Britain’s Coast at War: Invasion Threat, Coastal Forces, Bombardment and Training for D-Day

The whole of Britain’s coastline was involved in the struggle against the Nazis. In the early days invasion was the main threat and the Channel counties and cities such as Plymouth, Portsmouth and Brighton suffered grievously from aerial attack. Dover and the ‘Hell Fire Corner’ in the South East were shelled by German coastal batteries. In the North, Greenock, Gourock and the Scapa Flow saw training of troops for Norway, D Day and other campaigns and the return of rescued crews of sunk vessels of both sides.
The East Coast was pivotal to North Sea operations against enemy mining and E boat operations. The Western ports, particularly Liverpool, were crucial to the vital Atlantic convoys and the defeat of the U-boat threat. Preparation for D-Day centred on the South Coast both in terms of planning, training and deployment. The Slapton Sands disaster is covered. Inevitably the crucial role of Britain’s coastal ports attracted enemy bombing and V rocket attention and changed the character of its cities and towns. All this and more is brilliantly described in words and images in this superbly researched work. AUTHOR: Neil R Storey is an award-winning historian and author. A graduate of the University of East Anglia, he lectures widely on 20th Century history and has assembled a fine collection of original First and Second World War images. His published works include The British Soldier of the Second World War, Women in the Second World War and The Home Front in World War Two. The King’s Men: The Sandringham Company and Norfolk Regiment Territorial Battalions 1914
1918 and Beating the Nazi Invader! are published by Pen and Sword Books Ltd. Neil appears on numerous television and radio programmes as a guest expert including BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are. 200 b/w illustrations