D-Day: The Greatest Invasion

FOREWORD BY THE AUTHOR

IN ALKMAAR, a market town in the Dutch province of North Holland, the news of the Allied landing in France on June 6, 1944, evoked a mixture of euphoria and apprehension — as it did all over Nazi-occupied Europe. I was born there in 1939, to an English mother and a Dutch father, and lived there until the end of 1945. My first memories are of the German occupation of the town — and of our liberation by the Canadian army at the very end of the Second World War.
So, assuming their landing succeeded, the Allies were coming at last. But how much death and destruction would the defeat of Hitler add to the four years of suffering and fear already endured? This anxiety would prove particularly well-founded in all of the Netherlands north of the Rhine, which was bypassed in the Allied drive toward the Ruhr and Berlin. We were thus not liberated until the bitter end of the war in Europe, by the Canadians. By then many thousands of Dutch people had needlessly and tragically died of starvation in the notorious “Hunger Winter.”
This personal reminiscence is offered as one small example of how much was at stake on the broad, sandy beaches of Normandy on what went down in history as “D-Day.” My vivid recollection of the end of the Second World War in Holland is one reason why I wrote this book.
Although it was a serious offense to listen to the BBC, my parents — like many others — regularly tuned in on an illegal crystal wireless set they had hidden up the living-room chimney. (Since we did not have any fuel, there was no better use for the chimney.) We lived directly opposite a youth camp turned German barracks, and the house next door was under military occupation, so the risk was not to be taken lightly. At midday on June 6, the BBC announced:

Under the command of General Eisenhower, Allied naval forces supported by strong air forces began landing Allied armies this morning on the coast of France.

There are other reasons for this re-examination of D-Day and the ensuing struggle for victory in Normandy. I met many veterans of the campaign when I visited the area during my research. There were hearteningly large numbers of elderly ex-soldiers in their blazers, berets and medals. More than a few relied on wheelchairs, crutches or canes, but the majority seemed in good spirits — thanks in large measure to the hospitality of the people of Normandy, repeated every June. But it is a sobering thought, as the sixtieth anniversary looms, that a soldier who was just eighteen years old on June 6, 1944, is approaching his seventy-eighth year now. Many of the veterans I met were considerably older; several veterans’ associations have already disbanded for lack of numbers. The sixtieth is therefore especially poignant as the last “round number” anniversary likely to be attended by a notable number of participants in Adolf Hitler’s greatest defeat.

Many fine books have been written about D-Day and what followed. Some are oral histories, while others concentrate on grand strategy; yet others focus on one nation’s (or one individual’s) role. As a veteran of sorts myself, though only of military history, I offer this all-round, warts-and-all view of the conflict — looking at it not only from both sides but also from above (the strategic aspect) and below (quoting ordinary soldiers, sailors and airmen). Such an overall perspective is not unique, but it is unusual. The purpose of the text, supported by many illustrations and explanatory material, is to offer the reader a clear overview — not only of who did what where and when, but also how and why they did it.

DAN VAN DER VAT is the author of Pearl Harbor: The Day of Infamy — An Illustrated History, which was hailed as the most “accurate, colorful and authentic” account ever presented of the attack. His two definitive studies of World War II battles at sea — The Atlantic Campaign and The Pacific Campaign: The U.S.-Japanese Naval War, 1941–45 — are on the recommended reading list for officers in the United States Navy. His other books include The Riddle of the Titanic, The Grand Scuttle, The Good Nazi: The Life and Lies of Albert Speer and, most recently, Standard of Power: The Royal Navy in the Twentieth Century.

TOP PHOTO CAPTION: The author as a young boy joins a British soldier on guard duty in the town of Alkmaar, Holland, shortly after its liberation in May 1945.

