D-Day: The Air Battle

By Ken Delve

Book Overview

It is 75 years (June 2019) since the momentous events 6 June 1944 and the Allied invasion of Europe - D-Day, the return to Europe for the final and decisive battles against Nazi Germany. The scale of the amphibious operation was almost immeasurable, the risks were high, and success was by no means guaranteed. After years of build-up, planning and exercises, the Allies were about to storm a heavily-defended coast that had been occupied by the enemy for four years. It was an all-arms operation by land, sea and air forces, with, as usual, the land forces taking the greatest risks and highest casualties The air campaign in the build-up phase, from bombing to reconnaissance was crucial in preparing the battlefield; the air support of the actual assault, whilst not perfect, ensured there was no air threat; whilst the continued air effort in the weeks after D-Day helped enaure that once the Allies were ashore they would not be pushed back into the sea.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1093278048
• ISBN13: 9781093278040
• Release Date: June 2019
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 194 Pages
• Weight: 1.02 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.5" x 11.0"

Customer Reviews

Building the D-Day Air Umbrella!

Though most D-Day accounts rightly focus on the landings, those landings wouldn't have been as successful if it hadn't been for the Allied air armada that ruled the skies over Normandy on that fateful morning. Ken Delve relates the complex events that resulted in Allied air supremacy on 6 June in D-DAY, THE AIR BATTLE, published by Arms & Armour Press in 1994. The book's title is a bit misleading. Delve's book runs to 189 pages of text and appendices. However he spends the first 72 describing the planning, negotiations, conferences, exercises, command arrangements, combat missions, etc. that went on, in some cases, years before the first infantryman waded ashore. Dozens of different RAF, USAAF and other Allied commands and a variety of air, ground and naval brass and various personnel were involved in this effort as a thousand-and-one details had to be examined, refined, and so on. Reading D-DAY, THE AIR BATTLE is an eye-opener as you realize what a tremendous and complicated effort was involved. The actual air activity on D-Day and in following days was very one-sided; Luftwaffe response was initially limited and then piecemeal. By contrast, Allied airpower was omnipresent and materially added the ground advance while devastating German countermoves under barrages on .50-caliber, 20mm, rockets and bombs. Given the topic, much of Delve's book is dry reading. There are some combat accounts but not many. The book does have a fine selection of photos, maps and diagrams that help illustrate the text though. All in all, D-DAY, THE AIR BATTLE is interesting as an organizational history on the planning and preparation that went into making D-Day the success it was rather than a blow-by-blow account of Normandy air combats.