war-diary-1.

37. According to one account, “away from exploding shells, the threat of anti-personnel mines and the stammer of German machine guns, Hollis was a quiet, likeable Englishman—just the sort with whom to enjoy a pint in the local.” De la Billière, Supreme Courage, p. 40.

38. http://www.patricktaylor.com/war-diary-1.

39. http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/sergeant-major-stan-hollis-the-victoria-cross-on-d-day/.

40. Hastings, An Undergraduate’s War, p. 116.

41. IWM, SR 1648.

42. Collier, D-Day, p. 128.

43. Daily Mail, December 26, 2012.

44. IWM, SR 1648.

45. Hastings, An Undergraduate’s War, p. 150.

46. Hastings, An Undergraduate’s War, pp. 119–20.

47. IWM, SR 1648.

48. The Independent, May 12, 1994.

49. Morgan, Past Forgetting, pp. 191–92.

50. Morgan, Past Forgetting, pp. 191–92.

51. http://paul.rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/html/DDay.html.

52. The Ninth Flyer (official newsletter of the Ninth Air Force Association), vol. 2, no. 2 (Summer 1992), p. 22.

53. http://paul.rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/html/DDay.html. “You think about the people in your plane and do your job,” recalled Pedone. “There’s no time to be scared. But if you are afraid, you might as well get right out of the airplane and go back to [base] because you must take control of your senses.”

54. http://paul.rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/html/DDay.html.

55. Fewer than a third of the pathfinders had landed on their drop zones.

56. Collier, D-Day, p. 157.

57. Sun Journal (Lewiston, Maine), May 19, 1994.

58. Sun Journal (Lewiston, Maine), May 19, 1994.

59. Gavin, On to Berlin, p. 105.

60. According to Major General Matthew Ridgway, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, “We couldn’t get in touch with anybody—neither the troops that were supposed to be coming in over the beaches by now, nor with anybody back in England, nor with anybody afloat. In short, we were in the typical situation for which you must be prepared when an airborne division goes into battle . . . For thirty-six hours we had no means of knowing how well or badly we were faring.” Balkoski, Utah Beach, p. 306.

61. Collier, D-Day, p. 160.

62. Frank L. Lillyman, “Report of D-Day Pathfinder Activities,” July 1, 1944, 101st Airborne Division Pathfinder Group, APO 472–US ARMY, National Archives (US), http://www.6juin1944.com/assaut/aeropus/en_page.php?page=after_pathf_101.

63. http://www.history.army.mil/documents/WWII/Cassidy/cassidy.htm.

64. Preisler, First to Jump, p. 91.

65. https://history.army.mil/documents/WWII/Cassidy/cassidy.htm.

66. http://www.dday-overlord.com/bataille-normandie/after-action-reports/101st/pathfinders.

CHAPTER 5: BLOODY LUCKY

1. https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/theodore_roosevelt_380703.

2. Jeffers, Theodore Roosevelt Jr., p. 246.

3. VSD magazine, June 8, 1994.

4. Collier, D-Day, p. 184.

5. Howarth, Dawn of D-Day, p. 114. The landing craft started toward the beach. Roosevelt recalled: “Suddenly [at 6:10 A.M.] we heard the drone of planes and silhouetted against the colored clouds of dawn, formations of planes swept by and passed toward shore. Flight after flight dropped its bombs on the German emplacements. There’d be a ripple of thunder, blazes of light, clouds of dust, and the planes would pass us again on the way home. One fell by me, flaming like a meteor.” Theodore Roosevelt Jr. to wife Eleanor Roosevelt, June 11, 1944, Theodore Roosevelt Jr. Papers, Box 61, Library of Congress.

6. George Kerchner, diary entry, Eisenhower Center. He later noted in his diary: “Heavy seas, began bailing immediately. Motor launch led us to wrong point. Sailed along under machine gun fire, bailing all the time.”

7. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45319/the-charge-of-the-light-brigade.

8. Astor, June 6, 1944, pp. 212–15.

9. Zaloga, Rangers Lead the Way, p. 27.

10. Daily Mail, October 1, 2012.

11. Jack Kuhn belonged to D Company and stood in one of its three boats. One was commanded by Slater, another by Kerchner, and yet another by Len Lomell. “I noticed that Captain Slater’s boat was very low in the water,” remembered Kuhn, “in danger of foundering. It was losing speed and dropping back from the formation . . . We saw the boat start to go down. I don’t know if anyone else was aware that the Duke was now out of the invasion. I wondered whether we should try to rescue him, but the time lost would have made us late. Len [Lomell] and I agreed the mission came first. It was his decision to make; personally I felt I was deserting our commander.” Astor, June 6, 1994, p. 170.

12. George Kerchner, “Memoir,” typescript in Eisenhower Center, University of New Orleans.

13. Astor, June 6, 1944, pp. 212–15.

14. Brinkley, The Boys of Pointe du Hoc, p. 69.

15. http://www.uss-corry-dd463.com/d-day_u-boat_photos/d-day_photos.htm.

16. http://www.worldwar2history.info/D-Day/Pointe-Du-Hoc.html.

17. Black, The Battalion, p. 106.

18. Parry was one of four brothers. Two lost their lives in WWII. One of them, Captain George Parry, was actually killed on D-Day.

19. Collier, D-Day, p. 168.

20. IWM, SR 12133.

21. Barber, The Day the Devils Dropped In, p. 81.

22. Collier, D-Day, p. 169.

23. IWM, SR 21061.

24. Collier, D-Day, p. 169.

25. IWM, SR 21061.

26. IWM, SR 17309.

27. D-Day: Turning the Tide, written and presented by Charles Wheeler (Bristol, UK: BBC Bristol, 1994).

28. IWM, SR 17309.

29. IWM, SR 21061.

30. IWM, SR 12133.

31. Shilleto, Pegasus Bridge and Merville Battery, p. 104.

32. D-Day: Turning the Tide, written and presented by Charles Wheeler (Bristol, UK: BBC Bristol, 1994).

33. Barber, The Day the Devils Dropped In, p. 88

34. IWM, SR 17309.

35. IWM, SR 12133.

36. Barber, The Day the Devils Dropped In, p. 90

37. Liddle, D-Day: By Those Who Were There, p. 75.

38. IWM, SR 12133.

39. Barber, The Day the Devils Dropped In, p. 218.

40. Shilleto, Pegasus Bridge and Merville Battery, p. 107.

41. IWM, SR 12133.

42. 9th Parachute Battalion, “Capture of the Merville Battery,” after-action report, 6th Airborne Division, National Archives (UK).

43. IWM, SR 13143. “My orders were to destroy or neutralize the battery before the rest came ashore,” recalled Otway. “And that is what we did. Because of the efforts of my men the first waves arrived without a single shell being fired from Merville.” London Illustrated News, June 4, 1994.

44. Barber, The Day the Devils Dropped In, p. 97.

45. Barber, The Day the Devils Dropped In, p. 95.

PART 2: THE DAY

1. Lovat, March Past, p. 360.

CHAPTER 6: BY DAWN’S FAINT LIGHT

1. http://www.d-daytanks.org.uk/diary/june6.html.

2. Léon Gautier, interview with author.

3. Saunders, The Green Beret, p. 263.

4. Léon Gautier, interview with author.

5. Dunning, The Fighting Fourth, p. 129.

6. Collier, D-Day, p. 114.

7. Dunning, The Fighting Fourth, p. 1.

8. Léon Gautier, interview with author.

9. Stasi, Ennemis et frères, pp. 17–18.

10. Stasi, Ennemis et frères, p. 21.

11. IWM, SR 34422.

12. Lovat, March Past, p. 305.

13. Mayo, D-Day, Minute by Minute, p. 141.

14. Stasi, Ennemis et frères, p. 97.

15. Lovat, March Past, p. 306.

16. http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/gondree.htm. According to one account, the Gondrées had always greatly resented the German occupation. They had not allowed the Germans to use their home. By early 1944, they had begun to help the Resistance. According to one account, “The information collected by the Gondrée family did much to give Major Howard and his Coup de Main force a thorough understanding of the defences around the bridges. Amongst the details that Thérèse discovered was the precise location, in a pillbox housing machine-guns, for the trigger mechanism for the explosives which were to demolish Bénouville Bridge in the event of an attack. Georges Gondrée was known to British Intelligence, and even Major Howard had heard his name during the planning stages of the Invasion. The great contribution that the family made to the success of the operations around Bénouville is perhaps best demonstrated by the example of early May, when Generalfeldmarschall Rommel inspected the bridges and ordered that an anti-tank gun emplacement be established next to Bénouville Bridge. Within two days, Major Howard had been warned that some new structure was being built next to the Bridge, and within a week Georges Gondrée’s observations had confirmed both its purpose and the completion of the position.” Source: http:www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/gondree.htm.

