Over 160,000 service personnel landed on the Normandy beaches on D‐Day, 6 June, 1944, and every one of those surviving will have his own impressions and memories of that historic day. Ask any two veterans who were in the same platoon or unit about their memories and you would get two different versions. In this book, Dr. Peter Liddle, director of The Second World War Experience Centre at Horsforth, Leeds, UK, has encapsulated the recollections of over 150 of those who were there. The Second World War Experience Centre was set up a few years ago by Dr. Liddle and associates, and it now contains in its archives thousands of recorded interviews with wartime personnel of many nations, together with original diaries and much printed and pictorial material from books, articles and personal presentations.
The chapters of Peter Liddle's book cover most aspects of D‐Day, from planning and training, through deception methods, assembling, and the airborne assault, to the air support, the medical and supply services, and ending with a chapter on Women and D‐Day. In between, there are chapters on each of the five invasion beaches ‐ Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword ‐ and these perhaps are the most poignant of any in the book. The personal reminiscences recorded here are mainly culled from the archives of The Second World War Experience Centre, being from taped interviews and correspondence with American, British, Canadian and Commonwealth personnel, plus some from German soldiers and others from French civilians who were caught up in the initial phases of the launching of the Second Front. Emerging over and over again from the recorded memories of those who took part is a consciousness that they were indeed making history on June 6, 1944.
The book is profusely illustrated, though it has to be said that some of the pictures are rather murky. But, taken alongside the stark reminiscences recording the naval bombardment, the bombings, the deeds of the parachutists and glider regiments, the wet landings suffered by the infantry and the tank personnel, the experiences of pilots, marines, officers, NCOs, GIs and privates, they combine to present unforgettable images of what one contributor describes as “one of the most eventful days in history”. Maps of all the landing beaches are provided, but being reproductions of operational plans they are not always helpful to the present‐day reader. In fact, this reviewer found it necessary to refer to Field Marshal Montgomery's book Normandy to the Rhine, to find maps supplementing those included by Dr. Liddle. There is an index of the names of the contributors, but an index of the units involved, and perhaps to the French towns and villages mentioned in the text, would also have been helpful.
This may not be a reference book of the A‐Z calibre, but since there are so many personal accounts of those who participated in the D‐Day landings, it will always be found valuable for answering questions posed by future researchers. If an encyclopedia is needed to supplement this work, Peter Liddle's recommended reading draws attention to Chandler and Lawson (1994).
Was D‐Day a success, and was it justified in view of the many casualties suffered? After June 6, 1944 progress was slow until the break‐out from the Normandy bridgehead in August, but after that the advances across France, Belgium and Holland were sensational. Montgomery had always said that it would be D+90 before the Seine was crossed, but in fact the Allied forces were into Belgium by that date. D‐Day itself was, despite the inevitable losses, an outstanding success, and this reflected great credit on all who took part, from Eisenhower and Montgomery down.
Dr. Liddle, himself a noted historian, has conceived and produced a book which should take pride of place in libraries everywhere.
