Normandy 1944

Packed with illustrations, this is the first book to focus on the 'Transportation Plan', the air campaign to isolate the D-Day beaches from German reinforcements. As the invasion of Europe grew closer, thought was given to how to use the Allies' substantial forces of heavy bombers in preparation. After much controversy, the plan eventually adopted was the Transportation Plan, in which the railway and road networks of France (and hence the German logistical chain) were targeted in order to slow German reinforcements to the Normandy beachhead both before and during the Allied invasion. In this book, aviation researcher Julian Hale draws on new archive research to explain how this crucial, dangerous and often spectacular campaign was fought. Running from April to July 1944, it would eventually involve heavy and medium bombers of both the RAF and USAAF, with a starring role for the fighter-bombers of the Ninth Air Force. Early attacks by strategic bombers on the French rail nodes were only partially successful at best. In mid-May, the decision was taken to attack bridges and road and rail traffic intensively using fighter-bombers, mainly drawn from the US Ninth. Illustrated with carefully chosen photos, spectacular battlescene artwork and explanatory maps and 3D diagrams, this is the story of how Allied airpower paved the way for D-Day.