17. Fowler, Pegasus Bridge, p. 40.

18. “As we got to the Café Gondrée,” recalled Wally Parr, “we paused for breath and I heard a noise. Outside the Café Gondrée, there was a grill. I think possibly it was used to lower crates down. We tiptoed over there in the moonlight and looked down and to my surprise I was looking at a woman who was obviously Madame Gondrée and two little children, apparently girls. She was nestled with the one on her left arm in her bosom. The one on the right was staring up at me. I found out later, many years later, that the younger one was Arlette and the older one was Georgette Gondrée. So, I looked down at them and my one fear was that a grenade was going to roll down there and blow them to smithereens. I’m shouting, ‘Madame, go in for god’s sake! . . . It’s the invasion!’ She’s just staring up at me. She did not speak any English. So I’m shouting my head off to her, ‘Go in!’ Those poor little children. I reached in my pocket, pulled out a bar of chocolate, and handed it down. Georgette, the oldest one, took hold of that bar of chocolate. And to this day those two girls are still known as the first two children to be liberated in the invasion of Europe and by a company soldier with a bar of chocolate. I did find out many years later that Madame Gondrée was not convinced that we were British troops. She thought we were Germans trying to rest up, and furthermore . . . she was also convinced that that bar of chocolate was poisoned, so she wouldn’t let the girls eat it until finally, the next day, when they realized that it was a true invasion, then the girls had their first decent bar of chocolate in their lives.” IWM, SR 11073.

19. Collier, D-Day, p. 153.

20. Fowler, Pegasus Bridge, p. 41.

21. Ambrose, Pegasus Bridge, p. 129.

22. Howard and Bates, The Pegasus Diaries, p. 131.

23. Ambrose, Pegasus Bridge, p. 131.

24. Hatfield, Rudder, p. 121.

25. Hatfield, Rudder, p. 122.

26. Raaen, Intact, p. 26.

27. http://discerninghistory.com/2016/06/rangers-lead-the-way-how-the-rangers-at-pointe-du-hoc-turned-disaster-into-victory-during-the-d-day-invasion/.

28. Lane, Rudder’s Rangers, p. 79.

29. Morrison, The Invasion of France and Germany, p. 125.

30. Hatfield, Rudder, p. 123.

31. General John Raaen, interview with author.

32. Black, The Battalion, p. 95.

33. Raaen, Intact, p. 27.

34. Carell, Invasion, pp. 78–79.

35. Collier, D-Day, p. 176.

36. http://histomil.com/viewtopic.php?t=14165.

37. Daily Telegraph, May 30, 2004.

38. http://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/22284/Streczyk-Philip.htm.

39. http://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/22284/Streczyk-Philip.htm.

40. http://www.ssqq.com/travel/oslo2010dday5.htm.

41. Forrest C. Pogue, “John Spalding D-Day Narrative,” E Co., 16th Inf., Lt. Spalding combat interview, Military History Institute, Carlisle Barracks, PA.

42. E Company, 16th Infantry Regiment, After Action Report, June 1944, National Archives (US).

43. Bob Sales, interview with author.

44. Pogue, “John Spalding D-Day Narrative.”

45. Pogue, “John Spalding D-Day Narrative.”

46. John Spalding questionnaire, Cornelius Ryan Collection of World War II Papers, Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections, Ohio University Libraries.

47. Bob Sales, interview with author.

48. Shuey, Omaha Beach Field Guide, p. 62.

49. Rommel had written to General Alfred Jodl on April 11, “If in spite of the enemy’s air superiority, we succeed in getting a large part of our mobile force into action in the threatened coast defense sectors in the first few hours, I am convinced that the enemy attack on the coast will collapse completely on its first day.” Liddell Hart, The Rommel Papers, p. 468.

50. https://www.lapetitemusette.com/2017/01/arthur-jahnke-german-veteran-of-23-years-old/?lang=en.

51. Holt and Holt, Major and Mrs. Holt’s Battlefield Guide, p. 25.

52. Howarth, Dawn of D-Day, p. 129.

53. Balkoski, Utah Beach, p. 343.

54. Theodore Roosevelt Jr. Papers, Box 61, Library of Congress.

55. Arthur Jahnke, oral history, Eisenhower Center.

56. Just four of thirty-two failed to reach the beach.

57. Zaloga, D-Day 1944, p. 55.

58. Arthur Jahnke, oral history, Eisenhower Center.

59. Carell, Invasion, p. 49.

60. Arthur Jahnke, oral history, Eisenhower Center.

61. Ellison Parfitt, oral history, Library of Congress.

62. King, Hilborn, and Nulton, To War with the 4th, pp. 1502–16.

63. Theodore Roosevelt Jr. to wife Eleanor Roosevelt, June 11, 1944, Theodore Roosevelt Jr. Papers, Box 61, Library of Congress.

64. http://www.4thinfantry.org/content/division-history.

65. Zaloga, D-Day 1944, p. 55.

66. Magdelaine, Utah, p. 3 (quoting Howard Vander Beek, LCC 60).

67. “Maryland’s WWII Profiles in Courage,” University of Maryland alumni magazine, November 11, 2004, https://umdarchives.wordpress.com/2013/11/11/heroes-on-the-playing-field-and-on-the-battlefield-maryland-athlete-soldiers/.

68. VSD magazine, June 2–8, 1994.

69. Theodore Roosevelt Jr. to wife Eleanor Roosevelt, June 11, 1944, Theodore Roosevelt Jr. Papers, Box 61, Library of Congress.

70. VSD magazine, June 2–8, 1994.

CHAPTER 7: AN ANGEL ON EACH SHOULDER

1. Clay, Blood and Sacrifice, p. 185.

2. Forrest C. Pogue, “John Spalding D-Day Narrative,” E Co., 16th Inf., Lt. Spalding combat interview, Military History Institute, Carlisle Barracks, PA.

3. Clay, Blood and Sacrifice, p. 186.

4. Carell, Invasion, pp. 80–81.

5. Pogue, “John Spalding D-Day Narrative.”

6. Clay, Blood and Sacrifice, p. 186.

7. Clay, Blood and Sacrifice, p. 186.

8. Pogue, “John Spalding D-Day Narrative.”

9. Cornelius Ryan Collection of World War II Papers, “Wozenski Questionnaire,” Box 12, Folder 55, Ohio University.

10. Miller, Nothing Less Than Victory, p. 335. The officer Spalding was trying to reach was Captain Wozenski, who had made it out of the water and onto the beach and was now lying on shale beside a sergeant, under heavy fire from a strongpoint, WN62, which had several machine guns. “For God’s sake get a packet of cigarettes out,” he ordered the sergeant, who frantically emptied handfuls of sand from a pocket before he found a packet.

11. Pogue, “John Spalding D-Day Narrative.”

12. E Company, 16th Infantry Regiment, After Action Report, June 1944, National Archives (US).

13. Pogue, “John Spalding D-Day Narrative.”

14. E Company, 16th Infantry Regiment, After Action Report, June 1944, National Archives (US).

15. Pogue, “John Spalding D-Day Narrative.”

16. Miller, Nothing Less Than Victory, p. 334.

17. Carell, Invasion, pp. 66–69.

18. Theodore Roosevelt Jr. to wife Eleanor Roosevelt, June 11, 1944, Theodore Roosevelt Jr. Papers, Box 61, Library of Congress.

19. Balkoski, Utah Beach, p. 231.

20. http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/rangers-at-the-pointe/.

