D-Day Dog - WINNER OF THE FCBG CHILDREN S BOOK AWARD 2020 (Conkers)

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Omaha Beachhead". Historical Division, War Department. 20 September 1945. p.95 . Retrieved 2007-06-10.

The idea had started as an experiment, trialled on a wing and a prayer, but Bing and his canine colleagues had made the dream of the air dog become a reality. Yes, my dog Finn who has his chin on the laptop as I write. The Finn in the book is a tiny bit more obedient than my Finn.One tragic error that the RAF committed was to send these men into conflict in their RAF blue battle dress, treated with “anti gas” material - once this uniform got wet, it became more grey than blue and became far too similar to the German grey uniform. It was reported that, on many occasions, the ill-fated 21 BDS were being shot at from both sides. [98] a b "Omaha Beachhead". Historical Division, War Department. 20 September 1945. p.45 . Retrieved 2007-06-10.

From reading this book I learnt how crucial and important animals were in the war. It taught me that soldiers were not the only ones who gave their life for us and we should be thanking them too. The story is set in the twentieth century and this makes the story more interesting because it makes me curious to what the modern approaches and thoughts are towards finding the great truths of the past. Infantry Historical Records". National Archives (College Park, Maryland), Rg. 407, 301-INF (16)-0.3, Box 5909, Report of Operations file. 9 July 1945. Archived from the original on 5 July 2007 . Retrieved 2007-06-21. Thrilling. Tom’s two book covers for D-Day Dog and Armistice Runner are my best covers yet, I think. Find out more about Tom Clohosy Cole here! The US forces that were on the beach with them were traumatized and immobile. Many men were dead or injured. 21 BDS’ position was grave, and they too were suffering casualties. The only solution was to get off the beach and get into the shelter of a ravine.Their plan was successful, and the remaining, unscathed vehicles were driven a few hundred yards to the comparative safety of the destroyed hamlet of Les Moulins. Out of the original 27 vehicles, only 8 survived, and 21 BDS had lost 11 dead and 39 seriously injured out of their starting complement of about 150. [98]

The Squad : White Fear listed in Chris Bradford’s “ Top 5 books Every Child Should Read Before They’re 12″ The coastline of Normandy was divided into sixteen sectors, which were assigned code names using a spelling alphabet—from Able, west of Omaha, to Roger on the east flank of Sword. The area of beach that would become Omaha was originally designated X-Ray, from the phonetic alphabet of the day; the name was changed on 3 March 1944. The names of both Omaha and Utah were probably suggested by Omar Bradley, as two privates fitting out his London headquarters were from Omaha, Nebraska (Gayle Eyler) and Provo, Utah; they were not named after the corps commanders, who were from Virginia (Gerow) and Louisiana (Collins). [2] Eight further sectors were added when the invasion was extended to include Utah on the Cotentin Peninsula. Sectors were divided into beaches identified by the colors Red, White and Green, corresponding to the colored lights used on naval craft to designate the port (left), amidships, and starboard (right) sides. [3] D-Day was the largest amphibious operation in history. On the 6 June 1944 a mighty Allied force descended on German occupied France and in a matter of hours determined the freedom of the western world.By 00:35 British paratroopers, famously led by Major John Howard, had captured Pegasus Bridge in Bénouville. Shortly after reports confirmed that Bing and the 13th Paras had reached the River Orne and secured the second Bridge. It prompted Major Howard to send his famous coded message to HQ: “Ham and Jam”–both bridges taken. The elite 6th Airborne were working their way to victory. Victory in sight The F-1 draw, initially considered too steep for use, was also eventually opened when engineers laid down a new road. In the absence of any real progress opening the D-3 and E-3 draws, landing schedules were revised to take advantage of this route, and a company of tanks from the 745th tank battalion were able to reach the high ground by 20:00. [93] I was so happy the D-Day Dog was voted the overall winner at the 2020 FCBG Children’s Book Awards which is run by the wonderful Federation of Children’s Book Groups. The fact that over 100,000 children nominate, longlist, shortlist and choose the winners makes it all the more brilliant and satisfying for me. Thank you 100,000 times over. Omaha Beachhead". Historical Division, War Department. 20 September 1945. p.52 . Retrieved 2007-06-10.

Badsey, Stephen; Bean, Tim (2004). Omaha Beach. Sutton Publishing. pp.48–49 & 54. ISBN 0-7509-3017-9. Commanding the Western Task Force responsible for landing troops on the American beaches was Rear Adm. Alan G. Kirk. The Utah landings were supervised by Rear Adm. Don P. Moon. Trigg, Jonathan (2019). D-Day through German Eyes: How the Wehrmacht Lost France. Stroud UK: Amberley. ISBN 978-1-4456-8931-9.

Bing passed his initial training with flying colours. Alongside his fellow graduates, Monty, Flash and Rob, Bing became a fully qualified patrol dog but next he had to gain his ‘wings’. Brian left home to serve King and Country and as Betty dried her tears she could never have guessed that her beloved pet was destined to become a D-Day hero. You’re in the Army now Omaha Beachhead. United States Army Center of Military History. 1994 [20 September 1945]. p.30. CMH Pub 100-11 . Retrieved 2007-06-10. Omaha Beachhead". Historical Division, War Department. 20 September 1945. p.108 . Retrieved 2007-06-10. On the easternmost beach, Fox Green, elements of five different companies had become entangled, and the situation was little improved by the equally disorganized landings of the second wave. Two more companies of the 3rd Battalion joined the melee, and, having drifted east in the first wave, I/16 finally made their traumatic landing on Fox Green, at 08:00. Two of their six boats were swamped on their detour to the east, and as they came in under fire, three of the four remaining boats were damaged by artillery or mines, and the fourth was hung up on an obstacle. A captain from this company found himself senior officer, and in charge of the badly out of shape 3rd Battalion. [63] American situation [ edit ] