Beyond the Beach: The Allied War Against France (History of Military Aviation) - Hardcover

Bourque, Stephen Alan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1612518737 ISBN 13: 9781612518732

Publisher: Naval Institute Press, 2018

Synopsis

An important rethinking of the Normandy war narrative

Beyond the Beach examines the Allied air war against France in 1944. During this period, General Dwight David Eisenhower, as Supreme Allied Commander, took control of all American, British, and Canadian air units and employed them for tactical and operational purposes over France rather than as a strategic force to attack targets deep in Germany. Using bombers as his long-range artillery, he directed the destruction of bridges, rail centers, ports, military installations, and even French towns with the intent of preventing German reinforcements from interfering with Operation Neptune, the Allied landings on the Normandy beaches. Ultimately, this air offensive resulted in the death of over 60,000 French civilians and an immense amount of damage to towns, churches, buildings, and works of art. This intense bombing operation, conducted against a friendly occupied state, resulted in a swath of physical and human destruction across northwest France that is rarely discussed as part of the D-Day landings.

This book explores the relationship between ground and air operations and its effects on the French population. It examines the three broad groups that the air operations involved, the doctrine and equipment used by Allied air force leaders to implement Eisenhower's plans, and each of the eight major operations, called lines of effort, that coordinated the employment of the thousands of fighters, medium bombers, and heavy bombers that prowled the French skies that spring and summer of 1944. Each of these sections discusses the operation's purpose, conduct, and effects upon both the military and the civilian targets. Finally, the book explores the short and long-term effects of these operations and argues that this ignored narrative should be part of any history of the D-Day landings.

About this title

About the Author:

After twenty years of enlisted and commissioned service in the US Army, Stephen A. Bourque obtained his PhD at Georgia State University and taught history at several military and civilian schools and universities, including the School of Advanced Military Studies, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, where he is professor emeritus.

Review:

"The sacrifices of the D-Day Loperation overlord, whose 75th anniversary will be celebrated on Thursday, saw 60,000 French perished under allied bombs.Written by a specialist in military history, this book brings back the shadows of this terrible episode." --Histoire

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"Passionate from start to finish, Bourque details the merciless flattening of the ancient cities of Rouen, Caen, Le Havre, Saint-Lo, and Boulogne-Sur-Mar for the sake of a ruse to keep the Nazis guessing. He questions the rationale of orders from on high to deliberately miss military targets, a decision that cost thousands of innocent lives. Despite remarkable diligence, most of the answers remain as buried as those lost beneath the rubble... 4 out of 5 stars." --San Francisco Book Review

"[W]arfare is a human activity which has an infinite number of possibilities and which tends to follow unpredictable models at least as often as it does predictable ones. Beyond the Beach provides a classic example of the importance of human agency on the conduct of warfare and how those of us who wish to achieve certain effects are often blind to the actual results of our operations.... [It] is a very informative work which raises many questions that are relevant today. This book is recommended for air enthusiasts and joint force commanders alike." --Australian Naval Institute

"Beyond the Beach is very well written, expertly researched and, while written with passion, is well balanced. It challenges histories of D-Day that ignore the bombing campaigns - campaigns which contributed directly to the success of the landings and subsequent breakout of forces into France; and it confronts the reader, documenting the terrible casualties and immense damage wrought upon the French population by the bombing. The book is well-suited for students of the application of air power." --United Service

"Beyond the Beach offers a haunting yet important narrative which will greatly interest readers of military history in general and World War II in particular. A great deal of controversy remains to this day concerning the air war over France, for just as Allied air operations took the lives of many French innocents, they significantly aided the American, British, and Canadian soldiers who would later land on the beaches of Normandy in the summer of 1944. Bourque ultimately concludes that there is no easy or incontrovertible way to remember the Allied air war over France--or any chapter of World War II, for that matter. For even history's most noble and necessary war was filled with the horror of blood, brutality, and butchery that reminds audiences old and new that no war is ever anything other than a tragedy." --H-War

"The euphoria generated by the successful landings in Normandy, and the subsequent breakout from the beachheads, has largely glossed over the consequences and collateral damage in France. The author has provided a worthy evaluation of the costs, with the short term and long term effects - Most Highly Recommended." --FIRE Project

"Beyond the Beach is an essential addition to our understanding of the battle for France, these deaths, generally glossed over as 'collateral damage,' profoundly shaped the French attitudes towards and understanding of the war." --The Strategy Bridge

Bourque presents a well-balanced, thorough summation on the effectiveness of aerial bombardment. His emphasis on the neglected subject of French civilian casualties and collateral damage is thought-provoking and worthy of further study. As such, Beyond the Beach is a welcome addition to the study of the use of air power in support of ground operations. On Point: The Journal of Army History

"As a scholarly source, Beyond the Beach is highly commendable.... Organizationally, the structure of the book is clear.... This book is an excellent contribution to our understanding of the aerial bombing campaign over France in the months and weeks leading up to D-Day. Also, it exposes some hard questions involving the nature and principles of war itself, many of which have no easy answer." --Strategic Studies Quarterly

About this edition

• Publisher: Naval Institute Press
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1612518737
• ISBN 13: 9781612518732
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 376