المظليون المفقودون في نورماندي

The fateful days and weeks surrounding June 6, 1944 have been documented in detail in World War II history books, but little attention has been paid to the enormous impact these events had on the surrounding population. The Lost Paratroopers of Normandy tells the both inspiring and heartbreaking story of ordinary people who performed extraordinary acts in defense of freedom. On D-Day, when transport planes dropped paratroopers from the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, well off their target, into the swampy waters of northwest France, the 900 residents of the village of Grain gave them a standing ovation. These villagers - mostly women - provided food, gathered intelligence, and fought their way through floods to retrieve the paratroopers' equipment at great risk to themselves. When a German attack on June 11 forced the exhausted paratroopers to withdraw, many of them reached safety thanks to the help and resistance of villagers. In this influential book, historian Stephen J. Raby, the son of a paratrooper, meticulously captures the forgotten lives of those who participated in this essential part of D-Day history.