In the early hours of 6 June 1944, as the greatest amphibious invasion in history loomed, a vital and hazardous battle was already unfolding in the darkness east of the Normandy beaches. Scattered by wind, flak, and the uncertainties of night, the men of the British 6th Airborne Division landed far from their drop zones, yet were tasked with objectives upon which the success of the entire invasion depended. While the capture of Pegasus Bridge and the assault on the Merville Battery have become justly famous, they were only part of a far wider, carefully coordinated plan. A third primary objective entailed the destruction of bridges across the River Dives, in a desperate effort to delay and disrupt German counterattacks from the east. With the scattered drops, the well-practised individual plans for each of the five bridges were no longer possible. The subsequent attacks therefore had to rely purely on initiative, improvisation and extraordinary courage.

In Red Devils on D-Day, Neil Barber draws on decades of research, extensive battlefield study, and rare firsthand testimony from the men who were there. He reconstructs, with clarity and authority, the chaos and intensity of those crucial hours, revealing the full scope of the airborne operation and the essential role played not only by paratroopers, but by engineers, and supporting units. Richly illustrated with original photographs and detailed maps, this is both a vivid narrative and a deeply researched study of airborne warfare at its most demanding.

Following the critical acclaim of Pegasus Bridge, Barber delivers a compelling and authoritative account that deepens our understanding of D-Day and ensures that the achievements of the 6th Airborne Division are fully recognised.

Publication: June 2026
Hardback
ISBN: 9781781220283
Price £35.00