The Lost Paratroopers of Normandy: A Story of Resistance, Courage, and Solidarity in a French Village

by Stephen G. Rabe

Overview

The fateful days and weeks surrounding 6 June 1944 have been extensively documented in histories of the Second World War, but less attention has been paid to the tremendous impact of these events on the populations nearby. The Lost Paratroopers of Normandy tells the inspiring yet heartbreaking story of ordinary people who did extraordinary things in defense of liberty and freedom. On D-Day, when transport planes dropped paratroopers from the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions hopelessly off-target into marshy waters in northwestern France, the 900 villagers of Graignes welcomed them with open arms. These villagers – predominantly women – provided food, gathered intelligence, and navigated the floods to retrieve the paratroopers' equipment at great risk to themselves. When the attack by German forces on 11 June forced the overwhelmed paratroopers to withdraw, many made it to safety thanks to the help and resistance of the villagers. In this moving book, historian Stephen G. Rabe, son of one of the paratroopers, meticulously documents the forgotten lives of those who participated in this integral part of D-Day history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781009206372
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/10/2022
Pages:	262
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Stephen G. Rabe is the Ashbel Smith Professor in History (emeritus) at the University of Texas at Dallas. He is a veteran of the US Marine Corps. The Lost Paratroopers of Normandy is his thirteenth book.

Table of Contents

Introduction; 1. Paratrooper; 2. Overseas; 3. Occupied France; 4. Liberators and friends; 5. Days of friendship, hope, and waiting; 6. The longest day in Graignes; 7. Escape, exile, and annihilation; 8. Graignes in historical memory; Afterword.

Editorial Reviews

08/22/2022

Historian Rabe (Eisenhower and Latin America) documents in this dramatic account the collaboration between American paratroopers and residents of Graignes, Normandy, during the D-Day invasion. More than 150 members of the 82nd and 101st Airborne divisions landed near the French village (35 kilometers away from their assigned drop zone) and were immediately welcomed by locals, who carried out reconnaissance missions, cooked for the soldiers, and salvaged their equipment. Five days after the landings, a recently commissioned Waffen-SS Panzergrenadier division battered its way into Graignes, forcing most of the paratroopers to withdraw. The remaining U.S. soldiers, including a medical doctor and a dozen wounded men, were massacred, along with more than 30 townspeople. Rabe, a son of one of the paratroopers who landed in Graignes, contends that the Waffen-SS, who wore “death skull” insignia and reported to Heinrich Himmler, “made a habit of violating customary laws of war.” He also sketches the history of American airborne warfare and its development as a highly motivated, elite unit operating under charismatic generals. Based on extensive conversations with village families and surviving paratroopers, including Rabe’s own father, this history combines heroism and tragedy in equal measure. WWII buffs will be engrossed. Photos. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

2022-06-25
An account of an overlooked piece of World War II history.

During the early hours before the massive Normandy landing on June 6, 1944, thousands of Allied paratroopers descended behind German lines. Many missed their drop zones, including two companies that landed 15 miles away in the marshes of the Cotentin Peninsula. After dawn, the soldiers noticed a village atop a nearby hill, and about 180 men drifted in during the following days. Historians have described the resulting Battle of Graignes in passing, but Rabe, a Marine Corps veteran, emeritus professor of history at the University of Texas at Dallas, and son of one of the paratroopers, gives it his full attention. The story is particularly inspiring because the townspeople and surrounding farmers universally welcomed the soldiers, fed and sheltered them, gathered intelligence, and sent boats into the waterways to recover supplies. Unable to accomplish their original goal, the paratroopers hoped to delay German forces racing toward the invasion beaches 20 miles away. Lightly armed with no artillery, tanks, or antitank weapons, they could not hope to do so for long. They drove off initial attacks by an SS division but were soon devastated by superior numbers and artillery fire. Survivors abandoned the city, approximately 110 eventually reaching Allied lines. After accepting the surrender of a doctor, two medics, and 14 wounded left behind, German soldiers shot them. They also killed 44 French civilians and burned Graignes to the ground after an orgy of pillaging and looting. Overwhelmed by surrounding events, this defense of an obscure village did not attract attention until decades had passed and memories became spotty and perhaps idealized. Rabe does a fine resurrection job, assembling his material and filling out the text with mostly engaging diversions, including the history of American airborne forces, biographies of its two leading generals (who were preoccupied elsewhere), details of the Normandy landings, and subsequent battles across France.

Good niche military history.

Kirkus Reviews

‘Lost no longer, the American paratroopers who helped to liberate Normandy find a sympathetic chronicler in Stephen G. Rabe. This is micro-history at its most intimate. In granular detail, Rabe recounts the story of how American troops and French villagers rescued Graignes from German occupation. Drawing on deep research and even deeper feeling, the author pays tribute to his veteran father, to a generation, and to enduring ties between two nations bound together by collective sacrifices and shared valor.' Susan Carruthers, author of Dear John: Love and Loyalty in Wartime America

‘Compelling and suspenseful, The Lost Paratroopers of Normandy highlights the bravery and resourcefulness of American soldiers and the people of Graignes while further demolishing the myth of a blameless Waffen SS.' Steven P. Remy, author of The Malmedy Massacre: The War Crimes Trial Controversy

‘Stephen G. Rabe's exhaustively researched work breaks the silence surrounding the heroic roles played by French men and women to assure the success of the American landings. Engagingly written, the story emphasizes the courage of both soldier and civilian in the face of SS murder and atrocity. A must-read for anyone who wishes to explore another view of the D-Day landings. Highly recommended.' Mary Louise Roberts, author of D-Day Through French Eyes: Memoirs of Normandy 1944

‘Stephen G. Rabe provides a fascinating and multi-layered military, diplomatic, and social history of US World War II paratroopers, French villagers, and the protection they gave each other in June 1944. In the process, he provides a fitting tribute to his father, who was one of those paratroopers.' Mark A. Stoler, author of Allies in War: Britain and America against the Axis Powers, 1940–1945

'… this history combines heroism and tragedy in equal measure. WWII buffs will be engrossed.' Publishers Weekly

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