Written by one of the world's leading experts on D-Day, Smashing
Hitler's Guns is a ground-breaking new history of the legendary
Rangers' attack on Pointe-du-Hoc.
The Ranger attack on the German gun batteries at Pointe-du-Hoc in the
early morning hours of D-Day is the stuff of legend. The gun batteries
were strategically positioned between the two American D-Day landing
beaches, and were considered the main threat to the Operation Neptune
landings. In spite of the confusion and chaos of the June 6, 1944
mission, the Rangers succeeded in scaling the 100-foot cliffs, but the
guns were nowhere to be found. Spreading out in all directions, a Ranger
team managed to find and spike the guns at their hidden location south
of Pointe-du-Hoc. For two days, this small force fought off repeated
German attacks, until an American relief force finally arrived on 8
June, by which time more than half the Rangers were casualties.
The heroic Ranger mission at Pointe-du-Hoc has indeed become a sacred
legend, and as a result there are many unexplored controversies. This
new book on this famous raid takes a fresh and comprehensive look at the
attack on Pointe-du-Hoc, examining the creation of the German gun
battery, the initial Allied intelligence assessments of the threat, and
the early plans to assault the site. The forgotten Allied bombing
attacks on Pointe-du-Hoc are detailed, as well as the subsequent Allied
intelligence investigations of the results. While most accounts of
Pointe-du-Hoc are based on the published US Army history, the author has
tracked down the long-forgotten original, unedited report in the
archives that contains a number of curious changes from the better-known
and widely accepted version. Little-known interviews of the Rangers who
took part in the mission also shed fresh light and a significant number
of German records provide the enemy perspective of the battle for
control of the guns.
