Arthur Johnson Memorial Library

Normal view MARC view ISBD view

Army that never was :

by Downing, Taylor
Edition statement:First Pegasus Books cloth edition. Published by : Pegasus Books (New York ) Physical details: 319 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates illustrations ; 24 cm ISBN:9781639367542; 1639367543. Year: 2024
Tags from this library: No tags from this library for this title.
Item type Current location Call number Status Date due Barcode
900 - 999 940.5421421 Dow (Browse shelf) Available 115280
Browsing Arthur Johnson Memorial Library Shelves Close shelf browser
940.5421273 Cav Dauntless : 940.54213551 Rus Hell in Hurtgen Forest 940.54214 Gre Great escape at Dunkirk 940.5421421 Dow Army that never was : 940.5421421 Wie Normandy : 940.542145 Atk The day of battle : 940.54215 Por The path to victory

Includes bibliographical references (pages 287-319).

On May 29th, 1944, General George S. Patton gave a speech in the southeast of England to the men of the U.S. Army where he spoke of the American desire to win and of how losing was hateful to Americans. As he rose to his crescendo, he said how much he "pitied those sons of bitches we are going up against--by God, I do." On that same day, General Omar Bradley gave a calmer speech in Somerset, England, to the men under his command about how much rested on the upcoming invasion of northern France and how vital their role was in achieving victory. Apart from the very different tones of the speeches reflecting the opposite character of the two army commanders, there was another big difference. Bradley was speaking to men who in a little over a week would be splashing ashore on the beaches of Normandy. Patton was addressing an army that didn't exist. The Army That Never Was tells the story of the biggest deception operation of World War II: the plan to mislead the Germans into thinking that the invasion of Europe would come at Pas-de-Calais instead of Normandy--by inventing an entirely fake army unit during Operation Fortitude.

115280