List of Plates

1. Commanders before D-Day: Tedder, Eisenhower and Montgomery (seated); Bradley, Ramsay, Leigh-Mallory and Bedell Smith (standing). U.S. National Archives

2. The air chiefs: Eisenhower with (left to right) Coningham, Leigh-Mallory, Brereton and Quesada. General Elwood R. Quesada

3. Before D-Day: American Airborne pathfinders pose beside their Dakota. Private

4. Matériel massed for the invasion. Imperial War Museum

5. THE 21ST ARMY GROUP TEAM FRONT ROW: Thomas (43 Div.); Bucknall; Crerar; Montgomery; Dempsey; Broadhurst; Ritchie. MIDDLE ROW: Bullen-Smith (51 Div.); Keller (3 Cdn Div.); Graham (50 Div.); Roberts (11 Armd Div.); O’Connor; Barker (49 Div.); Crocker. BACK ROW: Macmillan (15 Div.); Gale (6 Abn. Div.); Erskine (7 Armd Div.). Imperial War Museum

6. Richardson is third from the right in the second row, wearing helmet. F.O. Richardson

7. American soldiers are briefed for D-Day. Imperial War Museum

8. Montgomery inspects the 5th/7th Gordons of 51st Highland Division during the run-up to OVERLORD. Lt-Col. Eric Hay walks behind the C-in-C. Lt-Col Eric Hay

9. The myth of Rommel as a ‘good’ German hostile to Nazism prevailed in the west for many years after the war. In reality, the C-in-C of Army Group B remained passionately devoted to Hitler until he became convinced that the war was militarily unwinnable. U.S. National Archives

10. D-Day: on the beach. Imperial War Museum

11. A fascinating glimpse of the Supreme Commander in mid-Channel; caught by the photographer looking far tougher than when pictured with the accommodating grin of the familiar Ike. U.S. National Archives

12. Beach defenders surrender to the Americans. U.S. Army photograph

13. The build-up: American troops move inshore from the beaches. U.S. Army photograph

14. George Small

15. Phil Reisler (right, in black) with his tank crew.

16. Norman Cota. UPI

17. Lindley Higgins

18. Bill Preston

19. Harry Herman

20. Randall Bryant

21. Wilhelm Schickner

22. Hans Stober

23. Adolf Hohenstein

24. Rudolf Schaaf

25. Panzer leaders: Fritz Bayerlein, Kurt Kauffmann, Sepp Dietrich, staff officer.

26. Helmut Gunther

27. Heinz-Gunther Guderian

28. Austin Baker

29. Guy Simonds

30. Robin Hastings

31. Henry Lovegrove

32. Steve Dyson

33. Dick Raymond.

34. Chris Portway

Airborne images of the battlefield:

35. Norman chalk pitted with foxholes Imperial War Museum.

36. Fighter-bomber’s eye view of a German column after attack U.S. Air Force.

37. Tank action among the hedges. Imperial War Museum.

38. A characteristic Normandy horizon: infantry advance through the standing corn behind a British tank. Imperial War Museum

39. American infantry dash between the hated hedges. Dead cows were among the most familiar landmarks of the battlefield. Imperial War Museum

40. British anti-tank screen near Caen, with armoured bridging equipment in the background. Imperial War Museum

41. Defeat: a prisoner being searched by a British military policeman. BBC Hulton Picture Library

42. A British sniper pulls through while a young soldier grasps the most precious possession on the battlefield: sleep. BBC Hulton Picture Library

43. Digging: literally a matter of life and death, as so many troops discovered at terrible cost. BBC Hulton Picture Library

44. Exhaustion: a British doctor pauses between operations at a forward dressing station. BBC Hulton Picture Library

45. Normandy was above all a battlefield of hedges and ditches, a succession of dashes between islands of cover, each one intensely dangerous for those making the movements. BBC Hulton Picture Library

46. Behind the lines: Tommies make themselves at home in a Norman farmyard. BBC Hulton Picture Library

47. The image of defeat: captured Germans and fallen horses. Note the pathetic attempt to camouflage the cart. BBC Hulton Picture Library

48. Brutal encounter between a Norman shopkeeper and an abandoned Mk IV tank. BBC Hulton Picture Library

Glimpses in Normandy of “the most professionally skilful army of modern times” as a distinguished American historian has recently described the Wehrmacht:

49. Rearming a Panther.

50. Self-propelled Nebelwerfers – of all German weapons, those most detested by Allied soldiers.

51. With Panzerfaust, their formidable close-quarter anti-tank weapon.

52. ADN.

53. Ullstein Bilderdienst.

54. BBC Hulton Picture Library

55. A classic propaganda image of liberators and liberated; in fact, the attitude of most Norman civilians to the Allies ranged between numbed indifference and sullen hostility. BBC Hulton Picture Library

56. Field Marshal von Kluge.

57. Collins of U.S. VII Corps with von Schlieben, the captured commander of Cherbourg. Imperial War Museum

58. Devastation: a typical Norman street scene in the summer of 1944. BBC Hulton Picture Library

59. German Volksgrenadier on the Western Front. Ullstein Bilderdienst.

60. The battlefield: a striking view of the difficulty of movement among the closely-set farmyards of the Norman villages, ideal for defence. The bespectacled figure in the back of the bren-gun carrier is the author’s father, war correspondent for Picture Post. BBC Hulton Picture Library

