Jour-J, Ce Qu'on Ne Vous Pas Dit... (Paperback)

French text:

Major event of the Second world War, the landing on 6 June 1944 has been the subject, for most of seventy years, countless books, films, surveys, news stories and television series. No one ignores today the unprecedented technological achievements of the construction and the routing of the two artificial harbors, and the heroic sacrifice of Rangers Lieutenant-Colonel James Rudder, who stormed the Pointe du Hoc, or the martyrdom of the GI's on the 29th and 1st infantry Divisions US on the sands of Omaha Beach, entering into history under the sad name of " Bloody Ohama " (Ohama the bloody).

But do we know that the D Day has been preceded, at the end of April 1944 off the coast of Slapton Sands, in Devon, a tragic repetition that left more than seven hundred dead and remained secret for several decades? Do we know that Lionel Crabb, a flagship diver of the Royal Navy on the coasts of Normandy, has inspired Ian Fleming to create the character of James Bond? You know when the American troops completely encircled in the area of Mortain were supplied with penicillin, morphine and plasma by the firing of shells emptied of their explosive charge and were surrounded by shelves of chocolate for cushioning? You know, again, that Lili Marlene, the favorite song of the Germans, was also very popular among the allied soldiers?

Here are some of the revelations contained in this book as original as it is instructive, based on the research carried out for more than a half-century by Philippe Bauduin, author of a dozen books and numerous articles, who was fascinated by the Landing and the Battle of Normandy since his childhood.