Diamond, Jon Images of War. Normandy Beyond the Beaches. Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives

This volume examines the controversial development of the Allied campaign in Normandy in the weeks following the D-Day landings. After overcoming the beach obstacles set up by Rommel and the 'Atlantic Wall', a secure Allied position developed along the Caen-Bayeux-Carentan axis on the five beaches with a phase of consolidation as reinforcements and supplies were built up. The early arrival of the 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitlerjugend", the 21st Panzer Division and the Panzer Lehrdivisions delayed Montgomery's Anglo-Canadian capture of Caen until mid-July and prevented an early breakout into the interior of "Gold", "Juno" and "Sword" suitable for armoured combat. An early American objective was to cut the Cotentin Peninsula in half at its southern base to prevent the Germans from supplying and reinforcing the deep-water port of Cherbourg, which the US Army's VII Corps captured on 26 June. In the interior of "Omaha" and "Utah", the narrow bocage area proved to be advantageous for the German defenders. The Allied breakthrough came in late July with Bradley's Operation Cobra at St. Lo, followed by the entire Allied front, which first closed the Falaise gap before moving south and then swinging east to capture the Seine crossings. These decisive and gruelling weeks for the Allies are described in contemporary pictures with captions and explanatory texts.