D-DAY AT DAWN - AMERICAN ASSAULT TROOPS IN NORMANDY

Ranked 3rd best book on the Normandy landings by the Wall Street Journal in June 2014

While the standard units that landed in Normandy have been the subject of numerous works, the special units established by the US Army to ensure the success of the amphibious assault have remained in the shadows. Jonathan Gawne, an American historian specializing in the US Army, details here the role of these units, as well as their order of battle, uniforms, insignia and equipment.

The Normandy landings are perhaps the most written-about military operation of the 20th century. Yet most of the special units that played a significant role have been overlooked by the general works already published. Common errors abound and certain myths die hard. American historian Jonathan Gawne details the course of the landings at Omaha and Utah with remarkable attention to detail. Drawing on military archives and interviews with veterans, the author covers subjects as varied as the definition of amphibious assault tactics, the structure of assault units, as well as the uniforms, weapons and equipment specially developed for D-Day. For the first time, two naval officers directly involved in navigating the assault waves at Utah Beach provide the clearest account yet of the deviation of the attack.

Abundantly illustrated, D-Day at Dawn contains a large proportion of previously unpublished documents, including rare color photographs of the operation.