Posts by Phil Padgett

And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by, From this day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be remembered— We few, we happy few, we band…

Spring 1944 saw a flurry of final amphibious exercises for the Allied forces that would assault five beaches in Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Exercise TIGER, at Slapton Sands…

For the Allies to get ashore in Normandy with a good prospect for military success from D-Day to breakout into France, every individual soldier, vehicle, and pound of materiel had…

 Powerful engines throttled down to a low mutter in the dark on New Year’s Eve 1943, two Royal Navy motor gunboats, towing hydrographic survey craft, edged toward the German minefield…

“These often are quite impressive,” the young archivist said, handing me the closed-up flat file for this painting by C.E. Turner in Britain’s National Archives. When I returned the file…

In July, I was in London for two weeks’ research for a follow-on to Advocating Overlord (more to come). After immersion in World War II documents all day inside Britain’s…

“Also, historical events took place that will perhaps go down in history as the most momentous occasion of this World War II.  This, of course, I cannot discuss for some…

Happy 79th anniversary of D-Day! Over the months beforehand, many brave men and women risked their lives to obtain this OMAHA Beach-West map’s intelligence on fortifications, obstacles, and mines that…

Looking forward to the return of Kensington, Maryland’s Day of the Book on Sunday, April 23, from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., rain or shine! Three years ago, the pandemic…

Writing a book often comes down to choices.  For Advocating Overlord, I decided that stating the case for Roosevelt and Churchill having reached a quid pro quo involving Normandy and the…