The Lost Paratroopers of Normandy
A Story of Resistance, Courage, and Solidarity in a French Village
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- $49.99
Publisher Description
The fateful days and weeks surrounding 6 June 1944 have been extensively documented in histories of the Second World War, but less attention has been paid to the tremendous impact of these events on the populations nearby. The Lost Paratroopers of Normandy tells the inspiring yet heartbreaking story of ordinary people who did extraordinary things in defense of liberty and freedom. On D-Day, when transport planes dropped paratroopers from the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions hopelessly off-target into marshy waters in northwestern France, the 900 villagers of Graignes welcomed them with open arms. These villagers – predominantly women – provided food, gathered intelligence, and navigated the floods to retrieve the paratroopers' equipment at great risk to themselves. When the attack by German forces on 11 June forced the overwhelmed paratroopers to withdraw, many made it to safety thanks to the help and resistance of the villagers. In this moving book, historian Stephen G. Rabe, son of one of the paratroopers, meticulously documents the forgotten lives of those who participated in this integral part of D-Day history.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Historian Rabe (Eisenhower and Latin America) documents in this dramatic account the collaboration between American paratroopers and residents of Graignes, Normandy, during the D-Day invasion. More than 150 members of the 82nd and 101st Airborne divisions landed near the French village (35 kilometers away from their assigned drop zone) and were immediately welcomed by locals, who carried out reconnaissance missions, cooked for the soldiers, and salvaged their equipment. Five days after the landings, a recently commissioned Waffen-SS Panzergrenadier division battered its way into Graignes, forcing most of the paratroopers to withdraw. The remaining U.S. soldiers, including a medical doctor and a dozen wounded men, were massacred, along with more than 30 townspeople. Rabe, a son of one of the paratroopers who landed in Graignes, contends that the Waffen-SS, who wore "death skull" insignia and reported to Heinrich Himmler, "made a habit of violating customary laws of war." He also sketches the history of American airborne warfare and its development as a highly motivated, elite unit operating under charismatic generals. Based on extensive conversations with village families and surviving paratroopers, including Rabe's own father, this history combines heroism and tragedy in equal measure. WWII buffs will be engrossed. Photos.
