The Steel Wave - Jeff Shaara [1]
My goal is to tell you a good story by taking you into the minds of several of the key participants, the men who made this history, to show you the events as they saw them, to hear their words and their thoughts as this extraordinary drama unfolds. From conflicts and strategy sessions between the men at the top to the grinding endurance of the young soldiers who face the enemy, this book is based on the accounts of the men who were there. The most gratifying parts of my research were the surprises I found, the voices I hadn’t heard before. I hope, by the end of this book, you are surprised as well.
My trilogy on the Second World War (of which this is the centerpiece) is the first time I have had the privilege of speaking to living veterans. Those soldiers are fewer in number every day, and in every instance, when I interviewed a veteran, he mentioned that fact. I feel strongly that this story has to be told with respect and accuracy. Tribute must be paid. To those soldiers, this is my respectful offering.
JEFF SHAARA,
May 2008
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LIST OF MAPS
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THE PLAN FOR OPERATION OVERLORD
DROP ZONES FOR THE AMERICAN AIRBORNE ASSAULT
D-DAY: THE LANDINGS
82ND AIRBORNE DROPS: THE BRIDGES OF LA FIÈRE AND CHEF-DU-PONT
BRITISH AND CANADIAN LANDINGS
THE AMERICAN ADVANCES TO ST. SAUVEUR-LE-VICOMTE/THE COTENTIN PENINSULA
AMERICAN ASSAULT ON LA HAYE-DU-PUITS
MONTGOMERY’S OPERATION GOODWOOD
BRADLEY’S OPERATION COBRA
BRADLEY’S BREAKTHROUGH: PATTON’S SURGE INTO BRITTANY
VON KLUGE’S LAST-GASP ATTACK
PATTON DRIVES EAST: THE MANEUVER TOWARD BRADLEY’S “RIGHT HOOK”
THE GERMAN ESCAPE THROUGH THE ARGENTAN/FALAISE GAP
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RESEARCH SOURCES
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I am frequently asked for the sources I have relied upon. The following is a partial list of those whose firsthand accounts and overall historical perspectives proved invaluable to me in writing this book.
THE AMERICANS
General Omar Bradley
Captain Harry Butcher
Lieutenant William H. Callaway
General Joseph Lawton Collins
Historian (Lieutenant Colonel) Carlo D’Este
President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Lieutenant General James Gavin
Chaplain Raymond S. Hall (101st Airborne)
Historian Robert Leckie
Secretary of State George C. Marshall Private John Nowak (First Infantry Division)
Lieutenant General George S. Patton
Journalist Ernie Pyle
General Matthew Ridgway
Private Douglas C. Saum
THE BRITISH
Prime Minister Winston Churchill
Historian (General) David Fraser
Historian (Captain) Sir Basil Liddell Hart
Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery
General Sir Frederick Morgan
Air Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder
Brigadier General Desmond Young
THE GERMANS
Corporal Paul Carell
Colonel Hans von Luck
Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
Admiral Friedrich Ruge
Field Marshal Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt
Major Heinz Schmidt
Lieutenant General (Dr.) Hans Speidel
General Siegfried Westphal
The following have generously provided me with an astounding variety of research materials. I am enormously grateful to them all.
Fred Alexander, Franklin, North Carolina
Bruce Breeding, Lexington, Kentucky
Curtis Callaway, Danville, Virginia
Andrew Carroll, Washington, D.C.
Tony Collins, Washington, D.C.
Bert Conroy, Prospect, Kentucky
Colonel Keith Gibson, Lexington, Virginia
Major Daniel Hall, U.S.A.
W. D. Hardy, Hardin, Montana
V. F. Henderson, Fort George G. Meade, Maryland
Rocky Hoagland, Marysville, Washington
Phoebe Hunter, Missoula, Montana
Jack Ingram, Columbia, Maryland
Ira Jacobson, New York, New York
Bruce Ladd, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Bruce Novak, Needham, Massachusetts
John Tiley, Half Moon Bay, California
Kay Whitlock, Missoula, Montana
Michael Wicklein, Baltimore, Maryland
* * *
INTRODUCTION
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In December 1941, only days after the Japanese launch their devastating surprise attack on the United States at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Japan’s ally Germany declares war on the United States. Americans