21. Lewis, Voices from D-Day, p. 121.

22. George Kerchner, “Memoir,” typescript in Eisenhower Center, University of New Orleans.

23. https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-A-Small/USA-A-Small-1.html.

24. Zaloga, Rangers Lead the Way, p. 31.

25. Kerchner, “Memoir.”

26. Kerchner, “Memoir.”

27. Collier, D-Day, p. 180.

28. Len Lomell, oral history, Eisenhower Center.

29. Len Lomell, oral history, Eisenhower Center.

30. Kerchner, “Memoir.”

31. Collier, D-Day, p. 180.

32. Morison, The Invasion of France and Germany, pp. 125–26.

33. Bailey, Forgotten Voices of D-Day, p. 259.

34. IWM, SR 1648.

35. Bailey, Forgotten Voices of D-Day, p. 266.

36. IWM, SR 1648.

CHAPTER 8: LA BELLE FRANCE

1. Leonard Lomell, oral history, Eisenhower Center.

2. Astor, June 6, 1944, pp. 212–15.

3. Lane, Rudder’s Rangers, p. 121.

4. “There was an anti-aircraft position off to our right several hundred yards,” recalled Lomell. “And machine guns off to the left of us. Maybe a hundred, two hundred yards away. And there was another machine gun that we destroyed on our way in. But we did not waste time, we did have some fire fights, or little skirmishes, if the Germans had a patrol, or half a dozen of them would pop out of an underground tunnel, you know, they had a lot of tunnels there underground and through hedgerows. Well, when we were confronted, we’d drive them out and fight them and they’d run like rabbits, you know, right into their holes, and out they went. But we never stopped. We kept firing and charging all the way through their buildings area, where they came out of their billets . . . We were confronted with them there on our way up the road from the Pointe to the coast road. The coast road ran between Utah Beach and Omaha Beach. Our orders were to set up a roadblock and keep the Germans from going to Omaha Beach. We were to also destroy all communications visible along the coast road. Find the guns, was our big objective.” Leonard Lomell, oral history, Eisenhower Center.

5. Drez, Voices of D-Day.

6. http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/rangers-at-the-pointe/.

7. Lomell, oral history.

8. George Kerchner, “Memoir,” typescript in Eisenhower Center, University of New Orleans.

9. Hatfield, Rudder, p. 144.

10. http://www.cnn.com/books/beginnings/9901/the.victors/.

11. Lane, Rudder’s Rangers, p. 140.

12. Miller, Nothing Less Than Victory, p. 199.

13. Daily Telegraph, June 4, 2004.

14. Stasi, Ennemis et frères, pp. 99–100.

15. Léon Gautier, interview with author.

16. “Rapport du lieutenant de vaisseau Kieffer,” Service Historique de la Défense, Département Marine—TTH2.

17. Lewis, Voices from D-Day, p. 128.

18. Beau-Lofi, Il fallait y croire, p. 243.

19. Léon Gautier, interview with author.

20. Colonel Philippe Kieffer, After Action Report, June 14, 1944, National Archives (UK).

21. Dunning, The Fighting Fourth, p. 128.

22. Colonel Kieffer, After Action Report, June 14, 1944, National Archives (UK).

23. Stasi, Kieffer Commando, p. 38.

24. Léon Gautier, interview with author.

25. Stasi, Kieffer Commando, p. 41.

26. The official after-action report noted, “A fiercely opposed beach landing during which No. 4 Commando took over the role previously allotted to an earlier wave of Infantry which had been pinned down by enemy fire . . . The Commando, five hundred strong . . . landed in two waves from the HMS Princess Astrid and SS Maid of Orleans . . . touched down on Red Queen beach, a mile to the west of Ouistreham, at La Beche . . . No. 4 Commando’s first wave of LCAs went in at 0820 hrs . . . Mortar bombs were falling in and around the LCAs and as the Commando landed there were 40 casualties, including the Commanding Officer, Lt. Colonel R.W.P. Dawson, who was wounded in the leg. Rapidly forming up under concentrated fire, Number 4 Commando fought their way from the beach to the forming up area . . . putting out of action several of the enemy positions . . . Dawson moved forward to contact 2nd Bn. East Yorks Regt. and was wounded in the head . . .” His second in command took over, and Gautier and others moved into Ouistreham—so began “street fighting through areas infested with snipers.” DEFE 2/40, Intelligence/War Diary, No. 4 Commando, National Archives (UK).

27. Dunning, The Fighting Fourth, p. 133.

28. Léon Gautier, interview with author.

29. Colonel Kieffer, After Action Report, June 14, 1944, National Archives (UK).

30. Colonel Kieffer, After Action Report, June 14, 1944, National Archives (UK).

31. Stasi, Kieffer Commando, p. 47.

32. Beau-Lofi, Il fallait y croire, pp. 244–45.

33. “It was thanks to our discipline,” Gautier explained, sixty years later. “In the commandos, you had to be disciplined.” Hugh Schofield, “Veteran Feels at Home on D-Day Beach,” BBC News, May 23, 2004, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3735307.stm. Commander Kieffer had told Gautier and others the previous day to expect to lose one out of every two comrades. That grim prediction had not come true. Among all the units belonging to Lord Lovat’s commandos, nevertheless, the French had paid the highest price, suffering ten fatalities. Thirty had also been wounded, out of 177 who landed on Sword Beach “in the twilight of the morning,” as one nineteen-year-old from Brittany remembered the time of arrival of the first wave. Stasi, Kieffer Commando, p. 34.

34. http://www.qor.com/community/cenotaph/dalton.html [inactive].

35. Martin, Battle Diary, p. 4.

36. http://www.qor.com/community/cenotaph/dalton.html [inactive].

37. Charles would later recall “standing on the deck of the SS Monowai with his brother, and trying to think of what to say to your sibling on what might be the last night of both of their lives. As they parted company to prepare for a 0315 reveille to board the assault craft, Charles simply shook his brother’s hand and said ‘See you on the beach!’” John Fotheringham, “See You on the Beach!,” April 2, 2014, Juno Beach Centre, https://www.junobeach.org/see-you-on-the-beach/.

38. http://en.ww2awards.com/person/44752.

39. Toronto Globe and Mail, March 24, 1999.

40. https://qormuseum.org/soldiers-of-the-queens-own/dalton-charles-osborne/.

41. Battle Diary, A Day in the Life of Charlie Martin, directed by Martyn Burke (Canadian Broadcasting Company, 1994).

42. The Rifleman: A Journal of the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada, July 1978, p. 7.

43. Martin, Battle Diary, p. 5.

44. WO 179/2958, Intelligence/War Diary, the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada, National Archives (UK).

45. https://qormuseum.org/soldiers-of-the-queens-own/dalton-charles-osborne/.

46. Zuehlke, Juno Beach, p. 214.

47. Martin, Battle Diary, p. 6.

48. Martin, Battle Diary, pp. 4–5.

49. WO 179/2958, Intelligence/War Diary.

50. Zuehlke, Juno Beach, p. 210.

51. https://qormuseum.org/soldiers-of-the-queens-own/dalton-charles-osborne/.

52. Zuehlke, Juno Beach, p. 210.

53. Zuehlke, Juno Beach, p. 211.

54. https://qormuseum.org/soldiers-of-the-queens-own/dalton-charles-osborne/.

55. Zuehlke, Juno Beach, p. 212.

56. https://qormuseum.org/soldiers-of-the-queens-own/dalton-charles-osborne/.

57. https://qormuseum.org/soldiers-of-the-queens-own/dalton-charles-osborne/.

58. Zuehlke, Juno Beach, p. 218.

59. The Rifleman: A Journal of the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada, July 1978, p. 8.

60. Martin, Battle Diary, p. 9.

61. https://qormuseum.org/tag/d-day/.

62. Hickey, The Scarlet Dawn, p. 196.

63. Of the fourteen thousand Canadians who landed on D-Day, 340 were killed, 574 wounded, and 47 taken prisoner. http://www.junobeach.info/Juno-quick-facts.htm.

64. Lovat, March Past, p. 309.

65. http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/war_6cdo.htm#Appendix%20 ‘A’.

