About the Historical Consultant

Few experts are as well qualified as Major General Ralph Royce to pass on the merits of a book about the Normandy invasion. As Deputy Commander of the Ninth Air Force, he was the senior air officer afloat during the invasion of France and served aboard the cruiser Augusta with Admiral Kirk and General Bradley. He accompanied General Bradley to shore at Utah Beach and, in the days that followed, reconnoitered the surrounding country very thoroughly, visiting many of the towns mentioned in this book. In General Royce’s words, “Mr. Knight’s book brings back very vividly the life that we lived during those hectic and exciting days in June, 1944, and portrays extremely well the life of the countryside during those early hours of the invasion that led to the freeing of France from the yoke of the invader.”