I am reading Eisenhower's book and made it up to the Normandy invasion...and found he only included a small paragraph between the night before the invasion and the Battle of the Beachhead. He did not have any insight to the events of D Day itself. I found that interesting and I was a little disappointed. Comments? Discussion? Snide remarks?
Hi Eric, I haven't read the book and so I cannot comment directly. I have seen the TV series though. If you can track down a copy, I would highly recommend the book by Capt Harry Butcher, 'My Three Years with Eisenhower' which gives a fascinating insight into the life at SHEAF during this period. According to Buthcher's diary, Ike returned around 1:15 am on the 6th having seen off the 101st Airborne at Greenham Common Airfield. Butcher describes the night thus: '...sat around the nickle plated office caravan in courteous silence , each with his own thoughts and trying to borrow by psychological osmosis those of the Supreme Commander, until I became the first to say to hell with it and excused myself to bed. There I expected a phone call from Lieutenant Colonel Hugh Barkley, an intelligence officer of the 101st, who had said his headquarters would have radio word from air transports the moment the jump was made, and that he would phone me just as quickly as that. Every half hour or so during the remainder of the night I awakened, and said to myself, have I heard from Barkley, and finding the answer no, went back to the D-Eve sleep.' Regards, Pat
Thanks Pat, I will check out Capt Butcher's book. I actually thought I had a copy of that book, but could not find it on my shelf. I will make a point to locate it and read it next. I just finished Rick Atkinson's The Guns at Last Light (re-read for 2nd time) and now I'm about halfway through The Dead and Those about to Die (McManus). Generally I like to alternate between a modern, popular history selection then followed by something more detailed or something written post-War by someone who was there.