61. A classic portrait of the British infantryman in Normandy. BBC Hulton Picture Library

Commanders before D-Day: Tedder, Eisenhower and Montgomery (seated); Bradley, Ramsay, Leigh-Mallory and Bedell Smith (standing). U.S. National Archives

The air chiefs: Eisenhower with (left to right) Coningham, Leigh-Mallory, Brereton and Quesada. General Elwood R. Quesada

Before D-Day: American Airborne pathfinders pose beside their Dakota. Private

Matériel massed for the invasion. Imperial War Museum

THE 21ST ARMY GROUP TEAM

FRONT ROW: Thomas (43 Div.); Bucknall; Crerar; Montgomery; Dempsey; Broadhurst; Ritchie. MIDDLE ROW: Bullen-Smith (51 Div.); Keller (3 Cdn Div.); Graham (50 Div.); Roberts (11 Armd Div.); O’Connor; Barker (49 Div.); Crocker. BACK ROW: Macmillan (15 Div.); Gale (6 Abn. Div.); Erskine (7 Armd Div.). Imperial War Museum

Richardson is third from the right in the second row, wearing helmet. F.O. Richardson

American soldiers are briefed for D-Day. Imperial War Museum

Montgomery inspects the 5th/7th Gordons of 51st Highland Division during the run-up to OVERLORD. Lt-Col. Eric Hay walks behind the C-in-C. Lt-Col Eric Hay

The myth of Rommel as a ‘good’ German hostile to Nazism prevailed in the west for many years after the war. In reality, the C-in-C of Army Group B remained passionately devoted to Hitler until he became convinced that the war was militarily unwinnable. U.S. National Archives

D-Day: on the beach. Imperial War Museum

A fascinating glimpse of the Supreme Commander in mid-Channel; caught by the photographer looking far tougher than when pictured with the accommodating grin of the familiar Ike. U.S. National Archives

Beach defenders surrender to the Americans. U.S. Army photograph

The build-up: American troops move inshore from the beaches. U.S. Army photograph

George Small

Phil Reisler (right, in black) with his tank crew.

Norman Cota. UPI

Lindley Higgins

Bill Preston

Harry Herman

Randall Bryant

Wilhelm Schickner

Hans Stober

Adolf Hohenstein

Rudolf Schaaf

Panzer leaders: Fritz Bayerlein, Kurt Kauffmann, Sepp Dietrich, staff officer.

Helmut Gunther

Heinz-Gunther Guderian

Austin Baker

Guy Simonds

Robin Hastings

Henry Lovegrove

Steve Dyson

Dick Raymond.

Chris Portway

Airborne images of the battlefield:

Norman chalk pitted with foxholes Imperial War Museum.

Fighter-bomber’s eye view of a German column after attack U.S. Air Force.

Tank action among the hedges. Imperial War Museum.

A characteristic Normandy horizon: infantry advance through the standing corn behind a British tank. Imperial War Museum

American infantry dash between the hated hedges. Dead cows were among the most familiar landmarks of the battlefield. Imperial War Museum

British anti-tank screen near Caen, with armoured bridging equipment in the background. Imperial War Museum

Defeat: a prisoner being searched by a British military policeman. BBC Hulton Picture Library

A British sniper pulls through while a young soldier grasps the most precious possession on the battlefield: sleep. BBC Hulton Picture Library

Digging: literally a matter of life and death, as so many troops discovered at terrible cost. BBC Hulton Picture Library

Exhaustion: a British doctor pauses between operations at a forward dressing station. BBC Hulton Picture Library

Normandy was above all a battlefield of hedges and ditches, a succession of dashes between islands of cover, each one intensely dangerous for those making the movements. BBC Hulton Picture Library

Behind the lines: Tommies make themselves at home in a Norman farmyard. BBC Hulton Picture Library

The image of defeat: captured Germans and fallen horses. Note the pathetic attempt to camouflage the cart. BBC Hulton Picture Library

Brutal encounter between a Norman shopkeeper and an abandoned Mk IV tank. BBC Hulton Picture Library

Glimpses in Normandy of “the most professionally skilful army of modern times” as a distinguished American historian has recently described the Wehrmacht:

Rearming a Panther.

Self-propelled Nebelwerfers – of all German weapons, those most detested by Allied soldiers.

With Panzerfaust, their formidable close-quarter anti-tank weapon.

ADN.

Ullstein Bilderdienst.

BBC Hulton Picture Library

A classic propaganda image of liberators and liberated; in fact, the attitude of most Norman civilians to the Allies ranged between numbed indifference and sullen hostility. BBC Hulton Picture Library

Field Marshal von Kluge.

Collins of U.S. VII Corps with von Schlieben, the captured commander of Cherbourg. Imperial War Museum

Devastation: a typical Norman street scene in the summer of 1944. BBC Hulton Picture Library

German Volksgrenadier on the Western Front. Ullstein Bilderdienst.

The battlefield: a striking view of the difficulty of movement among the closely-set farmyards of the Norman villages, ideal for defence. The bespectacled figure in the back of the bren-gun carrier is the author’s father, war correspondent for Picture Post. BBC Hulton Picture Library