Omaha Beachhead". Historical Division, War Department. 20 September 1945. pp.47–48 . Retrieved 2007-06-10. The primary objective at Omaha was to secure a beachhead 8 kilometers (5 miles) deep, between Port-en-Bessin and the Vire river, linking with the British landings at Gold to the east, and reaching the area of Isigny to the west to link up with VII Corps landing at Utah. The untested American 29th Infantry Division, along with nine companies of U.S. Army Rangers redirected from Pointe du Hoc, assaulted the western half of the beach. The battle-hardened 1st Infantry Division was given the eastern half.

a b c d e f g h i "21 Base Defence Sector Operations Record Book, 21 Sector ORB". The RAF at Omaha Beach.

Assault Plan". Omaha Beachhead. United States Army Center of Military History. 1994 [20 September 1945]. pp.11–16. Archived from the original on 2009-06-22 . Retrieved 2007-06-10. Omaha Beachhead". Historical Division, War Department. 20 September 1945. p.113 . Retrieved 2007-06-10. Omaha Beachhead". Historical Division, War Department. 20 September 1945. pp.50–51 . Retrieved 2007-06-10. Another very emotional read from Tom Palmer and Barrington Stoke. They’re the perfect pairing” Phil Earle, Author

Resist is currently shortlisted for the 2024 Grampian Children’s Book Award. 2023 Awards Resist has been chosen for the following awards and selections: Brian left home to serve King and Country and as Betty dried her tears she could never have guessed that her beloved pet was destined to become a D-Day hero. You’re in the Army now

In the line of fire

D-Day Dog was voted favourite children’s audiobook by Calibre Audio, the national charity that provides a completely free for life audiobook service to everyone with a disability that makes reading print difficult or impossible, thank you to all who listened to my book and Rachel Reay for narrating. Omaha Beachhead". Historical Division, War Department. 20 September 1945. p.102 . Retrieved 2007-06-10. Omaha Beachhead". Historical Division, War Department. 20 September 1945. pp.38–39 . Retrieved 2007-06-10. Go online and search for D-Day links to where you live. The D-Day Story has an interactive map to help you do that: https://theddaystory.com/d-day-on-your-doorstep-interactive-map/. The Imperial War Museum’s amazing online collection allows you to search for images and recordings of the men and women who took part in D-Day and made it home to be able to tell their story: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections

A whole English teaching sequence linked to the book D-Day Dog by Tom Palmer ( Winner of the FCBG Children’s Book Award 2020). Ideal for Year 4, Year 5 or Year 6 children. Emil and Glen landed with twenty others but isolated and short of their drop zone. Gathered and preparing to link with the rest of their unit the group was spotted from the air and mistaken for enemy troops. In the confusion the RAF Typhoon opened fire and all but two of the men were killed. Emil and Glen died where they fell, together. The British Army acquired and trained many canines to be used as dogs of war and unleashed on Hitler's Fortress Europe. The government in London encouraged citizens who could not feed their pets due to rationing to offer them up to the war effort. The dog, originally known as "Brian" to the Fetch family of Loughborough, became "Bing" after he was lent to the British Army.

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D-Day Dog is published by Barrington Stoke. What is special about Barrington Stoke? Is the process of writing, editing and publishing different at all? D-Day Dog has just been voted (April 2022) favourite children’s audiobook by Calibre Audio, the national charity that provides a completely free for life audiobook service to everyone with a disability that makes reading print difficult or impossible, thank you to all who listened to my book and Rachel Reay for narrating. I was so happy the D-Day Dog was voted the overall winner at the 2020 Children’s Book Awards which is run by the wonderful Federation of Children’s Book Groups. The fact that over 100,000 children nominate, longlist, shortlist and choose the winners makes it all the more brilliant and satisfying for me. Thank you 100,000 times over. Visiting schools is great. I like it because it means I spend three days a week encouraging reading for pleasure, especially children who might be off books. The school events that work best are the ones where the school has done some work about the author with the children in advance.

What most stands out from the book is that it’s set in the present and talks about the different side of the world war it talks about a particular person and animal rather than the whole war. By September the D-Day dogs were heading home and, for the next six-months Bing, Monty and Rob would call the quarantine kennels in Cheshire their home. Parting from their handlers was emotional - they had faced death together and, somehow, survived. Omaha Beachhead. United States Army Center of Military History. 1994 [20 September 1945]. p.30. CMH Pub 100-11 . Retrieved 2007-06-10. You’ve written so many brilliant books, including Armistice Runner, the Foul Play series, and the Football Academy series, which is a huge achievement! How would you say your writing and story-telling has developed?

Going home

The other key aspect of the next few hours was leadership. The original plan was in tatters, with so many units mis-landed, disorganized and scattered. Most commanders had fallen or were absent, and there were few ways to communicate, other than shouted commands. In places, small groups of men, sometimes scratched together from different companies, in some cases from different divisions, were "...inspired, encouraged or bullied..." [65] out of the relative safety of the shingle, starting the dangerous task of reducing the defenses atop the bluffs. Badsey, Stephen; Bean, Tim (2004). Omaha Beach. Sutton Publishing. pp.12, 128–184. ISBN 0-7509-3017-9. The F-1 draw, initially considered too steep for use, was also eventually opened when engineers laid down a new road. In the absence of any real progress opening the D-3 and E-3 draws, landing schedules were revised to take advantage of this route, and a company of tanks from the 745th tank battalion were able to reach the high ground by 20:00. [93] I also grew up trying to make sense of the troubles in Northern Ireland on the TV news. And wars in the Falkland Islands. Then the former Yugoslavia. Then Iraq and Libya. Now Syria. I’m still confused about the idea justifying war. I’ve put a lot of my thoughts into D-Day Dog. The US forces that were on the beach with them were traumatized and immobile. Many men were dead or injured. 21 BDS’ position was grave, and they too were suffering casualties. The only solution was to get off the beach and get into the shelter of a ravine.