Georges Bernage – författare

The Battle of the Odon evokes the clash between the British Army and the II SS-Panzer Korps, as they attacked across the Odon Valley during Operation "Epsom" in June 1944. Using contemporary photographs and documents, this book provides day-by-day details of the operation that what just one part of what is commonly referred to as the 'Battle of Normandy'.

In June 1944, the Americans left the Sainte-M re-Eglise and Utah Beach bridgehead and crossed the Merderet river to the Chauss e de la Fiere, taking Picauville on 10 June. Their advance was slowed following the failure of the 90th Infantry Division, but they were able to take Pont-l'Abbe on 12 June and Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte 16 June. Two days later they cut the Cotentin peninsula at Barneville, before heading north towards Cherbourg. As well as authentic eyewitness testimony, the book also acts as a field guide, including maps and both comtemporary and modern photographs.

A spectacular, large format, full colour book, packed with over 200 photographs, maps and charts. The book is divided into the sectors associated with the Normandy landings in 1944.

Following the hugely successful “Invasion Journal Pictorial”, the first volume in the Memorial Album Collection, with sales of 60,000 copies since 1983, this new “Memorial” follows the campaign of the 1st US Army, step by step, from 7 June to 22 August 1944, from the beaches to the Falaise pocket, the battles for Cherbourg and Saint-Lô, and the breakout at Avranches. A fantastic guide to the battle with present day color photos for comparison with black and white photos from the period

• A superb colour guide to Operation Cobra, complete with over 800 photographsOperation Cobra was the codename for an offensive launched by the First United States Army eight weeks after the D-Day landings, during the Normandy Campaign of World War II. American Lieutenant General Omar Bradley's intention was to take advantage of the German preoccupation with British and Canadian activity around the town of Caen, and punch through the German defences penning in his troops while his opponent was distracted and unbalanced. Once a corridor had been created, the First Army would then be able to advance into Brittany, rolling up the German flanks and freeing itself of the constraints imposed by operating in the countryside. After a slow start the offensive gathered momentum, and German resistance collapsed as scattered remnants of broken units fought to escape to the Seine. Lacking the resources to cope with the situation, the German response was ineffectual, and the entire Normandy front soon collapsed. Operation Cobra, together with concurrent offensives by the Second British and First Canadian Armies, was decisive in securing an Allied victory in the Normandy Campaign.This highly illustrated book describes the very hard fighting of the U.S. forces south of the Cotentin peninsula, from July 2 to 15 1944, and the following lead up to Operation Cobra.French Language

This book provides a day-by-day account of the forty-two days of fighting from Omaha Beach to Saint-L. Follow Lt. Allsup from the beaches at Hill 108 (the 'bloody hill'), where he was injured, and Lt. Jones, who was among the first to enter Saint-L; a town destroyed by bombs, which was to become the graveyard of hundreds of Normans. On the opposing side, discover the fate of the fearsome 'green devil' paratroopers of General Schimpf and follow in the footsteps of paratroopers Erwin Schmieger and Rudi Frhbeisser, as they defend their armed camp, ensuring that every hedge will only be taken at the highest price. Objective Saint-L takes the reader along the little or un-known routes from the horrors of Omaha Beach to Trvires, La Cambe, Isigny, through the Aure valley to Hill 108, ('Purple Heart Hill') and Hills 192 and 122. As well as authentic eyewitness testimony, the book also acts as a field guide, including maps and both comtemprary and modern photographs.

On the night of 8 August 1944, the First Canadian Army launched Operation Totalize, directing their advance towards Falaise, with the intention of breaking through the German defences south of Caen. In spite of large numbers, they were halted by the 12.SS- Panzer-Division "Hitierjugend", who managed to block the 600 armored vehicles. During one of the German counter-attacks, several Tiger tanks were destroyed, including that of panzer ace, Michael Wittmann, who was killed in the process.The offensive was relaunched a few days later under the name Operation Tractable, the intention this time being to capture the strategically important town of Falaise and close the 'Falaise Pocket', also known as the 'Corridor of Death'.This book provides the reader with a day-by-day account of this forgotten battle, while also acting as a field guide, including maps and both comtemporary and modern photographs.

June 6, 1944, the 3rd British Infantry Division, considerably reinforced (with an armoured unit, special tanks, and a commando unit), landed on Sword Beach while, during the night, paratroopers from the 6th Airborne Division had already created a bridgehead to the northeast of Caen. In Bernage’s new work, not only do we find the German defenses coming face to face with the powerful forces advanced by the Allies, but also the major protagonists, among whom many have become legendary—Lord Lovat, Bill Millin, Major Howard, Commander Kieffer and his French commandos—but their adversaries as well, Major von Luck or Lieutenant Höller. Sword Objectif Caen presents a crucial page of history, brutally unfolded before Caen, the town that was martyred and which was only rescued after a long month of combat.

