D-Day Landing Craft - by Andrew Whitmarsh (Hardcover)

About the Book

The D-Day Landings could not have happened without over 4,000 Allied landing craft and ships, and their crews. This book explains more about their use and the experiences of their British, American and Canadian crews on D-Day.

Book Synopsis

The contribution of landing craft and their crews to the 1944 Normandy campaign was enormous, and often overlooked. Most of the more than 132,000 Allied troops who landed on the beaches on D-Day came ashore from landing craft. The book examines why so many different types of landing craft were used in the operation; how they were built in both the UK and North America, over several years and with many competing war production requirements and operational needs. In the lead up to D-Day the Allies never seemed to have enough landing craft, their availability and production regularly discussed by top Allied leaders. This account is essential to anyone who wants to fully understand the course of D-Day, and the nature of Allied preparations for the campaign.

Review Quotes

'Andrew Whitmarsh's D-Day Landing Craft is an essential contribution to the history of the Second World War and especially of the Cross-Channel Invasion. American readers in particular will find the discussions of Utah and Omaha Beaches enlightening, as well as the glimpse into the American industrial capacity that could produce such an armada. ... We can't fully know D-Day without an understanding of the role of landing craft; with this excellent book we gain a much fuller picture of how the invasion succeeded.' - John D. Long, Director of Education, National D-Day Memorial, Bedford, Virginia


'As surviving veterans of WWII become fewer there is a ticking clock to tell their stories. That's what I do, and this book helps to get the stories historically accurate. ... It is for every writer of military history, every junkie of military planning and execution and every family who had a loved one that participated in the invasion. ... Finding a family member's unit, on a ship, at a beach, on a day and hour tells so much more of their story. That's where this book will be valued most.' - Jeff Veesenmeyer, editor of Elsie Item, newsletter of the USS Landing Craft Infantry National Association


'D-Day Landing Craft is an epic tale that explores not only the creation of all the different landing craft used by the Allies in the invasion of Normandy, but it also takes a deep dive into how the creation became possible. It also uniquely explores how each of those different landing craft contributed to ultimate victory on each of the five D-Day landing beaches. Whitmarsh's level of research in putting this story together is as staggering as it is impressive. It was only because of those "ugly and unorthodox" landing craft that the Allies were able to win the Second World War. By the ending, one thing stands out above all else to the reader: this masterpiece of a book is truly something special. This will no doubt be used as a valuable resource for WWII historians for generations to come.' - Zach Morris, Editor in Chief, LST Scuttlebutt Magazine, U.S. Landing Ship Tank Association

About the Author

Andrew Whitmarsh has worked as a curator in military history museums for over 25 years, and since 2001 as the curator of The D-Day Story (until 2018, known as the D-Day Museum) in Portsmouth. He has written a number of articles and two books for The History Press, Portsmouth at War and D-Day in Photographs. He is a regular public lecturer on the topic, with a number of TV and radio appearances about D-Day.