66. http://ojs.victoria.ac.nz/kotare/article/viewFile/716/527.

67. Collier, D-Day, p. 188.

68. The Economist, August 26, 2010.

69. IWM, SR 3442.

70. IWM, SR 3442.

71. Miller, Nothing Less Than Victory, p. 356.

72. IWM, SR 3442.

73. http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/lord_lovat.htm.

74. IWM, SR 11614.

75. The Independent, August 22, 2010.

76. IWM, SR 11614.

77. http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/lord_lovat.htm.

78. Daily Telegraph, June 6, 2014.

79. IWM, SR 11614.

80. Collier, D-Day, p. 190.

81. New York Times, August 19, 2010. One commando recalled, “I shall never forget hearing the skirl of Bill Millin’s pipes. As well as the pride we felt, it reminded us of home, and why we were fighting there for our lives and those of our loved ones.”

82. IWM, SR 11614.

83. The Independent, August 22, 2010.

84. The Independent, March 20, 1995.

85. Kim Masters, “My Father, the Inglourious Basterd,” Daily Beast, September 8, 2009.

86. Peter Masters, oral history, Eisenhower Center.

87. The Independent, March 20, 1995.

88. Lovat, March Past, p. 316.

89. Lovat, March Past, p. 311.

90. Lovat, March Past, p. 317.

91. DEFE 2/40, Intelligence/War Diary, No. 4 Commando, June 6, 1944, National Archives (UK).

92. Colonel Kieffer, After Action Report, June 14, 1944, National Archives (UK).

93. http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/lord_lovat.htm.

94. Barber, The Day the Devils Dropped In, pp. 107–8.

95. http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/terence_otway.htm.

96. According to one subsequent report, “In the early afternoon, the sound of gunfire was heard from the direction of Le Plein and it was clear that it was not aimed at the 9th Battalion. Otway believed that this could only be the Commandos, and so he immediately left the Chateau and ran down the hill to find out what was going on. At the Ecarde crossroads he found elements of No.3 Commando and Brigadier The Lord Lovat. Otway explained the situation to Lovat, who then asked him to escort Captain Westley, one of No.3’s troop commanders, on a reconnaissance in preparation for an attack on Amfreville, which the 9th Battalion was asked to support with covering fire. Otway returned to the 9th Battalion and at 15:30 it was obvious that the attack was in progress. After a time, the sound of firing drifted away eastwards and, believing Amfreville to have been taken, Otway decided to head over there to find out what was happening. I said to [Corporal Joe] Wilson, ‘We’re going down there.’ Everybody said, ‘You’re mad, you’ll get killed,’ but I said, ‘It’s a risk I’ve got to take,’ I hadn’t got any alternative. Wilson had got hold of a motorbike, so Wilson drove the motorbike, I sat in the sidecar, and we went down there. They passed several dead Commandos on the way and arrived at the Ecarde crossroads in time for a particularly heavy bout of enemy mortaring, which prompted them to seek shelter in a ditch. Brigadier Lovat was nearby with No.6 Commando, Otway called out to him, ‘One of your Commando units has just had a sticky time. If you wish to talk to me, come down here, because I’m not bloody well coming up there!’ Lovat came over and informed him that No.6 Commando had taken Le Plein, but he wouldn’t be able to relieve the 9th Battalion until No.4 Commando arrived and put in a night-attack on Hauger. By the following morning, the 9th Battalion had been relieved at the Chateau d’Amfreville and so they moved into Le Plein.” http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/terence_otway.htm.

97. Mayo, D-Day, Minute by Minute, pp. 200–1.

98. Luck, Panzer Commander, p. 178.

99. Collier, D-Day, p. 199.

CHAPTER 9: ALL THE BLUE BONNETS

1. Forrest C. Pogue, “John Spalding D-Day Narrative,” E Co., 16th Inf., Lt. Spalding combat interview, Military History Institute, Carlisle Barracks, PA.

2. Morison, The Invasion of France and Germany, p. 143.

3. Hatfield, Rudder, p. 140.

4. William Puntenney, undated memoir, pp. 40–41, 29th Infantry Division archives, Maryland Military Department, Fifth Regiment Armory, Baltimore.

5. Blumenson, Battle of the Generals, p. 37.

6. Bradley, A General’s Life, p. 251.

7. Edward Wozenski, interview with Thames Television (1972). IWM, SR 3014.

8. Morison, The Invasion of France and Germany, p. 137.

9. https://www.backtonormandy.org/personal-stories/3420-waldo-werft.html.

10. “I remembered a lot of wounds from shrapnel,” recalled Werft. “Basic medical supplies like bandages, morphine. Main treatment was stopping the bleeding. Plasma was given but not available to me on D-Day. Common wounds were from artillery and mortars’ shrapnel. A lot of the tragedies I observed are now a blur that, after seventy-two years, are dim memories. After all, I didn’t think or talk about these experiences for over sixty years. Thank goodness a lot of guys recorded their experiences in their young days and wrote books. I still have a lot of memories I have shared on Facebook and remember specific happenings more than specifics on treating the wounded. I don’t remember running out of supplies, but there were other medics close by. I am sure we helped each other and worked together treating the wounded and litter bearing. My greatest fear was being severely wounded. I was always scared!” Waldo Werft, interview with author.

11. https://www.backtonormandy.org/personal-stories/3420-waldo-werft.html.

12. Fuller, A Third Face, pp. 162–65.

13. Taylor’s citation for the DSC, which he earned for his actions on D-Day, reads: “Colonel Taylor landed during the most crucial and threatening period of the invasion operation. Thousands of men lay huddled on a narrow beachhead, their organizations and leaders cut down by the disastrous enemy fire. Without hesitation, unmindful of the sniper and machine gun fire which was sweeping the beach, Colonel Taylor began to reorganize the units. While continuously exposed to this murderous fire, Colonel Taylor never slackened in his efforts in directing and coordinating the attack. By his initiative and leadership, he was able to clear an exit from the beach and begin moving groups of men from the crowded beachhead. This was the only exit opened in the early part of the assault and subsequent events proved it to be one of the most vital points contributing to the success of this operation. The high professional skill and outstanding courage exhibited by Colonel Taylor exemplify the highest traditions of the military forces of the United States and reflect great credit upon himself, the 1st Infantry Division, and the United States Army.” http://www.homeofheroes.com/members/02_DSC/citatons/03_wwii-dsc/army_tuv.html [inactive].

14. Politico, June 5, 2014.

15. E Company, 16th Infantry Regiment, After Action Report, June 6, 1944, National Archives (US).

16. Pogue, “John Spalding D-Day Narrative.”

17. Pogue, “John Spalding D-Day Narrative.”

18. http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/494.htm.

19. Kirkland, Destroyers at Normandy, p. 46.

20. Pogue, “John Spalding D-Day Narrative.”

21. Pogue, “John Spalding D-Day Narrative.”

22. E Company, 16th Infantry Regiment, After Action Report, June 6, 1944, National Archives (US).

23. Pogue, “John Spalding D-Day Narrative.”

24. The last remaining holdout on Omaha Beach was the “D-1” Vierville draw, overlooking Dog Green sector, at the far western end of the beach. By midmorning, as Spalding led his platoon toward Colleville, 102 men of the 180 in A Company of the 116th Infantry Regiment who had landed in the first wave lay dead on Dog Green—the largest number of casualties of any Allied infantry company. Those killed included the company commander, twenty-nine-year-old Captain Taylor Fellers, and eighteen other men from rural Bedford, Virginia, which had suffered the highest per capita loss of any Allied community on D-Day. In just a few minutes, German machine gunners had broken the small town’s heart. Alex Kershaw, The Bedford Boys (Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2003), p. 208.

25. Collier, D-Day, p. 182.

26. Balkoski, Utah Beach, p. 196.

27. George Mabry interview, Rowe Papers, Military History Institute, Carlisle Barracks, PA.

28. New York Times, April 21, 1987.

29. Taylor, Swords and Plowshares, p. 81. Mabry would receive the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions on D-Day and would soon assume command of the 2nd Battalion, replacing MacNeely, and would go on to be awarded the Medal of Honor, becoming one of very few Americans in WWII to receive the two highest decorations for bravery.

