An illustrated study of the little-known history of the failed Allied
bombing campaign designed to shatter German defenses on D-Day.
D-Day is one of the most written-about events in military history. One
aspect of the invasion, however, continues to be ignored: the massive
pre-assault bombardment by the Allied Expeditionary Air Force (AEAF),
reinforced by RAF Bomber Command and the US Eighth Air Force on June 6
which sought to neutralize the German defenses along the Atlantic Wall.
Unfortunately, this failed series of attacks resulted in death or injury
to hundreds of soldiers, and killed many French civilians.
Despite an initial successful attack performed by the Allied forces, the
most crucial phase of the operation, which was the assault from the
Eighth Air Force against the defenses along the Calvados coast, was
disastrous. The bombers missed almost all of their targets, inflicting
little damage to the German defenses, which resulted in a high number of
casualties among the Allied infantry. The primary cause of this failure
is that planners at Eighth Air Force Headquarters changed the aircraft
drop times at the last moment, to prevent casualties amongst the landing
forces, without notifying either Eisenhower or Doolittle. The book
examines this generally forgotten event in detail, answering several
fundamental questions: What was the AEAF supposed to accomplish along
the Atlantic Wall on D-Day and why did it not achieve its bombardment
objectives?
Offering a new perspective on a little-known air campaign meant to
support one of the most famous offensive actions of World War II, this
volume is packed with illustrations, maps, and diagrams exploring in
detail the features and the ramifications of this mission.
