Sword Beach D-Day baptism by fire

Hastings (The Abyss, 2022) delivers a powerful, focused narrative of the British landings on June 6, 1944, restoring rightful prominence to the often-overlooked role of the British 3rd Infantry Division, 6th Airborne, and supporting commandos. Rather than retelling the entire story of the Normandy campaign, Hastings zooms in on Sword Beach, the easternmost landing zone, and the many soldiers who experienced their first and last moments of combat that day. Drawing from interviews, archival research, and memoirs, he masterfully blends strategic context with intimate human vignettes: free French troops sustaining terrible losses, medics comforting enemy wounded, and young men thrust into unimaginable violence. Hastings' vivid prose strikes a careful balance between analytical clarity and emotional weight, offering a sobering yet gripping portrait of heroism, sacrifice, and chaos. Challenging Americacentric D-Day narratives, Sword Beach is essential reading for military historians, WWII students, and readers seeking a ground-level, deeply human account of one of history's most defining battles. Hastings ensures the British experience is no longer a footnote; it is front and center.

The British Army's triumphs--and many failings--on D-Day are reexamined in this elegant account. Historian Hastings (Operation Biting) recaps the British landing at Sword Beach, several miles east of the American landing sites. He highlights some extraordinary successes: glider-borne troops crash-landed their flimsy plywood aircraft right beside key bridges and seized them from astonished Germans; innovative amphibious tanks chugged through the waves and came up shooting on the beach. But Hastings also investigates serious flaws. Commanding general Bernard Montgomery's objective of taking the city of Caen, nine miles inland, on June 6 was too ambitious, he contends, and the general leading the push, K.P. Smith, was too feckless to carry it out. Traffic jams slowed the movement of men and tanks, and lousy radio communications left them uncertain where to go. British infantry, Hastings observes, often froze and went to ground when fired upon; indeed, he paints the typical soldier as "cautious, hesitant, slow, dilatory, fearful of loss," and extremely reluctant to follow their officers into an attack. Hastings somewhat lamely excuses this timidity as a virtue of democratic "moderation," with immoderate courage, daring, and self-sacrifice being too German, the product of "suicidalist" Nazi "fanaticism." Still, with its clear-eyed eschewal of hero-worship, this makes for a rich exploration of a WWII turning point and of the complex psychology of men in battle. (Nov.)

A new look at D-Day from perhaps the best possible source. Of the five Normandy beaches assaulted on June 6, 1944, Americans read mostly about Omaha and Utah because that's where Americans fought, so readers will enjoy this account of a beach code-named Sword--not only for new information but as another work by Hastings, a master of military history. He reminds readers that the landings constituted a stupendous feat of planning, logistics, training, and air and maritime organization in which the British, for the last time in the war, played the dominant part. British Field Marshal Montgomery commanded the ground forces during and after the invasion. Supreme Commander Eisenhower, as usual, ruled with a light hand. Once ashore, plans for what to do next were sketchy, and the advance stalled. Fortunately, Hastings saves this for the final pages, instead delivering a compelling account of the preparations and landing itself. Much occurred inland from the beach as a massive nighttime drop of paratrooper and glider-borne forces aimed to destroy bridges and slow German reinforcements. The author is at his best describing this combination of brilliant strategizing, heroism, and utter stupidity. Nighttime airborne operations require superb pilots; planners knew but ignored the fact that theirs would be the worst (essentially all pilot trainees yearn to fly fighters and bombers; those who don't make the grade fly transports). Sure enough, many pilots seemed unnerved, and most casualties occurred during the flight out, but the minority of troops who landed near their target did well. Readers who expect a superb account of the action will not complain; nothing went as planned, but none of the errors, accidents, and incompetence were vital. Casualties were heavier than at Utah or Gold Beach but less heavy than at Omaha and Juno, and the Allies succeeded in their purpose and the Germans failed in theirs. Even granted the Allies' huge superiority of means, the landings remain a supreme achievement. Another Hastings page-turner. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.