Churchill's D-Day: The Inside Story

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'Do you realise that by the time you wake up in the morning twenty thousand men may have been killed'- Winston Churchill to Clementine Churchill, 5 June 1944

2024 was both the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy , and the 150th anniversary of the birth of Churchill himself. This book brings together General Lord Dannatt, one of Britain's most respected contemporary military leaders, and former head of the British Army, with Allen Packwood, one of the world's foremost Churchill experts, the archivist responsible for the holdings at the landmark Churchill Archives Centre in Cambridge. Together they take us through the decision-making for the planning and execution of D-Day .

Reproducing key documents and letters from the Churchill Papers and other collections, this book plunges us back in time and lets us witness events unfolding. It tells the inside story of the conception, planning and execution of the D-Day landings in a unique but authoritative way.

Operation Overlord, the liberation of France, which brought the Second World War to its final stages, began just after dawn on 6 June 1944. At the time, it was the largest amphibious operation ever staged, and the road to victory led directly from the beaches to Berlin. Churchill was instrumental in its planning and execution.

This book reveals Churchill's thinking and places his decisions in the wider historical context, showing he was instrumental in securing the success of D-Day, by making sure it occurred in the right way and at the right time.

Original, illuminating and gripping, CHURCHILL'S D-DAY is narrative history at its best.

Reviews

A superb primer - and one of impeccable historical accuracy - on the events around D-Day. * Telegraph *

Churchill's D-Day represents a remarkable and timely collaboration between General Lord Dannatt, the former Chief of the General Staff and Head of the British Army, and Allen Packwood, one of the most renowned experts on Churchill.

Importantly with 2024 marking the 80th anniversary of the D-Day Landings they have brought together some remarkable material which adds much new light to the greatest Combined Operation of all time.

Churchill was obviously deeply involved and heavily invested in the D-Day Operations from its conception through to its planning and execution.

This is a fascinating book which re-examines events that liberated and thus shaped the future of Europe.

* Lord Soames, Winston Churchill's grandson *
As a subject of historical study, D-Day appears nearly close to being exhausted, save for the endless stream of inaccurate, stylised, but highly questionable movies and TV series that shows no sign of abating. It is invigorating, therefore, that Dannatt and Packwood have brought blockbuster flair to an enormously broad subject. The result is an engrossing delight, and it is immensely satisfying to know just how much more there is to explore about the motivation, circumstances, and challenges faced by someone as titanic and well known as Churchill on an even better-known day. Dannatt and Packwood have produced an account of Churchill's D-Day worthy of both the Great Man and the colossal event . . . Readers will greedily want more in the future from this superb writing partnership. * International Churchill Society *

Author Bio

Richard Dannatt led the British Army during its most challenging time in the post-war era as it fought two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has written regular columns for the Sunday Telegraph, and lectures on leadership and current defence and security issues. He is Chairman of Trustees of the British Normandy Memorial, which will be the focus of the 2024 commemoration activities.

Allen Packwood is a Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge, and the Director of the Churchill Archives Centre.