D-Day 1944: The Deadly Failure of Allied Heavy Bombing on June 6

The Deadly Failure of Allied Heavy Bombing on June 6

Author: Stephen A. Bourque Series: Air Campaign

Paperback

An illustrated study of the little-known history of the failed Allied bombing campaign designed to shatter German defenses on D-Day.

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Summary

An illustrated study of the little-known history of the failed Allied bombing campaign designed to shatter German defenses on D-Day.

Description

June 6, 1944 is one of the most written-about days in military history. But one part of D-Day has been ignored for most of a century: the massive bombing campaign that was launched against the Atlantic Wall early that morning. Professor Stephen A. Bourque has long studied this crucial aspect of D-Day, and in this important book he explains how air power was meant to knock out German defenses before Allied troops hit the beaches. But on an otherwise successful day, these bombing raids were a disaster. Most of the bombs fell behind their targets, leaving the German defenses intact and ready to wreak havoc among Allied troops, while the rain of stray bombs killed many French civilians. With rare photographs - including reconnaissance photos of the defenses - as well as spectacular new artwork and informative maps and diagrams, this book answers the crucial question of why the Allies' overwhelming air power on D-Day failed in its duty. Book jacket.

About the Author

Stephen Bourque left the US Army in 1992 after 20 years of enlisted and commissioned service. After receiving his Ph.D. at Georgia State University, he taught European, American and military history at several colleges and universities including Kennesaw State University, California State University-Northridge, the Naval War College, the University of Kansas, and the Command and General Staff College. Bourque currently teaches with Norwich University's Military History Master's Degree program and is Professor Emeritus of Military History at the School of Advanced Military Studies, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He is the author of Jayhawk! The VII Corps in the 1991 Persian Gulf War (2002), The Road to Safwan (2007), Soldiers' Lives: The Post-Cold War Era (2008), and Beyond the Beach, the Allied War Against France (2018), also available in French as Au-dela des plages. La Guerre des Allies Contre la France (2019). Currently, he is writing a book on the tragedy of combat in the Hurtgen Forest.