D-Day Landing Craft

‘This is a superb book … Andrew Whitmarsh has produced a meticulously researched narrative that combines stories of personal sacrifice, bravery and achievement with a rigorous study of the development and use of the amphibious assault force that played such a fundamental role in the success of the D-Day landings. His text is a model of clear expression and coherent organisation … One of the best books about D-Day to appear in recent years: it deserves to be very widely read.’

‘… uniquely brings together, in one place, hard to find information about the history of landing craft from conception to delivery and the myriad of constructional and organisational processes in between. By itself that is quite an achievement but, uniquely in my experience, the narrative includes observations from the veterans who manned the craft.’

‘This is a marvellous book. The research is very thorough and it will answer all my questions.’

‘Brings to life … the planning and execution of the largest amphibious landing which the world has ever seen … My grandfather… would have been most impressed by this detailed research’.

‘I would like to congratulate … Andrew Whitmarsh … for producing this record in such detail of perhaps one of the greatest days in our history. Early in the war we realised that transferring troops and equipment from sea to shore would be difficult but MUST succeed. D-Day was like no other and I was privileged to play a small part in that most memorable day. It was an honour that I shall never forget. We did have to pay a high price and many young lives were lost on that day, but we will remember them.’

‘Andrew Whitmarsh’s D-Day Landing Craft is an essential contribution to the history of the Second World War and especially of the Cross-Channel Invasion. American readers in particular will find the discussions of Utah and Omaha Beaches enlightening, as well as the glimpse into the American industrial capacity that could produce such an armada. … We can’t fully know D-Day without an understanding of the role of landing craft; with this excellent book we gain a much fuller picture of how the invasion succeeded.’

‘As surviving veterans of WWII become fewer there is a ticking clock to tell their stories. That’s what I do, and this book helps to get the stories historically accurate. … It is for every writer of military history, every junkie of military planning and execution and every family who had a loved one that participated in the invasion. … Finding a family member’s unit, on a ship, at a beach, on a day and hour tells so much more of their story. That’s where this book will be valued most.’

‘D-Day Landing Craft is an epic tale that explores not only the creation of all the different landing craft used by the Allies in the invasion of Normandy, but it also takes a deep dive into how the creation became possible. It also uniquely explores how each of those different landing craft contributed to ultimate victory on each of the five D-Day landing beaches. Whitmarsh’s level of research in putting this story together is as staggering as it is impressive. It was only because of those “ugly and unorthodox” landing craft that the Allies were able to win the Second World War. By the ending, one thing stands out above all else to the reader: this masterpiece of a book is truly something special. This will no doubt be used as a valuable resource for WWII historians for generations to come.’

Andrew Whitmarsh has worked as a curator in military history museums for over 25 years. Since 2001, he has been the curator of The D-Day Story, formerly known as the D-Day Museum, in Portsmouth.

He is the author of a number of articles and two books for The History Press: Portsmouth at War and D-Day in Photographs. Andrew is a regular public lecturer on the topic of D-Day and has made several television and radio appearances.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.