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

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 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 :
“This is an important book and essential reading for those wishing to understand France today, and more specifically the actions of General de Gaulle.” — The Navy Magazine “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 “Stephen Bourque’s astonishing new book Beyond the Beach covers the years-long campaign to fight the Germans in France from the air. He shines light on a scarcely acknowledged wartime experience, that of French civilians, whose homes, cathedrals, and cities were relentlessly bombed by Americans and British on a scale close to that of the bombing in Germany. And the French were Allies! This is a subject … not seen covered before.” — America in WWII . “With little to no knowledge or publicity of these events, with the exception of the French themselves, one gets the impression of a successful air campaign surgically destroying intended targets in support of Overlord. Yet this was obviously not the case. This is a story that needed to be told, so that the victims can be remembered long after their death.” — The Journal of America’s Military Past "[A] courageous and important book, well-written, well-considered, and rightly argues that the events chronicled in the book are an essential part of any true account of the D-Day landings. A genuinely important book, one that deserves the widest possible audience and one that truly deserves a documentary television series to go with it." — Hellbound “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 “[A] well-conceived and well-researched book.... A book rife with lessons for our generation, Beyond the Beach is one of the most important texts to appear about the war in France in years.” — New Books Network "In the present context, this work is vital. The second chapter, 'The Operational Environment', in particular, provides one of the best of and most easily understandable explanations of the fall of France that your undergraduate students will ever read. I urge you to order the book for your library." — French Studies