Force Mulberry: The Planning of the Installation of the Artificial Harbor off U.S. Normandy Beaches in World War II

240 pp. 8vo. Maps on endpapers, section of black-and-white photographs. "Commander Stanford has made a very important contribution to the history of World War II, and in the writing of it he has recaptured the tense excitement, almost desperation, of planning and executing the landings in Normandy. The Mulberries, the two artificial harbors established immediately after the initial landings, were absolutely essential for the success of Operation Overlord. For, as we found out in World War II, the most difficult thing in an amphibious operation is not to establish the initial beachhead that can almost always be done if sufficient force is employed and tactical surprise is obtained but to sustain and reinforce the ground troops against the beachhead, and attain the objective."