Early in 1944, German commander Field Marshal Erwin Rommel took one look at the gentle, sloping sands of Normandy's Plage d'Or coast and announced "They will come here!" This was "Omaha Beach, " the prime American D-Day landing site. The beach was transformed into three miles of lethal, bunker-protected arcs of fire, with seaside chalets converted into concrete strongpoints, fringed by layers of barbed wire and mines. When Company A of the US 116th Regiment landed on Omaha Beach in D-Day's first wave on 6th June 1944, it lost 96% of its effective strength. Kershaw narrates the actions of this historic day, from midnight to midnight, tracking German and American soldiers fighting across the beachhead. -- adapted from jacket
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