Cracking Hitler S Atlantic Wall

Refreshingly different perspective on the momentous events of D-Day.

'Without the networks of the French Resistance, the invasion would not have been possible' Major General Walter Bedell Smith, Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force Days after France fell in June 1940, Charles de Gaulle appointed André Dewavrin to create, from scratch, the Free French Intelligence Service. Recruiting agents among the sailors, farmers, painters, housewives and children of Occupied France, he managed cells of spies across the country, and focused their attention on one goal: preparing for the Allied invasion of France, even at the risk of torture and death. Hitler’s fortifications along the European coastline – known as the Atlantic Wall – were their target. Gun battery locations, troop movements, and more... All this information was funnelled back to the Allies by a network of brave individuals, creating a living map that became essential to the planning of D-Day, and the selection of Normandy as the invasion point. Using a wealth of material both published and unpublished, including interviews with Dewavrin and de Gaulle himself, Collier has produced an authentic record of one of the most remarkable episodes of the Second World War; a human story of a group of ordinary people whose faith paved the way for Eisenhower’s great sweep across Europe. Perfect for readers of Antony Beevor and Max Hastings.

Refreshingly different perspective on the momentous events of D-Day Nuts-and-bolts narrative of how the landings were carried out along with details on the unique British armored vehicles used in the invasion The controversy over the U.S. refusal to use these vehicles, which may have contributed to bloody American losses on Omaha Beach Landing with the British and Canadians in Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944, was the 1st Assault Brigade Royal Engineers, a specialized armored unit tasked with removing obstacles and mines from Gold, Juno, and Sword Beaches. To support this mission, the engineers modified their tanks with ingenious innovations, such as replacing the main gun with a giant mortar or attaching a steamroller-like device to flatten a path in the sand. In the early hours of D-Day, the brigade landed under fire, and took serious casualties in some areas, but achieved many of its key objectives and cleared the way for the infantry.

"Hitler's Antlantic Wall first examines the labor force and construction, bunker types and their weaponry, the German defensive strategy and its defects before providing a country-by-country gazetteer of the most significant Atlantic Wall sites from the southwest coast of France , through Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark to the northermost coast of Norway, attacked by the Red Army in late 1944..."--Publisher description.

A study of the planning and thinking that went into the creation of Hitler's "Atlantic Wall," which was intended to prevent the D-Day invasion and throw Allied soldiers back into the sea. The book details how and why the Atlantic Wall failed to perform as Hitler intended.

Based on declassified wartime reports, this in-depth dossier details the inner workings of the Organisation Todt which not only built the Autobahns, but also Germany's Siegfried Line and Atlantic Wall.