Customer Reviews

S-Day: A Memoir of the Invasion of England

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Instead of invading Russia in the summer of 1941 Hitler decides to knock England out of the war with a full-scale invasion in the spring of 1942. Awaiting the German armada is a hastily assembled American Expeditionary Force and the war-weary Brits. The story is told from the point of view of the American commanding general's aide, Col. Royce. Royce tells more than the story of the invasion as he examines the motives, mistakes, loves, fears, and strategy of General Wilson Clay, a flawed but fearless American leader determined that Britain will not fall to the Nazis. As a fan of alternate history I can tell you that this is one of the best the genre has to offer. Stewart's spins on historical fact make this novel all the more compelling. For instance, Clay and his British superiors have the same arguments about meeting the invaders on the beach that Rommel and Hitler had in the real war. Also, the real-life allies' 'Operation: Fortitude' is turned into a German ruse to fool the allied armies as to where the blow will land. The weakness of this book lies in it's dealing with the war in the whole, outside of the battle. The final outcome the alternate World War is only metioned in passing and isn't as satisfying as it could be. That aside, 'S-Day' is a lot of fun. I looked for nearly four years before I found a copy of this book and it was well worth the wait.

Thayer creates an absorbing and interesting historical "what-if" of a full scale German invasion of England during World War II. It is told from the viewpoint of an officer who had access to the great allied decision makers of the day. "S-Day" is also the story of fictional General Wilson Clay, leader of the American Expeditionary Forces in England. The story is plausible in both its historical setting and its character portrayal of the participants. A very unique look at World War II through the mechanism of a hypothetical campaign. Worth reading!

This is an alternative history novel with novel twist to it. It addresses an important issue of social and geopolitical importance, which is not what happens in most counterfactual history books.

The most widely read counterfactual histories wander off into an unrecognizable future which no thinking person can believe, given the contingent nature of historical events.

The more common variety stop short to give a new ending to a historical event, without exploring the extended ramifications.

Think Turtledove's series of book on an alternative outcome to the American Civil War for an example of the first option, where the whole history of the world is explored though the end of World War II with a divided United States taking different sides in both World War I and World War II.

But as I said, S-Day is different. It starts by imagining that Nazi Germany had avoided war with the Soviet Union in 1941 The reason is not given, is not important, and is within the range of possibility. Simply imagine some new arrangement between Hitler and Stalin that keeps the Nazi-peace in Europe


But also image that after the Japanese Bomb Pearl Harbor, Germany declares war on the United States as it did in our real time line. Then what? This is an interesting counterfactual scenario. If you buy into the author's premise, then many of the events that follow are not hard to accept. An American army of two corps on the beaches of southern England? Believable, since in our time line one of the first things the US did in early 1942 was send convoys to Britain carrying several US army divisions. These units trained in Britain and some then were sent to North Africa for the allied invasion of French North Africa in November of 1942. But the author imagines that Germany freed from eastern commitments would have invaded Britain in 1942, before the American reinforcements could have built up to a level to make such an invasion impossible.

So, we have the alternative history S-Day, about the German invasion of southern England in 1942. An invasion that takes place after the British aircraft industry has been destroyed by bombing, and the RAF is reduced to a few squadrons of fighter. An invasion that though deception catches the allied planners on the wrong foot, with there best British troops deployed along the east coast of England, and the raw and untested Americans facing the real invasion on the coast of south eastern England. The US army in England is commanded by a General Clay, invented by the author, but given a hard and dramatic personality. A general who believes in victory at almost any cost. But also a well developed human being.

It is a hard battle, with the US army being driven back towards London at at frightening rate. The course of the battle is so desperate for the defenders that Churchill orders the British King to fly to Canada. And order which the King appears to accept, but manages to avoid by a personal decision as he is on the runway aboard the plane.

It is at this point with the Germans poised for their final push to London that Clay makes a fateful order that reverses that course of the battle and defeats the invasion. I will leave it to you to read what his decision is, but, although a surprise and highly risky both professionally and of questionable legality, it is the kind of decision the author has made us believe that General Clay would make. Even if he has to replace one of his corp commanders to make the sure the order is carried out.

But S-Day not only explores social issues, it has some interesting characters that are well defined. If fact it has a range of protagonists, from low ranked soldiers on both sides, British civilians caught up in the invasion, and high ranking individuals including the King, Churchill, the leaders of the British army, navy and air force, member of the British war cabinet, General Clay, various US army corp and divisional commanders, and a love interest for General Clay.

The novel is narrated by General Clay's aide, a colonel who is writing the definite history of the invasion. A repeated theme of his writing is constantly being reminded by people he interviews that he was on the staff, so saw no danger. An assumption which rankles because Clay is a front line general who frequently puts himself in the way of danger, and where Clay goes, so does his aide. This includes that dangerous airborne mission on the morning of the invasion, where Clark and his aide and pilot avoid being shot down by the Germans only because they believe having destroyed the RAF, they are expecting no allied planes over the English Channel.

The only alternative history novel I can compare this to is SS-GB by Len Deighton, which is about the ramifications of a successful German invasion of Britain and the travails of a British detective kept on to help police the population by the Germans. SS-GB is a much more personally focused novel, but it also addresses some important social issues. Including what price is to be paid both personally and professionally by several characters to ultimately thwart Germany's chances of winning the war.