D-Day - The Air Battle

Fülszöveg

Operation overlord, the Allled invasion of occupied France, began In the opening minutes of 6 June 1944^ By the end of the day a bridgehead had been won and gradually the Allied forces extended their grip. None of this would have been possible without air power. In the weeks and months leading up to D-Day the raf and the usaaf waged a concerted campaign against the German military Infrastructure: fighter bases, road and rail routes and choke points, ammunition, fuel and troop depots; any target that would Impede the Germans' ability to repel the liberating forces. In the Invasion Itself thousands of troops were air-dropped or air-landed, and throughout the day fighter patrols swarmed over the area while fighter-bombers engaged ground targets. In the days that followed the landings, air power remained vitally important in expanding the bridgehead Into the path to final victory.
With the aid of almost 200 archive photos this book - the product of detailed research In original... Tovább

Fülszöveg

Operation overlord, the Allled invasion of occupied France, began In the opening minutes of 6 June 1944^ By the end of the day a bridgehead had been won and gradually the Allied forces extended their grip. None of this would have been possible without air power. In the weeks and months leading up to D-Day the raf and the usaaf waged a concerted campaign against the German military Infrastructure: fighter bases, road and rail routes and choke points, ammunition, fuel and troop depots; any target that would Impede the Germans' ability to repel the liberating forces. In the Invasion Itself thousands of troops were air-dropped or air-landed, and throughout the day fighter patrols swarmed over the area while fighter-bombers engaged ground targets. In the days that followed the landings, air power remained vitally important in expanding the bridgehead Into the path to final victory.
With the aid of almost 200 archive photos this book - the product of detailed research In original documents -tells the story of this air campaign.
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6 JUNE 1944 saw the Allied Invasion of occupied Europe - one of the riskiest military operations of Worid War Two. The part played by air power In the success of the operation was crucial.
'An essential preliminary to the assault was the reduction of the German Air Force to the degree required to ensure mastery in the air over our seaborne forces and over the beaches on the invasion coast. The next Army requirement was the interdiction of rail and road communications, with the object of delaying the movement of enemy troops and supplies to the battle area.' Genera/ Bernard Montgomery, Land Forces Commander.
'It is generally accepted that the whole of the available Allied air power must if necessary be applied to direct support ofthe assault in the period immediately preceding and following D-Day.' April 1944 Top Secret air plan.
This was the greatest concentration of striking power ever seen: 12,000 combat aircraft. Fighter-bombers such as the P-47 Thunderbolt and Hawker Typhoon bombed, strafed and rocketed tactical targets with great accuracy, while strategic bombers, escorted by hundreds of fighters, targeted bridges, marshalling yards, coastal guns and military stores. Other aircraft flew sophisticated decoy operations and hundreds of transports dropped paratroops or released gliders.
In this, the only full-length book on the subject. Ken Delve examines the air campaign from the pre-invasion bombing strategy that prepared the battlefield to the massive air effort that accompanied the actual assault and the air umbrella during the vital weeks following the landings. Originally published in 1994, D-Day- The Air Battle has been substantially enlarged, re-illustrated and completely reset. With almost 200 photographs plus battle plans and extensive appendices, it provides comprehensive coverage of this vital air campaign. Vissza