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Full Chapter The Devil S Garden 1St Edition Steven Zaloga PDF
Full Chapter The Devil S Garden 1St Edition Steven Zaloga PDF
Zaloga
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Copyright © 2013 by Steven Zaloga
Published by
STACKPOLE BOOKS
5067 Ritter Road
Mechanicsburg, PA 17055
www.stackpolebooks.com
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Introduction
Technical Notes
Appendices
Glossary
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Introduction
WHY ANOTHER BOOK ABOUT Omaha Beach? D-Day has been the
subject of countless books over the years, and Omaha Beach has
been the focus of many. I have written two previous books on the
subject: one a short campaign history of Omaha Beach and the
other a study of German fortifications on the D-Day beaches. The
latter project, in 2004, made me realize that the German perspective
of D-Day is usually missing, especially in English-language accounts.
Some years ago, I read a book entitled Facing East from Indian
Country: A Native History of Early America. It made me realize that a
similar perspective of Omaha Beach would be a valuable addition to
our understanding of D-Day.
Most of the recent books on D-Day have been first-person
perspectives of the heroism and sacrifice of U.S. soldiers of “the
Greatest Generation.” This book avoids this approach since it already
has been so amply documented. Instead, my focus in this book is
battlefield forensics—not so much what happened, but why it
happened. My intention is to explore some of the most neglected
aspects of the Omaha Beach fighting and, most especially, the
overlooked German side of the battle.
In this book, I have followed three threads to explore this subject.
The severe casualties suffered by American forces have led to the
nickname “Bloody Omaha.” Why were the casualties so high on
Omaha compared to the other four D-Day beaches? Not to spoil any
surprise, but my conclusion is that the nature of German defenses at
Omaha Beach explains much of the casualty disparity. Furthermore,
many of the dangerous innovations of the Omaha defenses can be
traced back to the actions of Erwin Rommel, the “Desert Fox,” who
was appointed by Hitler to oversee the antiinvasion efforts in late
1943. This provides the second thread of the book. Rommel was not
present at Omaha Beach on D-Day, but his actions in the preceding
months strongly shaped the German defenses there on D-Day.*
Finally, I have been struck by the poor visual record of Omaha Beach
available in the published accounts. To help illuminate the
description of the German defenses on Omaha Beach, I have
attempted to present as complete a picture as possible of the
numerous fortifications and weapons present on D-Day. Original
German photos of Omaha Beach on D-Day are non-existent, but an
ample photographic record of the defenses is scattered through
many archives, much of the material previously unpublished. To
further amplify these images, I have added my own photos of
Omaha Beach that I have taken during the course of several visits
starting in the 1980s. I also have compiled numerous maps,
architectural models, and computer diagrams to illustrate various
historical issues raised in the book.
_______________
*Due to the Channel storm on 4–5 June 1944, Rommel assumed a
landing was unlikely and took the opportunity for a short trip back to
Germany.
Technical Notes
A few technical notes are worth clarifying at the start of this book. I
have left most German unit designations in their original German
form since they are easy for an English-reading audience to
understand, and they help to distinguish between German and
American units. For example, I have used 352.Infanterie-Division
rather than 352nd Infantry Division. I have made a few exceptions
for the sake of clarity, using the alternative form 84.Korps instead of
the cumbersome LXXXIV.Korps, and using Army Group B instead of
Heeresgruppe B. I have used English spelling for the German ranks
even if they are not entirely equivalent—so lieutenant colonel rather
than Oberstleutnant. Likewise, I have used the more familiar
contemporary style of “mm” (millimeters) for gun calibers rather
than the German “cm” (centimeters)—so 50mm gun rather than 5cm
gun.
For brevity, the traditional conventions have been used when
referring to units. In the case of U.S. units, 2/16th Infantry refers to
the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment. The U.S. Army
traditionally uses Arabic numerals for divisions and smaller
independent formations (29th Division, 741st Tank Battalion), Roman
numerals for corps (V Corps), and spelled numbers for field armies
(First Army).
In the case of German regiments, an Arabic numeral is used for
the smaller formation (company or battery) and a Roman numeral
for the battalion. So 2./Artillerie Regiment.352 refers to the 2nd
Battery, 352nd Artillery Regiment; II./Artillerie-Regiment.352
indicates the 2nd Battalion, 352nd Artillery Regiment. German field
armies are contracted in the usual fashion (7.Armee for Seventh
Army).
Regarding the times presented in this account, on D-Day, the
Allies were on British Summer Time (A Time). This was Greenwich
mean time (GMT) plus one hour. The Wehrmacht operated on the
equivalent of British Double Summer Time (B Time), which was
GMT+2. So an Allied report of a landing at 0630 hours would be
reported by the Germans as 0730 hours. However, some German
units in France used the local time, which was the equivalent of
British Summer Time. For clarity, the times in this book are British
Summer Time as used by the Allies.
The author would like to thank several people for their exceptional
help on this project. Andrew E. Woods, research historian at the Col.
Robert McCormick Research Center of the First Division Museum at
Cantigny, was most helpful in providing material from the museum’s
collection. Simon Trew of the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst
was most generous with his help on research material and helpful
comments. Thanks also to Richard Anderson, Alain Chazette,
Emmanuel Ferey, and David Isby for their generous help on this
book.
CHAPTER 1
The Controversy
LCVP landing craft head to shore on D-Day under the protective gaze
of the USS Augusta, the flagship of the Western Task Force. The
navy censor has partly obscured the cruiser’s radar masts in this
photo. NARA
The preliminary naval bombardment of Omaha Beach was of too
short a duration to seriously undermine the German defenses. This is
the battleship USS Nevada, which saw action mainly off the Cotentin
Peninsula on D-Day. NARA
FINE.
MACARUFFO VENTURIERO
O LA CORTE DEL DUCA FILIPPO MARIA VISCONTI