Nothing but Courage: The 82nd Airborne's Daring D-Day Mission

Nothing but Courage: The 82nd Airborne's Daring D-Day Mission With James Donovan Part of our DDay and Battle of Normandy series    • DDay and the Battle of Normandy   And our Airborne Forces playlist    • Airborne Forces   And also our US Army playlist    • US Army in WWII   The dramatic story of the courageous paratroopers and glidermen of the 82nd Airborne, who risked their lives to seize and secure a small, centuries-old bridge in France that played a pivotal role in the success of D-Day. In June 1944, German and American forces converged on an insignificant bridge a few miles inland from the invasion beaches. If taken by the Nazis, the bridge might have gone down in history as the reason the Allies failed on D-Day. The narrow road over it was each side’s conduit to victory. Continued Nazi control over the bridge near an old manoir known as La Fière—one of only two bridges in the region capable of supporting tanks and other heavy armor—would allow the Germans to reinforce their defenses at Utah Beach, one of the five landing areas chosen for Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Nazi-held Europe. But because control of the bridge was also essential to moving U.S. troops inland and off the beach, it could not simply be destroyed: it had to be taken—and held—by the Allies. This was part of the formidable mission of the 82nd Airborne, whose lightly armed but superbly trained troopers had dropped behind—and into—German lines five hours before the seaborne assault on Utah. While blocking enemy reinforcements, they had to seize and secure avenues of approach from the beaches to the interior of Normandy, including two bridges over the modest Merderet River and the key crossroads village of Sainte Mère Église. Failure would give Hitler enough time, and the opportunity, to build up the resources necessary to defeat the invasion and turn the tide for the Nazis. The village was taken early on D-Day, and the 82nd endured repeated attacks by much larger German forces. But the bridge at La Fière became a bloody three-day standoff against tanks and artillery that culminated in a near-suicidal charge across it and the narrow 500-yard causeway beyond—straight into the teeth of a fierce German defense ordered to hold it to the last man.​ James Donovan is the author of Shoot for the Moon, A Terrible Glory, The Blood of Heroes, and several other books. Nothing but Courage is his stirring saga of American heroism, sacrifice, and triumph during one of the greatest—and lesser known—stories of World War II. James has been a literary agent since 1993 and lives in Dallas. Buy the book: USA https://bookshop.org/a/21029/97805931... UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nothing-But-... Canada https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/boo... Other La Fière shows on WW2TV Normandy - Capturing the La Fière Causeway - 82nd Airborne https://www.youtube.com/live/iCd_b-qe... Band of Brothers jump over La Fiere on June 3rd 2024 https://www.youtube.com/live/rLkvE8mp... La Fière Floods - Normandy 82nd Airborne DZs    • La Fière Floods - Normandy 82nd Airborne DZs   You can become a YouTube Member and support us here    / @ww2tv   You can become a Patron here   / ww2tv   Please click subscribe for updates also "like" the video - it really helps! Social Media links -   / ww2tv     / ww2tv     / ww2tv   WW2TV Merchandise https://ww2tv.creator-spring.com/ WW2TV Bookshop - where you can purchase copies of books featured in my YouTube shows. Any book listed here comes with the personal recommendation of Paul Woodadge, the host of WW2TV. For full disclosure, if you do buy a book through a link from this page WW2TV will earn a commission. UK - https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/WW2TV USA - https://bookshop.org/shop/WW2TV Patreon Brigadiers: Susan Yu, David Keahey, Jim Walsh and Tom Mullen Become a WW2TV Brigadier and become part of this Hall of Fame   / ww2tv   🎙️ New to streaming or looking to level up? Check out StreamYard and get $10 discount! 😍 https://streamyard.com/pal/d/47793857...