The 101st Airborne In Normandy June 1944

“A condensed ‘Band of Brothers’ with profiles of Richard Winters and Easy company as well as the German and American Generals . . . 5 stars” (Army Rumour Service). 101st Airborne Division was activated in August 1942 in Louisiana, and its first combat mission was Operation Overlord. On D-Day—June 6, 1944—101st and 82nd Airborne dropped onto the Cotentin Peninsula hours before the landings, tasked with capturing bridges and positions, taking out German strongpoints and batteries, and securing the exits from Utah and Omaha Beaches. Things did not initially go smoothly for 101st Airborne, with cloud and antiaircraft fire disrupting the drops. Casualties were high in some areas due to heavy pre-registered German fire. Nevertheless, the paratroopers fought on, and they did manage to secure the crucial beach exits, even if they only achieved a tenuous hold on some other positions. A few days later, 101st Airborne was tasked with attacking the German-held city of Carentan as part of the consolidation of the US beachheads and establishment of a defensive line against the anticipated German counteroffensive. The 101st forced its way into Carentan on June 10 and 11. The Germans withdrew the following day, and a counteroffensive was put down by elements of the 2nd Armored Division. This fully illustrated book details the planning of the airborne element of D-Day and the execution of the plans until the troops were withdrawn to prepare for the next big airborne operation, Market Garden. “Always good to read a detailed account of one division’s contribution to Operation Overlord. The detail is exceptional and fascinating.” —Books Monthly

A collection of eyewitness accounts of the Normandy landings that “gives you the [feeling] that you are there during the frenzied first hours of the invasion” (Kepler’s Military History Book Reviews). Many professional historians have recorded the actions of D-Day but here is an account of the airborne actions as described by the actual men themselves, in eyewitness detail. Participants range from division command personnel to regimental, battalion, company, and battery commanders, to chaplains, surgeons, enlisted medics, platoon sergeants, squad leaders and the rough, tough troopers who adapted quickly to fighting in mixed, unfamiliar groups after a badly scattered drop. And yet they managed to gain the objectives set for them in the hedgerow country of Normandy. This book is primary source material. It is a “must read” for anyone interested in the Normandy landings, the 101st Airborne Division, and World War II in general. Hearing the soldiers speak is an entirely different experience from reading about the action in a narrative history.

A fascinating text and over 150 black-and-white photographs tell the story ofthe Allied assault on Festung-Europa.

"The 101st Airborne Division?the "Screaming Eagles"[1]?is a U.S. Army modular light infantry division trained for air assault operations. During World War II, it was renowned for its role in Operation Overlord?the D-Day landings starting 6 June 1944, in Normandy, France?, Operation Market Garden, the liberation of the Netherlands and action during the Battle of the Bulge around the city of Bastogne, Belgium. During the Vietnam War, the 101st Airborne Division fought in several major campaigns and battles including the fight for Hamburger Hill in May 1969"--Wikipedia.

On 18 December 1935 when the first flight of the Douglas DC-3 took place, few could have imagined that it would become one of the world’s most celebrated aircraft of all time, not just as a commercial airliner but also as the C-47 military transport. When production ceased in the summer of 1945, a total of 10,926 had been built. This wonderfully versatile aircraft played a significant part in airborne operations around the world; but perhaps its most notable employment occurred during the June 1944 Normandy campaign. This important episode within the wider history of ‘D-Day' is enlivened here in classic fashion by Martin Bowman, in a narrative that features both extensive historical notes as well as deeply personal accounts of endurance and individual gallantry. This amplified account of events as they unfolded in the skies above France on D-Day (5/6 and 6/7 June, 1944) reveals the invaluable contribution these workhorses of World War II made to the overall success in Normandy. It follows the author’s comprehensive five part work published by Pen & Sword (Air War D-Day) that included a multitude of personal military accounts from both Allied and German personnel who took part in Operation ‘Overlord’ and the Normandy campaign.

A minute-by-minute and day-by-day account of the elite 101st Airborne’s daring parachute landing behind enemy lines at Normandy is accompanied by firsthand accounts from Airborne veterans and forty incredible, previously unknown (let alone published) color photos of the “Screaming Eagles” at Normandy and in Great Britain prior to the invasion. Accompanying these remarkable D-Day color Kodachromes—which were unearthed in the attic of an Army doctor’s daughter—are more than two hundred black-and-white photographs from 101st survivors and the author’s own private collection. This is an unprecedented look at an elite fighting force during one of the last century’s most crucial moments.

On the night of 5- 6 June 1944, US paratroopers of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions were dropped over the Cotentin peninsula, on the western part of the Normandy beachhead. The uniforms, equipment and small arms of these men immortalized by 'Band of Brothers' are presented here in the sharpest detail, as well as their orders of battle and insignia. Illustrated throughout in full color. "Another treasure from ... Histoire & Collections ... a superb color photographic collection" Military Trader, May 2005