The battle of the Falaise Pocket, fought during World War II from 12–21 August 1944, was the decisive engagement of the Battle of Normandy. Taking its name from the area around the town of Falaise within which Army Group B, consisting of the German 7th and 5th Panzer Armies, became encircled by the advancing Western Allies, the battle is also referred to as the Falaise Gap after the corridor which the Germans sought to maintain to allow their escape. The battle resulted in the destruction of the bulk of Germany's forces west of the River Seine and opened the way to Paris and the German border.This battle is also noted as the scene of the death of Michael Wittmann, one of Germany’s top scoring Panzer aces and a household name in Germany at the time. This book is packed with photographs, some in colour, of the most dramatic days of the battle, and is an invaluable reference tool to any modeller, historian or enthusiast.French Language

In this important new work on Normandy, Georges Bernage offers a close examination of the decisive moments between 5 and 8 June, 1944, when the Panzers arrived on the front line. He details their units and their very first engagements on the battlefield, using remarkable original photographs.This highly detailed album adds up to an invaluable resource for the avid modeller, keen tank enthusiast and general historian alike.French Language

During the night of 5-6 June 1944, the Pathfinders were the first allied soldiers to set foot on Norman soil, the paratroops of the 82nd and the 101st Airborne Divisions fighting all night until the 4th Infantry Division, landing on Utah Beach, linked up with them. German troops and defences, paratroopers’ eyewitness accounts, unpublished material are all supplied in this superbly illustrated album.

June 7, 1944. The Allies have landed in Normandy, where they have set a bridgehead : yet this one is narrow and fragile. The Canadians sprint on to Carpiquet, but their attack is crushed by panzers of the Hitlerjugend Division that have just rejoined the frontline. Canadians and Germans are going to fight each other violently, and the tension is at its highest – some Canadian soldiers are murdered in Buron, and at the Ardenne Abbey. June 8, 1944. The Winnipegs are crushed by a German counter-attack in Putot. Some German soldiers are executed on Hill 102, and some Canadian soldiers are executed in Audrieu and Le Mesnil-Patry. Who are the people responsible for those actions ? For the first time, the mystery is partially unveiled. Then, the crazy night attack on Bretteville-l’Orgueilleuse – some panzers will burn and light this terrible night. June 9, 1944. The “Ribbentrop Company” attacks Norrey : seven Panther tanks are destroyed. The Hitlerjugend’s counter-attack is stopped. In Norrey, this is “the accident” : shrapnel wipe out a lot of civilians. The acme of horror has been reached. Thanks to a large number of testimonies, given by the combatants and the Norman civilians – who also suffered a lot during the battle –, this book offers a degree of precision never reached regarding the Battle of Normandy. The wartime and current pictures, the portraits of soldiers and civilians, the maps and the plans make this book a real movie of these “three days in hell” between Bayeux and Caen, whilethe frontline was still not stabilized, while the soldiers were trying to go from one enemy strongpoint to another, and while the civilians did not know where the danger was…

6 juin 1944, deux divisions aéroportées américaines sont larguées à l’est de la Presqu’île du Cotentin. L’une d’elles, la 101st Airborne Division, a pour mission d’ouvrir les sorties de plages pour la 4th Infantry Division qui va débarquer sur Utah Beach mais aussi de dégager les passages sur la Douve, au sud, au milieu des marais pour atteindre et prendre Carentan, petite ville située au coeur de cette zone aquatique mais aussi carrefour stratégique permettant la jonction avec la tête de pont d’Omaha Beach. Prendre Carentan, c’est réunir les forces américaines, un échec isolerait dangereusement les forces ayant pris pied dans le Cotentin. Les Allemands sont numériquement surclassés mais un régiment d’élite, les paras du Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 6 de von der Heydte, se trouve à proximité et monte en ligne face à la 101e. Ce sera alors un combat acharné entre paras américains et paras allemands, dans le secteur de Saint-Côme-du-Mont puis devant Carentan. Les paras du 502 PIR attaquent la chaussée, avec de lourdes pertes puis sur la ferme Ingouf. C’est enfin le mythique combat du « carré de choux ». Submergé dans Carentan, véritable « Cassino » normand, von der Heydte décroche dans la nuit du 11 au 12 juin, avant la contre-attaque allemande du 13 menée avec la « Götz ». C’est un échec, la bataille est finie. Les Américains ont assuré la jonction entre les deux têtes de pont. Cet ouvrage très documenté suit ces opérations mal connues, jour par jour avec de nombreux témoignages et des documents exceptionnels.

This book is the fruit of forty years of contact with military and civilian witnesses, now almost all gone, of research, analyses and descriptions of several thousands of photographs about the Landings and the Battle of Normandy. This book is the best synthesis, day by day, from 6 June to 30 August, with a clear narrative, an exceptional report illustrated with the best photographs (470), 22 armour and aircraft profiles and above all, 79 maps enabling the reader to follow this very complex battle more easily. The documentation, unique in the world, will allow you to discover one of the greatest pages of history, and to travel through Normandy, and find those moments when you go back in time thanks to the narratives and the photographs