Operation Tonga: The Glider Assault: 6 June 1944 (paperback edition)

Author(s): Kevin Shannon and Stephen Wright

ISBN: 9781804200551

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A lively and comprehensive account of the Glider Pilot Regiment’s role in the first stage of the airborne assault in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944.

Written by two military historians whose close relatives took part in Operation Tonga
Draws on a rich and unique collection of survivor testimonies
This edition published to mark the 80th anniversary of the operation

Operation Tonga was vital to the success of D-Day. It included the famous attacks on the Merville Battery and the bridges over the Orne River and Caen Canal, as well as the lesser known, though equally important provision of an anti-tank screen to protect the southern and eastern flanks of the invasion beaches from German counterattacks. This account, the product of several years of research, includes the stories of the crews that evaded capture by the Germans and pays tribute to the help they received from local resistance fighters. The contribution of the nine gliders that took part in the ‘Coup de Main’ landings has been well-documented, but little has been written of the other eighty-nine gliders that participated. Operation Tonga—The Glider Assault: 6 June 1944 tells the full story.

BOOK ISBN	9781804200551
FORMAT	234 x 156 mm
BINDING	Paperback
PAGES	176 pages
PUBLICATION DATE	June 2024
TERRITORY	World
ILLUSTRATIONS	31 black and white photographs

Kevin Shannon’s father, Bill, took part in Operation Tonga. Shannon joined the British Army straight from school; his varied career included service in armoured reconnaissance, intelligence, and infantry. After leaving the army, he studied for a degree in Liverpool and then taught history in a secondary school. He took early retirement in 2010 to work as a full-time writer and historian. His other books include The Lion and the Rose (2017, 3 vols) The Liverpool Rifles (2019), Death or Glory (2021), all published by Fonthill.

Stephen Wright, a former teacher and youth officer, is the nephew of Billy Marfleet who was killed on Operation Tonga. Wright is the author of The Last Drop: Operation Varsity March 24-25 1945, a speaker on the Glider Pilot Regiment and Airborne Forces, and a founder member of The Glider Pilot Regiment Society.