D-Day: By Those Who Were There [Hardcover]

Peter Liddle (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 25, 2004

Drawing upon a new international archive of the Second World War, the support of veterans world-wide and from archives overseas, the author uses previously unpublished letters, diaries, photographs and reminiscences to tell the story of D Day in a way which brings the reader closer to the actual experience. from an aerial, naval and land perspective the events of D Day are captured superbly in wartime contemporary and retrospective documentation.

Each of the beaches is fully represented. American, Canadian and British testimony is supported by new, compelling, German material. Appropriately the RAF and Merchant Navy experience appear as do the contemporary and retrospective reactions of women ‘in the know’ and those whom knew from ‘unofficial sources’ of the immediate imminence of the assault.

The reader will share in each stage of the day from the experience of paratroops and glider-borne troops to crossing the Channel by sea and at the landings on each beach. The book is profusely illustrated with previously unpublished photographs ad facsimile documentation and provides a treasure-trove of evidence on the 60th anniversary of 6th June 1944

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Pen & Sword (May 25, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844150798
• ISBN-13: 978-1844150793
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,735,095 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent You-Are-There Account of D-Day!, August 7, 2010

By 

Michael OConnor "Wordsmith" (Wausau, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: D-Day: By Those Who Were There (Hardcover)

D-DAY BY THOSE WHO WERE THERE is a treasure trove of first-person accounts by men and women of all nationalities who took part in the Normandy Invasion. As such, it offers the modern-day reader a rare, up-close-and-personal view of that epic event.

Peter Liddle's book divides the personal accounts into 14 chapters covering pre-invasion training/planning/assembling, the airborne assault, crossing the Channel/Naval ops/Naval bombardment, Utah Beach, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and so on. The hundreds of accounts include reminiscences, diary excerpts and unpublished letters from Allied and Axis soldiers, sailors, airmen and civilians. They range in length from a single paragraph to several pages long. Dozens of b&w photographs, diagrams, maps and illustrations are included throughout the book.

The bulk of the material is drawn from the archives of England's Second World War Experience Centre in Horsforth, Leeds. The Centre, whose director happens to be Peter Liddle(!), is the ONLY archive dedicated to the Second World War. Its mission is to preserve the recollections of military veterans and civilians of all nations who lived during the war. Other materials came from the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans, etc.

D-DAY BY THOSE WHO WERE THERE offers a fascinating smorgasbord of viewpoints ranging from a British major assigned to Bradley's 12th Army Group staff to a Wehrmacht machine-gunner defending Omaha Beach, the skipper of a RN minesweeper to an 82nd Airborne paratrooper, a Canadian artilleryman to a RAF Lancaster gunner, a WREN Signals Clerk to a Canadian war correspondent and so on. Generally it's a good blend of voices although I think not enough American reminiscences were used in the Omaha Beach chapter.

In any case, Liddle's book is a great piece of history brought to life. Read Liddle's book and then pick up a copy of D-DAY IN PHOTOGRAPHS by Andrew Whitmarsh, another recent book I reviewed which is authored by the curator/director of an English D-Day museum. Together they offer a marvelous text and photo overview of the Normandy Invasion.