Overview
June 2004 marks the 60th anniversary of D-Day, the last time official reunions of veterans will take place. This is our chance to honor the veterans of the biggest military invasion and defense the world has ever seen.The first section of the book addresses the build-up to and planning behind this huge amphibious assault, an amazing 3 years in the organizing: the role of the French resistance in mapping the coastline; the calamitous training exercise Operation Tiger when 800 soldiers drown in the Channel; the unknown Allied officer who planned the invasion; spies such as Garb who radioed misinformation to the Germans leading them to believe the invasion would take place at another time and place.
The second half of the book is a dramatic hour-by-hour countdown through the "longest day," from the Omaha Beach landings, powerfully recorded by the renowned photographer Robert Cape, the massacre of the Gestapo's prisoners at Cane Jail, to Rome’s dash back to the beaches from Germany where he has been taken unaware.
Told through the eyes of the men who were there: from veterans—both Allied and German—to the spies, resistance members, reporters and official photographers. Fresh stories, surprising heroes.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dan Parry's passion for exploring the struggles of those caught up in armed conflict began during his time as a BBC News Editor. He has worked for the BAFTA award-winning documentary team at TWI on their acclaimed "The British Empire in Colour" and has worked as script researcher on the BBC2 series "Journeys to the Bottom of the Sea." In mid-2002, Parry began researching D-Day storylines for Dangerous Films, joining Dangerous on a full-time basis in May 2003.