30. VSD magazine, June 2–8, 1994.

31. Baltimore Sun, June 4, 2006.

32. Number 6 Commando, After Action Report, June 6, 1944, WO 218/68, National Archives (UK).

33. Lovat, March Past, pp. 319–21.

34. Howard and Bates, The Pegasus Diaries, p. 136.

35. IWM, SR 11614.

36. Fowler, Pegasus Bridge, p. 55.

37. Howard and Bates, The Pegasus Diaries, p. 136.

38. Astor, June 6, 1944, p. 265.

39. IWM, SR 11614.

40. Howard and Bates, The Pegasus Diaries, p. 136.

41. IWM, SR 11614.

42. IWM, SR 11614.

43. Howard and Bates, The Pegasus Diaries, p. 136.

44. IWM, SR 11614.

45. Lovat, March Past, p. 322.

46. IWM, SR 11614.

47. Fowler, Pegasus Bridge, p. 57.

48. IWM, SR 11614.

49. Lovat, March Past, p. 324.

50. Hastings, An Undergraduate’s War, p. 124.

51. IWM, SR 1648.

52. Stanley Hollis, oral history transcript, Green Howards Regimental Museum, Richmond, North Yorkshire, UK.

53. Liddle, D-Day: By Those Who Were There, pp. 138–42.

54. Daily Telegraph, June 16, 2005.

55. The citation reads: “During the assault on the beaches and the Mont Fleury battery, CSM Hollis’s company commander noticed that two of the pill boxes had been bypassed, and went with CSM Hollis to see that they were clear. When they were 20 yards from the pillbox a machine-gun opened fire from the slit, and CSM Hollis instantly rushed straight to the pillbox, recharged his magazine, threw a grenade through the door and fired his Sten gun into it, killing two Germans and taking the remainder prisoner. He then cleared several Germans from a neighboring trench. By his action he undoubtedly saved the company from being heavily fired on from the rear, and enabled them to open the main beach exit. Later the same day, in the village of Crepon, the company encountered a field gun and crew, armed with Spandaus, at a hundred yards’ range. CSM Hollis was put in command of a party to cover an attack on the gun, but the movement was held up. Seeing this, CSM Hollis pushed right forward to engage the gun with a PIAT [Projector, Infantry, Anti-Tank] from a house at 50 yards range. He was observed by a sniper who fired and grazed his right cheek, and at the same time the gun swung round and fired at point blank range into the house. To avoid the falling masonry CSM Hollis moved his party to an alternative position. Two of the enemy gun crew had by this time been killed, and the gun was destroyed shortly afterwards. He later found that two of his men had stayed behind in the house, and immediately volunteered to get them out. In full view of the enemy, who were continually firing at him, he went forward alone using only a Bren gun to distract their attention from the other men. Under cover of his diversions the two men were able to get back. Wherever fighting was heaviest CSM Hollis appeared, and in the course of a magnificent day’s work he displayed the utmost gallantry, and on two separate occasions his courage and initiative prevented the enemy from holding up the advance at critical stages. It was largely through his heroism and resource that the company’s objectives were gained and casualties were not heavier and, by his own bravery, he saved the lives of many of his men.” Hastings, An Undergraduate’s War, pp. 124–25.

56. Number 6 Commando After Action Report, June 6, 1944, WO 218/68, National Archives (UK).

57. Lovat, March Past, p. 328.

58. IWM, SR 11614.

59. Stan Scott, interview, National Army Museum, UK, 2011.

60. Scott’s Number 3 Commando numbered seventy-five men on D-Day. He would be one of just nineteen men still able to fight when pulled off the line in August 1944.

61. Luck, Panzer Commander, p. 178.

62. Lovat, March Past, pp. 229–30.

63. Pogue, “John Spalding D-Day Narrative.”

64. Major Joseph Dawson, interview by Dr. John F. Votaw, April 16, 1991, Dawson file, McCormick Research Center, First Division Museum at Cantigny, Wheaton, Illinois.

65. Pogue, “John Spalding D-Day Narrative.”

66. Joseph Dawson interview.

67. Pogue, “John Spalding D-Day Narrative.”

68. John Spalding questionnaire, Box 12, Folder 40, Cornelius Ryan Collection of World War II Papers, Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections, Ohio University Libraries.

69. Pogue, “John Spalding D-Day Narrative.”

70. Spalding’s DSC citation reads: “The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to John M. Spalding (0-1317433), Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving with Company E, 2d Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, in action against enemy forces on 6 June 1944, near Colleville-sur-Mer in France. Upon reaching the beach in the initial landing on the coast of France, Second Lieutenant Spalding, completely disregarding his own personal safety, led his men up the beach to the slight cover of a shale shelf. Having suffered numerous casualties, he hesitated only long enough to reorganize his unit. He then led his men over an embankment, through barbed wire and across a thickly sown minefield. Second Lieutenant Spalding led his men in the attack on a series of enemy strongpoints and successfully destroyed them. Constantly ignoring heavy enemy fire, he at all times continued in the advance and personally destroyed an anti-tank gun which had been firing on beach targets with deadly effect. The personal bravery and superior leadership demonstrated by Second Lieutenant Spalding exemplify the highest traditions of the military forces of the United States and reflect great credit upon himself, the 1st Infantry Division, and the United States Army.” Headquarters, First U.S. Army, General Orders No. 31 (July 1, 1944), National Archives (US).

71. John Spalding questionnaire, Cornelius Ryan collection. See also 16th Infantry Regiment’s After Action Report, courtesy of Max Poorthius, president of the 16th Infantry Regiment Historical Society.

72. John Spalding, medical record, courtesy of Max Poorthuis, president, 16th Infantry Regiment Historical Society.

73. E Company, 16th Infantry Regiment, After Action Report, June 1944, National Archives (US).

74. Edward Wozenski, interview with Thames Television (1972).

75. Balkoski, Omaha Beach, p. 350.

76. Balkoski, Omaha Beach, p. 96.

77. Pogue, “John Spalding D-Day Narrative.”

78. http://www.ddaymuseum.co.uk/d-day/d-day-and-the-battle-of-normandy-your-questions-answered.

79. D-Day awards for 1st Section, 1st Platoon, Company E, 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, First Infantry Division Museum.

80. Balkoski, Omaha Beach, p. 359.

81. Only four Medals of Honor were awarded to Americans on D-Day.

82. “The Normandy Invasion: Medal of Honor Recipients,” US Army Center of Military History, https://history.army.mil/html/reference/Normandy/nor-moh.html. The recipients were John Pinder, Jimmie Monteith, and Carlton Barrett. Only Barrett would survive, living until 1986. Barrett’s citation reads: “For gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 6 June 1944, in the vicinity of St. Laurent-sur-Mer, France. On the morning of D-day Pvt. Barrett, landing in the face of extremely heavy enemy fire, was forced to wade ashore through neck-deep water. Disregarding the personal danger, he returned to the surf again and again to assist his floundering comrades and save them from drowning. Refusing to remain pinned down by the intense barrage of small-arms and mortar fire poured at the landing points, Pvt. Barrett, working with fierce determination, saved many lives by carrying casualties to an evacuation boat lying offshore. In addition to his assigned mission as guide, he carried dispatches the length of the fire-swept beach; he assisted the wounded; he calmed the shocked; he arose as a leader in the stress of the occasion. His coolness and his dauntless daring courage while constantly risking his life during a period of many hours had an inestimable effect on his comrades and is in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Army.” Medal of Honor Recipients, World War II [Recipients A–F], US Army Center of Military History, https://history.army.mil/html/moh/wwII-a-f.html.

CHAPTER 10: TALLYHO!

1. Shilleto, Pegasus Bridge and Merville Battery, pp. 74–75.

2. Howard and Bates, The Pegasus Diaries, p. 137.

3. Shilleto, Pegasus Bridge and Merville Battery, pp. 74–75.

4. Captain Frank Lillyman, 502nd PIR 101st Airborne Pathfinder activities, After Action Report, 1944, National Archives (US).

