Ernire Rooke-Matthews MBE - Signals Platoon, HQ Company, 9th Parachute Battalion
This book is an outstanding contribution to military history – but more to the morale of the veterans now past the three score years and ten.
Product Description
The Allied assault on Hitler's Fortress Europe began in the dawn of 6 June 1944 with daring airborne landings by men of the Parachute Regiment. This book tells of the Paras' first week of intense fighting from the assault on the vital Merville Battery onwards. Through personal accounts and detailed research a full and dramatic picture is built up of the actions that occurred as the Germans desperately attempted to displace the Allies' tenuous beachhead.
From the Author
Six years ago, having become interested in the Merville Battery and St Côme actions, I went in search of information and subsequently read all of the various published books. However, impressive as they were, a feeling of dissatisfaction prevailed. Something was missing. I realized that what I actually wanted to read was a detailed account in the words of the men who were actually there and not a narration of their experiences by an author. This, along with the deliberate omission of hindsight, therefore dictated the goals of the research and the format of this book.
Around fifty 9th Battalion veterans were interviewed, plus many of those formations that fought alongside them in the area. A large amount of written accounts were also studied from other survivors, many of whom are sadly no longer alive.
Using these and a multitude of other sources, I have therefore been able to construct, correct and expand on much of the existing published information.
Additionally, I wanted the reader to be able to see who was actually ‘speaking' within the text, to put faces to the incidents, and so the whole of the text is interspersed with over 200 photographs, thereby recording their faces for posterity.
Finally, I hope that people who visit the area and especially those who stand in front of the memorials at the Merville Battery and the Château St Côme, may now have the chance of a clearer idea of the terrible struggle which took place on this small piece of Normandy countryside.
Around fifty 9th Battalion veterans were interviewed, plus many of those formations that fought alongside them in the area. A large amount of written accounts were also studied from other survivors, many of whom are sadly no longer alive.
Using these and a multitude of other sources, I have therefore been able to construct, correct and expand on much of the existing published information.
Additionally, I wanted the reader to be able to see who was actually ‘speaking' within the text, to put faces to the incidents, and so the whole of the text is interspersed with over 200 photographs, thereby recording their faces for posterity.
Finally, I hope that people who visit the area and especially those who stand in front of the memorials at the Merville Battery and the Château St Côme, may now have the chance of a clearer idea of the terrible struggle which took place on this small piece of Normandy countryside.
Neil Barber
September 2002