D-Day: The Greatest Invasion – A People’s History by Dan van der Vat
Copyright 2003 A BLOOMSBURY / MADISON PRESS BOOK
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		FOREWORD BY THE AUTHOR IN ALKMAAR, a market town in the Dutch province of North Holland, the news of the Allied landing in France on June 6, 1944, evoked a mixture of euphoria and apprehension — as it did all over Nazi-occupied Europe. I was born there in 1939, to an English mother and a Dutch father, and lived there until the end of 1945. My first memories are of the German occupation of the town — and of our liberation by the Canadian army at the very end of the Second World War. So, assuming their landing succeeded, the Allies were coming at last. But how much death and destruction would the defeat of Hitler add to the four years of suffering and fear already endured? This anxiety would prove particularly well-founded in all of the Netherlands north of the Rhine, which was bypassed in the Allied drive toward the Ruhr and Berlin. We were thus not liberated until the bitter end of the war in Europe, by the Canadians. By then many thousands of Dutch people had needlessly and tragically died of starvation in the notorious “Hunger Winter.” This personal reminiscence is offered as one small example of how much was at stake on the broad, sandy beaches of Normandy on what went down in history as “D-Day.” My vivid recollection of the end of the Second World War in Holland is one reason why I wrote this book. Although it was a serious offense to listen to the BBC, my parents — like many others — regularly tuned in on an illegal crystal wireless set they had hidden up the living-room chimney. (Since we did not have any fuel, there was no better use for the chimney.) We lived directly opposite a youth camp turned German barracks, and the house next door was under military occupation, so the risk was not to be taken lightly. At midday on June 6, the BBC announced: Under the command of General Eisenhower, Allied naval forces supported by strong air forces began landing Allied armies this morning on the coast of France. There are other reasons for this re-examination of D-Day and the ensuing struggle for victory in Normandy. I met many veterans of the campaign when I visited the area during my research. There were hearteningly large numbers of elderly ex-soldiers in their blazers, berets and medals. More than a few relied on wheelchairs, crutches or canes, but the majority seemed in good spirits — thanks in large measure to the hospitality of the people of Normandy, repeated every June. But it is a sobering thought, as the sixtieth anniversary looms, that a soldier who was just eighteen years old on June 6, 1944, is approaching his seventy-eighth year now. Many of the veterans I met were considerably older; several veterans’ associations have already disbanded for lack of numbers. The sixtieth is therefore especially poignant as the last “round number” anniversary likely to be attended by a notable number of participants in Adolf Hitler’s greatest defeat. Many fine books have been written about D-Day and what followed. Some are oral histories, while others concentrate on grand strategy; yet others focus on one nation’s (or one individual’s) role. As a veteran of sorts myself, though only of military history, I offer this all-round, warts-and-all view of the conflict — looking at it not only from both sides but also from above (the strategic aspect) and below (quoting ordinary soldiers, sailors and airmen). Such an overall perspective is not unique, but it is unusual. The purpose of the text, supported by many illustrations and explanatory material, is to offer the reader a clear overview — not only of who did what where and when, but also how and why they did it. — Dan van der Vat, London, April 2003 DAN VAN DER VAT is the author of Pearl Harbor: The Day of Infamy — An Illustrated History, which was hailed as the most “accurate, colorful and authentic” account ever presented of the attack. His two definitive studies of World War II battles at sea — The Atlantic Campaign and The Pacific Campaign: The U.S.-Japanese Naval War, 1941–45 — are on the recommended reading list for officers in the United States Navy. His other books include The Riddle of the Titanic, The Grand Scuttle, The Good Nazi: The Life and Lies of Albert Speer and, most recently, Standard of Power: The Royal Navy in the Twentieth Century. TOP PHOTO CAPTION: The author as a young boy joins a British soldier on guard duty in the town of Alkmaar, Holland, shortly after its liberation in May 1945. Back to Top D-Day: The Greatest Invasion – A People’s History by Dan van der Vat Copyright 2003 A BLOOMSBURY / MADISON PRESS BOOK Website designed and developed by PageWave Graphics Inc.