5. Preisler, First to Jump, pp. 130–32.

6. “D-Day, état des lieux,” US Airborne in Cotentin Peninsula, Statistical Tables—Operation Neptune, June 5–13, 1944, http://www.6juin1944.com/assaut/aeropus/en_page.php?page=casualties.

7. Balkoski, Utah Beach, pp. 255–56.

8. Astor, June 6, 1944, p. 271.

9. Dan Farley, interview with author.

10. “A Hall of Fame for Heroes,” reported by Byron Pitts, CBS Evening News, September 2, 1998.

11. Moen and Heinen, Reflections of Courage on D-Day, p. 4.

12. U.S. Army Historical Division, interviews with various Company A, 5th Rangers, July 1944, National Archives (US).

13. Moen and Heinen, Reflections of Courage on D-Day, pp. 98–99.

14. Astor, June 6, 1944, pp. 212–15.

15. Balkoski, Omaha Beach, p. 281.

16. Moen and Heinen, Reflections of Courage on D-Day, p. 101.

17. Moen and Heinen, Reflections of Courage on D-Day, p. 105.

18. Kirkland, Destroyers at Normandy, p. 62.

19. George Kerchner, diary entry, June 6, 1944, Eisenhower Center.

20. Johnson and Dunphie, Brightly Shone the Dawn, p. 133.

21. Martin, Battle Diary, pp. 14–15.

22. The Rifleman: A Journal of the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada, July 1978, p. 8.

23. http://www.dday-overlord.com/en/d-day/figures.

24. IWM, SR 11614.

25. War Office Records, 171/1302, Intelligence/War Diary, 6th Battalion, the Green Howards, National Archives (UK).

26. The fighting and dying that June 6 were not yet over for the Green Howards. “Drinking champagne when disturbed again by Jerry,” noted one officer in his diary. “Saw 4 of our tanks blazing. Put in final attack [south] of St Gabriel and stopped in [a] wood . . . We are the furthest forward troops of the whole invasion and fairly near our objective. The morale was very high and we have moved very quickly, by-passing any opposition where possible.” http://www.patricktaylor.com/war-diary-1.

27. http://greenhowards.org.uk/d-day-and-vc/.

28. War Office Records, 171/1302, Intelligence/War Diary, 6th Battalion, the Green Howards.

29. Hastings, An Undergraduate’s War, p. 126.

30. Mills-Roberts, Clash by Night, p. 103.

31. Léon Gautier, interview with author.

32. Dunning, The Fighting Fourth, p. 144.

33. Dunning, The Fighting Fourth, p. 145.

34. Astor, June 6, 1944, p. 292.

35. Collier, D-Day, p. 93.

36. Hugh Schofield, “Veteran Feels at Home on D-Day Beach,” BBC News, May 23, 2004, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3735307.stm.

37. Astor, June 6, 1944, pp. 212–15.

38. Undated press clippings, Dalton scrapbooks, the Queen’s Own Rifles Regimental Museum and Archives.

39. Toronto Globe and Mail, June 22, 1944. See also undated press clippings, Dalton files, the Queen’s Own Rifles Regimental Museum and Archives, Toronto.

40. At 21st Panzer Division HQ, near Caen, around midnight, the 12th SS Panzer Division’s notorious Kurt Meyer arrived, having spent most of the day avoiding Allied aircraft. He looked at a map, showing the strength of Allied forces, and declared, “Little fish! We’ll throw them back into the sea in the morning.” Lewis, Voices from D-Day, p. 174.

CHAPTER 11: THE BOCAGE

1. Miller, Nothing Less Than Victory, p. 474.

2. Collier’s, June 11, 1954.

3. Saturday Evening Post, August 19, 1944.

4. Howard and Bates, The Pegasus Diaries, pp. 142–43.

5. WO 171/1357, Intelligence/War Diary, 2nd Battalion, the Ox and Bucks Light Infantry, National Archives (UK).

6. http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/john_howard.htm.

7. Howard and Bates, The Pegasus Diaries, pp. 142–43.

8. Howard and Bates, The Pegasus Diaries, pp. 142–43.

9. https://history.army.mil/books/wwii/smallunit/smallunit-pdh.htm.

10. Hatfield, Rudder, p. 153.

11. “Either General Cota or Col. Canham felt the Omaha Dog beachhead was too fragile to allow Ranger Force C to leave the beachhead and proceed to PdHoc,” recalled Raaen. “One of the two ordered Lt. Col. Schneider to cancel his plans to continue from Vierville to PdHoc and remain in defensive positions on the west end of the beachhead perimeter for the night of D-Day. About midnight of D-Day, a joint meeting was held at the headquarters of Ranger Force C. Plans were made for the relief of Ranger Force A on D+1. Task Force Metcalf, containing the remnants of the 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry, Ranger Force C, remnants of Ranger Force B and about eight tanks of the 743rd Tank Bn, was to be the advanced guard for the 116th’s move to seize Grandcamps-les-Bains on the way to Isigny. Ranger Force C would peel off from TF Metcalf at St. Pierre du Mont and relieve Ranger Force A at PdHoc. Didn’t happen that way. A German counter attack early on D+1, caused Lt. Col. Schneider a dilemma. Should he stop the column or continue. He chose to let the three Ranger Companies that had passed the IP to continue toward PdHoc with rest of Force C remaining to help defend the beachhead. I am sure Schneider consulted with Cota, Canham and Metcalf before making such a bold decision. TF Metcalf ran into strong artillery fire beyond St. Pierre. The tanks had actually gotten past the road to PdHoc when they and the Provisional Ranger Company (the remnants of A, B and C Companies, 2nd RIB were combined into a single Ranger Company before entering the bocage) were forced to withdraw to St. Pierre du Mont. At that point, the 29th Division ordered the tanks of the 743rd and Lt. Col. Metcalf and Maj. Sullivan to return to the beachhead to help in its defense and I found myself in command of a ragtag force consisting of C Co, 116th, other remnants of the 1st Bn, 116th, the Prov Co, 2nd Rangers, Cos C and D, 5th Rangers and other divisional units I knew not what. We set up a perimeter defense around the hamlet, expecting an armored counter attack. I also sent out a two man patrol to find Colonel Rudder and his Ranger Force A. They did. The Germans did not attack. The next morning, Lt. Col. Schneider and the remainder of the 5th RIB arrived with essentially the same plan for the attack to relieve PdHoc as I had worked up the night before.” General John Raaen, email to author, March 20, 2018.

12. George Kerchner, diary entry, Eisenhower Center.

13. O’Donnell, Dog Company, p. 124.

14. George Kerchner, diary entry, Eisenhower Center.

15. General John Raaen, interview with author.

16. 5th Ranger Battalion, After Action Report, A.P.O. 655 US Army, July 2, 1944, National Archives (US).

17. Pogue, Pogue’s War, p. 122.

18. 2nd Ranger Battalion, After Action Report, June 8, 1944, National Archives (US).

19. Alfred E. Baer, “D-for-Dog: The Story of a Ranger Company” (unpublished manuscript), p. 47.

20. https://history.army.mil/books/wwii/smallunit/smallunit-pdh.htm.

21. In his diary, Lieutenant Kerchner jotted on June 11, 1944, “Went to Mass. Thanked God. First chance to count noses. ‘D’ Co. has eight dead, 13 wounded, 32 missing, 15 present . . . Ate good. Shaved at last. Make out report.” George Kerchner, diary entry, Eisenhower Center.

22. https://armyhistory.org/rudders-rangers-and-the-boys-of-pointe-du-hoc-the-u-s-army-rangers-mission-in-the-early-morning-hours-of-6-june-1944/. Kerchner’s citation reads: “By his determined leadership and out-standing heroism, he led his company in the successful assault upon and captured 155 mm enemy gun positions. He tenaciously and courageously held his position until relieved and was a constant inspiration and source of encouragement to his troops.”

23. Hatfield, Rudder, p. 157.

24. http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/blue-and-gray-at-omaha-beach/.

25. Pyle, Brave Men, p. 391.

26. Pyle, Brave Men, p. 390.

27. https://qormuseum.org/soldiers-of-the-queens-own/dalton-charles-osborne/.

