SWORD: D-Day Trial by Battle

By the time of the D-Day landings on 6 June1944, the Allies were expected to win the war, and the invasion of France finally made it a reality. As always, Max Hastings has an unexpected angle: more than half the British army spent the years between Dunkirk and D-Day training in England, with the result that when they reached the carnage of the landing beaches, for many of these untried soldiers the first shots they experienced could also be the last. 19-year-old Will Todd of the East Yorkshires wrote to his wife, "I have dreaded going to sleep in case I dream I am back on that beach". Those who landed on Sword beach near Caen and its adjoining paratrooper drop zone were drawn from the 3rd infantry and 6th airborne division, together with commandos of the 1st and 4th special services brigades. While giving a broad overview of the landings the author also focuses on individual stories, quoting from letters home and not shrinking from the poignancy of youthful hopes that were destined to be cut off. Particularly heroic were the men who descended from tanks to place markers for the succeeding wave, many of whom were easily picked off by snipers. D-Day represented the moment of resurrection after many defeats and humiliations. Although El Alamein was the only battle won by the British without the aid of American forces, on D-Day the British were dominant in planning, logistics and training. Mistakes were made on both sides. 6 June was Rommel's wife's birthday and he went off to celebrate, failing to command his troops as they mustered to counter the invasion. The book analyses Montgomery's failure to advance as far as Caen, but it was also Montgomery who rightly in Hastings's view insisted that the landings should be spread across five beaches rather than the original three. In particular, British communications systems were less good than German and American. 372pp, monochrome photos, maps.