Woll, Corporal ref1
Wood, Major-General John ‘P’ ref1
wounded ref1
self-inflicted wounds ref1
Wright, Major ref1
Wyldbore-Smith, Colonel Brian ref1, ref2, ref3
Wyman, Brigadier ref1
XX Committee ref1
Zimmer, Private ref1
Zimmerman, Colonel Bodo ref1
OVERLORD
Max Hastings, author of over twenty books, was born in 1945. He was a scholar at Charterhouse and University College, Oxford, before working as foreign correspondent for newspapers and BBC television, reporting from over fifty countries. He was editor of the Daily Telegraph for almost a decade, and then for six years edited the Evening Standard. He has won many awards for his journalism, particularly for his dispatches from the South Atlantic in 1982. He was knighted in 2002.
Also in the Pan Military Classics Series
ABSOLUTE WAR
Chris Bellamy
THE BATTLE FOR THE FALKLANDS
Max Hastings
COLDITZ
Major P. R. Reid
THE DAM BUSTERS
Paul Brickhill
DAS REICH
Max Hastings
DEFEAT INTO VICTORY
Field Marshal Viscount Slim
THE LONELY LEADER
Alistair Horne
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
A classic portrait of the British infantryman in Normandy. BBC Hulton Picture Library
First published 1984 by Michael Joseph Limited
First published as an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Ltd 1993 by Papermac
This edition published 2010 by Pan Books
This electronic edition published 2011 by Pan Books
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ISBN 978-0-330-52899-3 EPUB
Copyright © Max Hastings 1984
The right of Max Hastings to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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Overlord (Pan Military Classics) Page 54