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The aim of this book is to look at every key element of the British and Canadian military machine during the Normandy campaign, examining how each branch operated in some detail. We thus get sections on infantry tactics, intelligence gathering, military medical, the artillery and so on, each explaining what was expected of that branch of the armed forces and how those tasks were carried out.
Each section begins by explaining what that branch of the military was expected to do and how that was organised. We then move on to a series of examples, each based around eyewitness accounts of the action. The aim here is to illustrate different elements of combat, rather than produce a narrative of any particular battle, so we are often presented with a series of extracts from different incidents, each helping build up a more complete picture.
The section on armoured warfare differs a little from the others, in that it has to deal more directly with the German opposition – the German tanks, anti tank guns, infantry anti tank weapons and their impact on British tanks. As well as a series of extracts illustrating how the British armour operated, we thus also get a more harrowing series looking at the damage that could be done to British tanks by Germany weaponry.
Chapters
1 - Introduction and Campaign Overview
2 - 'Closing with the Enemy' - The Infantry
3 - 'Neptune's Trident' - Naval Support
4 - 'First in, Last Out' - Engineers
5 - 'Queen of the Battlefield' - Artillery
6 - 'By Air to Battle' - Air Power and Air Support
7 - 'Knowledge Gives Strength to Arm' - Intelligence and Reconnaissance
8 - 'Penetrating the Fog' - Command and Control
9 - 'Faithful in Adversity' - Medical Services
10 - 'Grim Summer' - Life in Normandy 1944
11 - 'From Mud, Through Blood to the Green Fields Beyond' - Armour
12 - 'Our Greatest Generation'
Author: Ben Kite
Edition: Hardcover
Pages: 488
Publisher: Helion
Year: 2014