Operation Neptune: Naval Operations for the Normandy Landings 1944

Vice Admiral Schofield recounts Operation NEPTUNE's monumental role in the D-Day landings, offering firsthand insights from his pivotal position at HMS Dryad.

Operation NEPTUNE was the codeword for the naval side of the OVERLORD plan for the historic June 1944 landings in Normandy. Massive in its scale, its tasks were wide-ranging and varied, from beach reconnaissance, minesweeping, shore bombardment as well as the organisation of loading, assembly and disembarkation; it was also responsible for positioning two Mulberry artificial harbours and Pluto: the laying of the cross-channel fuel pipeline under the sea. Operation NEPTUNE may not have been a naval battle in the traditional sense, but it ranks as one of the greatest naval exploits in history.

In this timeless book, Vice Admiral Schofield describes the great events of June 1944 which, as Captain of HMS Dryad, the Royal Naval shore establishment which housed General Dwight Eisenhowers Supreme Allied Headquarters before the landing, he witnessed at first hand.

Vice Admiral BB Schofield had a distinguished naval career serving in both World Wars. He was closely involved in the planning of naval operations for D-Day and his insider view is told in Operation NEPTUNE (republished by Pen and Sword Maritime in 2008). He died in 1984. His daughter Victoria Schofield, the leading biographer and author, lives in West London.

Brian Bethem Schofield served in the Royal navy for some 36 years rising to the rank of Vice Admiral before retiring in 1950\. This memoir covers his distinguished career in war and peace. In retirement he wrote numerous works of naval history including Operation Neptune and Stringbags in Action (both in print with Pen and Sword Books).

Victoria Schofield is a celebrated historian and author. President of the Oxford union in 1977 she has written extensively on South Asia. Her biography Wavell is in print with in hard back with pen and Sword. She lives in west London