Introduction

It has been 75 years since the Allied Forces sent an Armada across the English Channel for the D-Day landings. At the time Operation Overlord had so many things stacked against it, not only the elements, but a ruthless enemy. It is hard to believe that this battleground is now visited by so many who are interested in this most pivotal and horrific time of the 20th century, and if you are planning to tour these sites you need an informative guide book.

Review

This soft backed book published by Pen and Sword Military was first published in 1999, this 8th edition is updated and contains a separate battle map of the D-Day landing beaches. Written by Major & Mrs Holt and priced at £16.99, this publication contains 350 pages on good quality paper with many colour photographs and maps throughout. This is the guide book is the 75th anniversary edition the GPS references are also included.

The contents of this guide book is as follows:
Abbreviations
Introduction
How to use this Guide
Historical Summary
Stop Press
Approach One Portsmouth - Cherbourg
Approach Two Dover - Calais - Cean
Itinerary One US Airborne Operations & UTAH Beach
Itinerary Two US Rangers Operations & OMAHA Beach
Itinerary Three Bayeux, Arromanches & GOLD Beach
Itinerary Four Canadian Operations, Carpiquet to JUNO Beach
Itinerary Five Allied Commando Operations/SWORD Beach to Caen
Itinerary Six Pegasus Bridge and British Airborne Operations
Allied and German Wargraves & Commemorative Associations
Tourist Information/Where to Stay
Acknowledgements
Index
List of ITINERARY Maps
List of BATTLE Maps

Also this guide contains a separate Map of the Landing Beaches which contains many features including grid references, war cemeteries, and 9th USAAF Airstrip Memorials to name a few.

This guide can be described as the ‘Definitive’ guide to the area, but is not a complete guide, as there are memorials being created all the time to record the sacrifices of those who gave so much in the liberation of Europe. This guide has the inclusion of some 500 memorials, this helps keep the flame of remembrance alive.

Conclusion

This publication contains so much information it is difficult to decide where to start. I visited Normandy a couple of years ago and used an earlier version of this guide to plan the route we took. This particular book has so many photographs and information the user may feel overwhelmed by the scale of what is covered, with this said this is after all a guide to what to visit. Each visitor will have their own feelings about the area, but the magnitude of what was attempted, achieved and lost should never be forgotten.