28. Botting, The D-Day Invasion, p. 188.

29. Grant, The Fuel of the Fire, p. 186.

30. Scannell, Arguments of Kings, p. 165.

31. Lovat, March Past, p. 346.

32. Lovat, March Past, p. 347.

33. Botting, The D-Day Invasion, p. 193.

34. Hastings, Overlord, p. 125.

35. Martin, Battle Diary, p. 21.

36. https://qormuseum.org/history/timeline-1925-1949/the-second-world-war/war-diaries-1944/.

37. The Rifleman: A Journal of the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada, July 1978, p. 8.

38. Martin, Battle Diary, p. 21.

39. According to Ian Dalton, Charles Dalton’s son, “Elliot was 5 years younger than Charles but they were quite close despite being of different temperaments. Charles was the more serious older brother, a natural leader and great public speaker. He loved standing up and holding forth. Elliot was the party animal extremely handsome and a lady killer as they used to say. The men loved him as one of theirs. Charles was respected but more distant. Charles was married to Helen for several years prior to the war with one child a girl named Jane who still lives in Oakville. Elliot was single and lived with Charles, Helen and Jane on Castlefield Avenue in Toronto in the pre-war years. Dad said Elliot often did not come home at night. He said Elliot used the house as ‘his operational base.’ This led to some confusion after D-Day. 2 Major Daltons with the QOR at the same address were wounded within days. Mum got confused telegrams saying Charles was wounded in the leg (actually Elliot), then one saying ignore the last telegram Charles was dead. Then another saying ignore last telegram he was wounded in the head but recovering. Helen and Jane spent summers at a summer camp for girls in Muskoka area. Elliot came back to Canada in 1945 and met Marie a New Zealand nurse. He married and had 3 children.” Ian Dalton, email to author, April 5, 2018.

40. The Rifleman: A Journal of the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada, July 1978, p. 8.

41. Undated press clipping, Dalton files, the Queen’s Own Rifles Regimental Museum and Archives, Toronto.

42. Toronto Globe and Mail, March 24, 1999.

43. The Rifleman: A Journal of the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada, July 1978, p. 8.

44. Johnson and Dunphie, Brightly Shone the Dawn, p. 80.

45. Max Hastings, Overlord, p. 66.

46. According to one account, the hill was of great significance: “Had the Green Howards been able to capture [it], and they so nearly did, the entire German position in the area west of Caen would have been extremely unpleasant.” The British belatedly understood the hill’s strategic value when it was finally captured on June 25. “It then became immediately clear why Rommel, after a visit to the area, had so hurriedly moved in one of his crack formations, the 12th SS Panzer Division. By an evil chance the leading element of the division moved into the area during the few hours between the relatively unopposed reconnaissance and the Green Howards’ attack.” Johnson and Dunphie, Brightly Shone the Dawn, p. 89.

47. Liddle, D-Day: By Those Who Were There, pp. 138–42.

48. Liddle, D-Day: By Those Who Were There, pp. 138–42.

49. Hastings, An Undergraduate’s War, pp. 132–33.

50. Hastings, An Undergraduate’s War, p. 134.

51. Hastings, Overlord, pp. 136–37.

52. Lovat, March Past, p. 349.

53. The Independent, March 20, 1995.

54. Lovat, March Past, p. 358.

55. Barber, The Day the Devils Dropped In, pp. 200–1.

56. For his actions at Merville, Otway would receive the Distinguished Service Order. Otway’s DSO citation reads: “For conspicuous bravery and outstanding leadership. This officer led 150 men of his bn on the successful attack of the Sallenelles battery. He personally directed the attack and organised the successful cleaning up of the enemy strong points under heavy enemy mortar and machine gun fire. He led the attack on and successfully held Le Plein until relieved by another formation. On arrival in the Le Mesnil area he succeeded in beating off two major enemy attacks of several hours duration by his magnificent leadership of his numerically very weak and tired bn. His utter disregard of personal danger has been an inspiration for all his men.” http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/terence_otway.htm.

57. Barber, The Day the Devils Dropped In, p. 202.

CHAPTER 12: A DIRTY BUSH WAR

1. Morgan, Past Forgetting, p. 194.

2. Murphy, Turncoat, pp. 225–26.

3. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe, p. 267.

4. Bob Slaughter, interview with author.

5. Moorehead, Eclipse, p. 140.

6. http://www.normandythenandnow.com/caen-before-and-after-the-battle-of-1944/.

7. Hastings, An Undergraduate’s War, p. 134.

8. Hastings, Overlord, p. 213.

9. Lieb, Konventioneller Krieg oder NS-Weltanschauungskrieg?, p. 176.

10. Morgan, D-Day Hero, p. 93.

11. Moorehead, Eclipse, pp. 142–43.

12. Roosevelt would posthumously receive the Medal of Honor: “For gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 6 June 1944, in France. After two verbal requests to accompany the leading assault elements in the Normandy invasion had been denied, Brig. Gen. Roosevelt’s written request for this mission was approved, and he landed with the first wave of the forces assaulting the enemy-held beaches. He repeatedly led groups from the beach, over the seawall, and established them inland. His valor, courage, and presence in the very front of the attack and his complete unconcern at being under heavy fire inspired the troops to heights of enthusiasm and self-sacrifice. Although the enemy had the beach under constant direct fire, Brig. Gen. Roosevelt moved from one locality to another, rallying men around him, directed and personally led them against the enemy. Under his seasoned, precise, calm, and unfaltering leadership, assault troops reduced beach strongpoints and rapidly moved inland with minimum casualties. He thus contributed substantially to the successful establishment of the beachhead in France.” Supernumerary General Officer, 4th Division, General Orders, September 28, 1944, National Archives (US).

13. Jeffers, Theodore Roosevelt Jr., p. 261.

14. Buckley, Monty’s Men, pp. 109–10.

15. Moorehead, Eclipse, p. 134.

16. Bradley, A General’s Life, p. 280.

17. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe, p. 272.

18. The Americans were as bogged down as their Allied comrades. The ancient hedgerows had robbed the armored units of mobility. One day late that July, a captain in the 102nd Cavalry Reconnaissance asked his men for ideas as to how to deal with the infernal bocage. One man spoke up. “Why don’t we get some saw teeth and put them on the front of the tank and cut through these hedges?” Several men laughed, but not Sergeant Curtis Culin, soon to be celebrated as a national hero in America as the man who got the Yank tanks rolling again. “Hang on a minute,” said Culin, “he’s got an idea there.” Before long, the famed “Rhino” was born—a Sherman tank modified to carry saw teeth and able to burst through a hedgerow, providing mobility at last. Hastings, Overlord, p. 252.

19. D’Este, Decision in Normandy, p. 414.

20. Grant, The Fuel of the Fire, p. 193.

21. John Spalding, medical record, courtesy of Max Poorthuis, president, 16th Infantry Regiment Historical Society.

22. Captain Edward Wozenski was still E Company commander. He recalled the following incident: “We were all so secretive, sworn to such secrecy, about these famous ‘DD tanks.’ Everyone knew those tanks were terrible! They were supposed to be these incredible tanks, but they performed so badly in tests we called them ‘Donald Ducks.’ We pleaded with the tank guys to use the British model, the Hobart Funnies, because they were proven to be successful in combat, but they didn’t listen to a thing we said. Those idiots almost cost us the invasion. So now here we are in Normandy, the day after the attack, and Sergeant Streczyk, what a sense of humor that man had, calls me over for a look-see into a bunker. The guy has a grin a mile wide. I frowned. Uh oh, here we go again. Now what? Was he going to fake blowing us both to pieces again? So he drags me inside this massive bunker and points. There on the wall the damn Germans had painted a picture of one of our precious secret Donald Duck tanks just so they would recognize it. The painting was so pretty it reminded me of a Betty Grable pin-up! I am surprised they didn’t add a big bosomed Fraulein sitting on the muzzle with a big smile on her face. Heck, that’s what our guys would have done. Good Lord, the Jerries had known about our vaunted secret weapon the whole time! All that secrecy! [Laughs] Streczyk and I howled over that one. Those idiot tank guys didn’t have a clue what they were doing.” Edward Wozenski, interview with Thames Television (1972).

