Rangers Lead the Way: Pointe-du-Hoc D-Day 1944 (Raid, 1)

Osprey has created an excellent collection of books to their already impressive publications. Raid, as the series title implies, is a specific engagment of a aparticular battle, in this case the attack by the newly formed Rangers of the U.S. Army on D-Day. It is informative and a great read starting with the training and ending with the aftermath of the Rangers raid on Pointe-du-Hoc. Concise yet filed with sidebars and maps a great book at a great price.

As I visited Pointe du Hoc in 2012 I felt I was worth revisiting this battle,A factual read and I enjoyed it, one can only imagine the horrors of war.

There were some very obvious errors of commission and omission!No real " new" information. This seems to be a compilation of previous written information

Save your money. Good maps, but they are also available on-line for free. Little detail or new information. A good book for a grade school library.

I liked this book and I consider it as a very precious thing, because it was a pleasure to read it and I learned from it A LOT!This book describes comprehensively the events which led to this dramatic battle, allied air raids and shelling by warships, then we go to the landing by Rangers at Pointe-du-Hoc, the site ot the coastal battery considered dangeorus for allied transport ships on approach. Author described also the landing of those Rangers who couldn't arrive to the main target on Omaha Beach at Vierville, where they were used by general Cota as shock troops with this short order "Rangers, lead the way!" - a phrase which from that time became the motto of this whole elite formation.The description of events goes well beyond the capture of the gun positions and guns themselves as we can also follow the more and more desperate fight against German counter-attacks until finally the relief force arrival on D+2.I learned a lot from this book but probably the most important thing was the importance of RAF air raid in the morning of 6 June which saw the use of 108 (one hundred eight) Lancasters against just this one coastal battery - as it turned out later, during the post-battle analysis of events, this attack in itself more or less put the whole battery of business. But NOT definitely, as it was proved when Rangers discovered the guns abandoned but still very much operationnal and with plenty of ammo... The fire support provided by old battleship USS "Texas" was also extremely precious for Rangers and by partly breaching the cliffs and allowing the use of ladders it certainly saved dozens of lives...I rather disagree with the conclusion by authot that with the benefit of hindsight the raid seems to not have been necessary - those powerful guns WERE operationnal and without Rangers attack, with just a minimum effort from German defenders could (and almost certainly would) have been used against allied landings, if not in the first hours of D-Day then without a doubt somewhere in the afternoon. Their destruction was therefore certainly worthy the casualties suffered because on this "longest day in the history" every and each precaution had to be taken to make the landings a success. And a success they were - in part because Rangers "led the way"...The description of the battle may not always seem entirely clear, but this is because as most modern infantry engagements this fight simply was very complex and unavoidably even occasionally confused (hence the heart-breaking cases of friendly fire) - but as far as my personal taste is concerned Steven Zaloga described this battle as clearly as it was humanly possible. In some places repeated readings are needed to follow the events, but it is nevertheless possible to understand them - and analysing and understanding clearly this incredible exploit is certainly worth every effort.Bottom line, this is a very good book. To buy, read and keep. Enjoy!

The first volume in Osprey's new RAID series, Rangers Lead the Way: Pointe-du-Hoc D-Day 1944 by veteran author Steven J Zaloga, is a real winner. This volume covers one of the most famous U.S. Army Ranger operations of the Second World War and has sufficient drama to hold the attention of general readers while providing depth of research to satisfy specialist readers. While there are some reviewers who like to complain about the short length of Osprey volumes, 64 pages is just the right length for specific topics, such as a raid. Overall, Rangers Lead the Way is well-written, packed with great photos, illustrations and maps, and provides a host of heretofore neglected aspects of this operation. One minor point, is that the Pointe-du-Hoc operation was not technically a raid, since the Rangers remained on the objective after their mission was completed, but this terminology issue should be opaque to most readers. Rangers Lead the Way begins with a 10-page introduction that outlines the background behind the operation, including the German construction of the battery as part of their Atlantic Wall program and the initial Allied realization that the battery could pose a serious threat to the upcoming D-Day landings in Normandy. This section also has a map depicting all the German units deployed in/around Pointe-du-Hoc and a nice terrain model that shows each bunker/trench in the battery position. The next 14-pages covers the Allied planning for the operation. One of Zaloga's interesting assessments is that, "Allied intelligence exaggerated the threat posed by Pointe-du-Hoc and underestimated its vulnerability...and planned for a worse-case scenario." In fact, the Germans installed the six 15-cm howitzers in open kettle pits rather than hardened bunkers and a preliminary Allied air attack six weeks before D-Day destroyed one howitzer and damaged two others. Due to this attack, the Germans moved the surviving howitzers out of Pointe-du-Hoc to a hidden position nearby, which further reduced their ability to engage naval targets on D-Day. However, this move was undetected by Allied intelligence prior to D-Day, so the Ranger operation was intended to finish off the battery. This section also has great data on the composition of the raiding force and the Operation Flashlamp bomber attacks on Pointe-du-Hoc just before the Rangers went in. One of the surprising facts that Zaloga brings out is that the Rangers were not the first American soldiers on Pointe-du-Hoc; instead, four mis-dropped paratroopers from the 101st Airborne landing there during the night and two of them joined up with the Rangers when they landed. The author also points out that the combination of bombing and shelling by battleships had reduced the defenders of Pointe-du-Hoc to combat ineffectiveness and that resistance to the Ranger landing was modest. Instead, the Rangers faced more problems from finding the right landing area and loosing landing craft along the way to ocean swells. Finally, despite the depiction in the film The Longest Day, only 19 of the 54 grapnel hooks succeeded in getting up the cliffside. The narrative on the actual assault is 14 pages long and has two 3-D maps and a battle scene. Most of the rest of the narrative covers the German counterattacks, the Rangers' defense of Pointe-du-Hoc for nearly two days and the relief operation. The volume concludes with a well-reasoned analysis of the operation. Overall, this volume is a worthy addition to any D-Day library or for anyone interested in Ranger operations.

Steven Zaloga certainly has the right formula in this book. The graphical additions, maps, photos, etc. are all working really well together.I just read and reviewed "German Seaman" from Osprey and you can really tell the difference in quality.The book is very dense, packed with details and it reads like an action book. the action story is sometimes pause with behind the scenes stories. You really feel in the action with the men and can feel in the distance the roaring from the D-Day landings.You also get a realistic point of view from the German side. Their difficulties to gather their forces to mount a counter attack, the horrendous bombardments they endured, etc.The first map describing the assault is really clear and it is easy to understand everything quickly. On the contrary, the second map is a bit confusing. I could not find some numbers references on the map. Not sure if it is a mistake.One negative point pointed out in another review is the involvement of some other rangers forces which do not really have a place in this book or perhaps so long.The author also describes really well the debate of the justification of the raid.Personally, I think that the planners could not reallly cancel the raid last minute. With the information available to them, they probably took the best decision at the time. History is full of these "If" scenarios. Consequently I found the author making a bit too much of an issue on this particular point.Overall a superb book. One of the few osprey where I gave a five star.Usually, the quality of the Raid series is relatively high.

A small book book on men who experienced more test of character in every 5 short minutes than most of us have in a lifetime. They trained for a time with our Royal Marines on the cliffs at Lands End, on the edge of my grandfather's farm. They were admired; and still are. Read this book and see why.

I have found Steven j Zaloga books that I have read to be informative and enlightening. The use of photographs and maps for reference is always a great addition. This book is another great by him. Well worth reading.

Amazing true story.

A great book about the WW2 US Army Rangers who climbed the cliffs at Pointe du Hoc on 6 June 1944, Read it and enjoy