Beyond the Beachhead: The 29th Infantry Division in Normandy

by Joseph Balkoski, John C. McManus (Foreword by)

Overview

Expanded edition with a new chapter on the final battles of the Normandy campaign By 1945, the US Army had sixty-eight infantry divisions, forty-two of which fought in the great campaign in northwest Europe that began with the amphibious landings on D-Day and ended eleven months later with Germany's surrender. Beyond the Beachhead examines the experience of one infantry division-the 29th-during forty-five days of combat from Omaha Beach on D-Day to the liberation of St. Lô. Using interviews, official records, and unit histories and supplementing his narrative with meticulously detailed maps, Balkoski follows the 29th from the bloody landings at Omaha through the hedgerows of Normandy, illustrating the brutal realities of life on the front line.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780811738446
Publisher:	Stackpole Books
Publication date:	05/01/2019
Edition description:	75th Anniversary Edition
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Joseph Balkoski is Command Historian of the Maryland National Guard and author of Omaha Beach (978-0-8117-3376-2), Utah Beach (978-0-8117-3377-9), and the classic Beyond the Beachhead (978-0-8117-3237-6). He has appeared as a D-Day expert on MSNBC, and his work has been praised by Joe Scarborough, the New York Post, the Washington Times, World War II magazine, and others. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland. John C. McManus is Curators’ Distinguished Professor of U.S. military history at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. He has appeared on CNN, Fox News, C-SPAN, the History Channel, the Military Channel, the Discovery Channel, the Smithsonian Network, and PBS. His books include The Deadly Brotherhood: The American Combat Soldier in World War II, Deadly Sky: The American Combat Airman in World War II, The Americans at D-Day: The American Experience at the Normandy Invasion, The Americans at Normandy, Alamo in the Ardennes, and The Dead and Those About to Die: D-Day: The Big Red One at Omaha Beach.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations iv

List of Maps v

Map Legend vi

Foreword vii

Preface to the 2005 Edition xi

Preface xv

1 Introduction: Twenty-Nine, Let's Go, June 1944 1

2 Stateside: The Blue and the Gray Division, 1917-1942 15

3 England: "Us and the Home Guard," October 1942-June 1944 36

4 The Enemy: Festung Europa, 1940-1944 65

5 Men and Guns: The Emptiness of the Battlefield, 1944 80

6 D-Day: "We've Got to Be Infantrymen Now," June 6, 1944 117

7 The Beachhead: "Boche Kaput," June 7-9, 1944 148

8 On to St. Lô: "It Didn't Smell Right from the First," June 10-13, 1944 175

9 Stagnation: "Altogether It Was Hell," June 14-July 10, 1944 206

10 Triumph: The Major of St. Lô, July 11-23, 1944 236

Epilogue: Vire, Au Revoir Normandy, July 24-August 22, 1944 279

Appendix: US and German Tables of Organization and Equipment 303

References 313

Bibliography 319

Acknowledgments 323

Index 326