23. John Spalding, medical record, courtesy of Max Poorthuis, president, 16th Infantry Regiment Historical Society.

24. Scott, Typhoon Pilot, p. 129.

25. Williams, D-Day to Berlin, p. 197.

26. Clay, Blood and Sacrifice, p. 207.

27. Hastings, Overlord, p. 313.

28. Lewis, Voices from D-Day, p. 282.

29. http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/the-hawker-typhoon-1a-1b-worst-raf-fighters-in-wwii/.

30. Veitch, Fly, p. 113.

31. Scott, Typhoon Pilot, p. 129.

32. Morgan, D-Day Hero, p. 102.

33. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe, p. 279.

34. Hastings, Overlord, p. 315.

35. Kershaw, Avenue of Spies, p. 172.

36. Alex Kershaw, “From D-Day to Paris: The Story of a Lifetime,” World War II Magazine, April/May 2012.

37. Williams, D-Day to Berlin, p. 205.

38. Hastings, Overlord, p. 313.

39. http://www.ddaymuseum.co.uk/d-day/d-day-and-the-battle-of-normandy-your-questions-answered.

CHAPTER 13: DEFEATING HITLER

1. https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-E-Breakout/USA-E-Breakout-30.html.

2. Phil Davison, “Lieutenant George Kerchner: Veteran of the D-Day Landings,” The Independent, March 10, 2012. That July 1944, Kerchner had been informed that R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. had announced on a radio show that in his honor, “the makers of Camel cigarettes are sending to our fighters overseas 400,000 Camel cigarettes”; Baltimore Sun, February 20, 2012.

3. Howard and Bates, The Pegasus Diaries, p. 157.

4. Ambrose, Pegasus Bridge, p. 164.

5. Ferguson, The Paras 1940–84, p. 26.

6. The Independent, January 30, 2013.

7. Middlebrook, Arnhem 1944, p. 439.

8. http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/101st-in-operation-market-garden-taking-the-bridge-at-best/.

9. http://www.ww2-airborne.us/units/502/502.html. The other recipient was Lieutenant Colonel Robert G. Cole, also of the 502nd PIR.

10. http://www.101airborneww2.com/warstories2.html.

11. http://www.lonesentry.com/gi_stories_booklets/101stairborne/.

12. E Company, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division, “A History of Company E from June 1942,” After Action Report, National Archives (US).

13. John Spalding, medical record, courtesy of Max Poorthuis, president, 16th Infantry Regiment Historical Society.

14. Pike County Courier, May 24, 2017.

15. World War II Magazine, June 12, 2006.

16. Preisler, First to Jump, p. 238.

17. Jake McNiece, 506th PIR, 101st Airborne, oral history, Pathfinder, Witness to War Foundation, witnesstowar.org.

18. McNiece, oral history.

19. Preisler, First to Jump, p. 238.

20. Jack Agnew, “Live from Bastogne,” The Pathfinder (9th TC Command Pathfinder Association), vol. 1, no. 4 (1986), p. 4. See also McNiece and Killblane, The Filthy Thirteen, p. 276.

21. Preisler, First to Jump, p. 242.

22. Interview with Staff Sergeant Jake McNiece, 506th Parachute Infantry, 101st Airborne Division, http://www.witnesstowar.org/search_result/videos/10.

23. World War II Magazine, June 12, 2006.

24. Koskimaki, The Battered Bastards of Bastogne, p. 507.

25. Hastings, Overlord, p. 193.

26. E Company, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division, “A History of Company E from June 1942,” After Action Report, National Archives (US), p. x.

27. Hastings, Overlord, p. 247.

28. Bruce C. Clarke, “Study of AGF Battle Casualties,” September 1946, National Archives (US).

29. In all there were 929,307 individual cases in WWII of men who were treated for what became an epidemic problem. More than one in four men in US combat divisions in Europe had become such casualties since D-Day.

30. Moen and Heinen, Reflections of Courage on D-Day, p. 172. By the end of the battle, only twelve of the seventy-two men who had landed on Omaha Beach with Parker were still able to fight.

31. Sevareid, Not So Wild a Dream, p. 497.

32. Breuer, Geronimo, p. 545.

33. Breuer, Geronimo, p. 598.

34. http://www.americanairmuseum.com/person/242977.

35. https://www.airspacemag.com/daily-planet/pilot-who-led-d-day-invasion-180951679/.

36. http://theprovince.com/opinion/letters-d-day-pilot-diwali-lincoln-burnaby-hospital-haida-gwaii-rats-romney-obama-amanda-todd-bullying-gas-tax.

37. Clay, Blood and Sacrifice, p. 238.

38. E Company, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division, “A History of Company E from June 1942,” After Action Report, National Archives (US), p. xii.

39. Kershaw, The Liberator, p. 324.

40. Howard and Bates, The Pegasus Diaries, p. 157.

41. Howard and Bates, The Pegasus Diaries, p. 157.

42. Brinkley, The Boys of Pointe du Hoc, p. 97.

43. Moen and Heinen, Reflections of Courage on D-Day, pp. 197–204.

44. John Spalding, medical record, courtesy of Max Poorthuis, president, 16th Infantry Regiment Historical Society.

45. John Spalding, medical record, courtesy of Max Poorthuis, president, 16th Infantry Regiment Historical Society.

46. Warwick Advertiser, 25 May 2017.

47. http://2ndww.blogspot.fr/2013/07/the-wartime-treachery-of-harold-cole.html.

48. Murphy, Turncoat, p. 222.

49. Murphy, Turncoat, p. 229.

50. Murphy, Turncoat, p. 245.

51. Harold Cole, Security Service personal files, August 21, 1945–December 23, 1946, files KV 2/415–KV 2/417, National Archives (UK).

52. Murphy, Turncoat, p. 222.

53. Preisler, First to Jump, p. 142.

54. Preisler, First to Jump, p. 142.

55. Life, December 3, 1945.

56. New York Times, March 8, 1971.

EPILOGUE: IN MEMORIAM

1. Lewis, Voices from D-Day, p. 296.

2. Collier’s, June 11, 1954.

3. Collier’s, June 11, 1954.

4. http://www.myaggienation.com/aggie_profiles/gen-james-earl-rudder-led-texas-a-m-through-immense/article_c8ad387e-0f43-11e3-824c-0019bb2963f4.html.

5. Brinkley, The Boys of Pointe du Hoc, p. 97.

6. D-Day Plus 20 Years: Eisenhower Returns to Normandy, presented by Walter Cronkite, CBS Reports, CBS News, June 1964.

7. http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/reagan-d-day.htm.

8. Daily Telegraph, July 16, 2014.

9. Daily Telegraph, July 25, 2006.

10. VSD magazine, June 8, 1994.

11. New York Times, March 14, 2012.

12. Baltimore Sun, February 20, 2012.

13. New York Times, March 14, 2012.

14. News Broadcast, GMTV (UK), June 6, 1994.

15. Lovat, March Past, p. 360.

16. Lovat had been seriously wounded in Normandy but eventually made a full recovery. In early 1945, as undersecretary of state for foreign affairs, he was part of a parliamentary delegation sent to meet Stalin in Moscow. Winston Churchill wrote to Stalin before the visit, telling him that Lovat was “the mildest-mannered man that ever scuttled a ship or cut a throat.” Lovat then served as minister of economic warfare. He resigned after Churchill’s Conservative Party was heavily defeated by the Labour Party in July 1945. The swing to Labor was 12 percent, the largest in British parliamentary history. Lovat then returned to Scotland, where he managed his estate, but he did not entirely turn his back on politics, serving as a speaker on Highland affairs in the House of Lords. He was also a member of Inverness County Council for forty-two years. He died in 1995. Bull, Commando Tactics, p. 107.

17. The Independent, March 20, 1995.

18. Dan Farley, interview with author.

19. The Independent, December 21, 2013.

20. The Independent, December 21, 2013.

21. Mark Worthington, interview with author.

22. Daily Mail, December 26, 2012.

23. Morgan, D-Day Hero, p. 107.

24. Darlington & Stockton Times, June 3, 2014.

25. Daily Mail, December 26, 2012.

26. Léon Gautier, interview with author.