The Cover Up at Omaha Beach

May 19, 2014
In this specialized book, Sterne, an amateur historian and an expert on the Normandy battles of WWII, covers the U.S. Army Ranger operations on D-Day and the days that followed. In the first of three parts, Sterne describes the German artillery batteries near the village of Maisy which were buried and forgotten in 1945. The body of the book describes the attacks on the Pointe du Hoc and Maisy artillery positions on 6 and 9 June respectively. The final part of the book deals with the mystery of why Pointe du Hoc was the priority mission of the Rangers and the Maisy position, which turned out to be one of the most important and effective German defensive positions in the battle, was never made known to the Rangers as anything of special importance. Sterne interviewed virtually every surviving Ranger, and includes extensive records and reports to support his argument that the famous attack on Pointe du Hoc was either a propaganda event or a colossal failure of Allied intelligence. This detailed account will be enjoyed by those familiar with the D-Day invasion battles and WWII, but is not for a general audience.