June 6th, 1944: D-Day, a day of immense hope and trepidation, had finally dawned. It was time to go. But the night before the Allied armada crossed the Channel, airborne troops had already played a role crucial to the success of the entire operation - they had eased the task of the invaders by hindering the German response. This is what the men of the 6th Airborne had set out to accomplish in their surprise attacks behind the enemy lines at Pegasus Bridge and the Merville Battery, placenames now synonymous with the history of D-Day.
Out of the depths of the night came the Red Devils...
East of the Orne River, the paratroopers and glider-borne soldiers were staking their claim in Normandy and securing their objectives. In the space of a few hours they had captured intact the bridges at Bénouville and Ranville, put the powerful guns at Merville out of action, and at the Dives and Divette destroyed the bridges which would have allowed the enemy to launch a counterattack on the British and Canadian beaches. By the time D-Day dawned, the
6th Airborne had taken all its objectives. Mission accomplished!
The brutal struggle of the Battle of Normandy
But then they had to hold on. Hold on in order to make an impenetrable barrier between the Germans and the vital flow of men and supplies that poured in each and every day over Gold, Sword, and Juno Beaches. So began a war of positions that lasted for more than two months until the Allied breakout in August unleashed a pursuit of the retreating but defiant enemy, first to the Seine River, and on to the Ardennes, the Rhine, and finally the Baltic.
Mythic relics of the past enhance the story
The authentic objects presented in this work, many published here for the first time, accompanied the men of the 6th Airborne from beginning to end. They endure as testimonies to their courage and, in not a few instances, to their sacrifice in undertaking the liberation of western Europe. These relics, now the stuff of legend - Major John Howard's helmet or Piper Bill Millin's bagpipes - will carry you back into the very heart of the action, and into the heart of history itself.
This book is published in partnership with the Pegasus Memorial in Ranville (France). Translated by Eric McGeer.
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