054 NORMANDY 1944: The 'Transportation Plan' to cut D-Day communications

Draws on new archive research to explain how this crucial, dangerous and often spectacular campaign -- the Transportation Plan, in which the railway and road networks of France (and hence the German logistical chain) were targeted in order to slow German reinforcements to the Normandy beachhead -- was fought. Running from April to July 1944, it would eventually involve heavy and medium bombers of both the RAF and USAAF, with a starring role for the fighter-bombers of the Ninth Air Force. Early attacks by strategic bombers on the French rail nodes were only partially successful at best. In mid-May, the decision was taken to attack bridges and road and rail traffic intensively using fighter-bombers, mainly drawn from the US Ninth. Illustrated throughout with 65 photos and 14 pages of color illustrations.