WWII Publication Starts Countdown to D-Day Anniversary with Three-part Series
Harrisburg, PA (PRWEB) December 30, 2013 -- The world had never seen any human activity so large and complex as the invasion that struck the shores of France’s Normandy region on June 6, 1944. Some 160,000 men went into motion that day—D-Day—by air and sea, in an operation that had been discussed for more than a year and planned and practiced for more than six months, all with a single purpose: to liberate Nazi-occupied Europe.
The Normandy Invasion (codenamed Operation Overlord) would hurl a massive Allied army into Europe to attack Nazi German forces from the west. Meanwhile, Soviet forces would press the Germans from the East. The result, by May 1945, would be the downfall of Hitler’s Third Reich and the liberation of war-ravaged Europe.
On June 6, 2014, the free world will mark the 70th anniversary of the great D-Day invasion of 1944 with commemorations both solemn and joyous. Monuments will be decorated, trips scheduled, and veterans honored. For its part, the bimonthly US history magazine AMERICA IN WWII is commemorating the 70th anniversary with a three-article Countdown to D-Day series on the planning, preparation, and execution of the Normandy Invasion.
The series, written by Connecticut author Brian John Murphy, begins in the magazine’s February 2014 issue, currently on sale at Barnes & Noble and other newsstands across the United States.
“There was a D-day, or launch day, for every invasion,” says Jim Kushlan, publisher of AMERICA IN WWII. “But when people talk simply of ‘D-Day,’ we all know they mean just one thing: the colossal invasion of June 6, 1944.”
“And that’s why we’re dedicating significant space to telling the D-Day story in three issues in 2014,” Kushlan adds.
The first article in the three-part Countdown to D-Day series is “Ike Takes Command.” It focuses on how US president Franklin Roosevelt came to choose General Dwight Eisenhower to lead the all-important invasion of Europe in World War II. The article details the staggering logistical effort Eisenhower coordinated—and the dizzying buildup of men, ships, planes, weapons, and supplies in preparation for D-Day.
Murphy’s article also describes ingenious labors undertaken to deceive the enemy about where the Allied invasion would strike. The creation of a fake Allied army group and the deployment of inflatable tanks and trucks were among the tricks used “to fool the Germans into thinking the Allies were aiming their invasion at the Pas de Calais, the nearest point between France and Great Britain,” Murphy writes.
The next article in the three-part Countdown to D-Day will be published in the April 2014 issue of AMERICA IN WWII. It will focus on Allied aerial bombing of Germany in preparation for the invasion; the experience of the nearly two million Americans who crowded into Great Britain to make the invasion possible; the secrecy that surrounded invasion preparations; and Eisenhower’s long-anticipated order to launch the assault.
The third and final article, in the June 2014 issue, will detail the attack of June 6 and the establishment of a firm Allied foothold in France.
AMERICA IN WWII will also publish a 100-page special anniversary issue on the Normandy Invasion, entitled REMEMBERING D-DAY, in March 2014. The issue is currently in preparation, and pre-orders are being accepted at http://www.AmericaInWWII.com.
AMERICA IN WWII is a bimonthly magazine about the American experience in the Second World War—the war, the home front, and the people. It is available at Barnes & Noble and Books A Million stores, and select other bookstores.
Subscriptions to the print edition are available at 1-866-525-1945 (toll-free). Readers can also find digital editions for any device by searching for “america in wwii” on their devices’ app stores, or by visiting http://www.AmericaInWWII.com/subscriptions/ (print subscriptions can also be purchased there).
AMERICA IN WWII and AmericaInWWII.com are publications of 310 Publishing LLC of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, a company committed to telling the stories of history in human terms.
Jim Kushlan, AMERICA IN WWII, http://www.AmericaInWWII.com, +1 (717) 977-3919, [email protected]
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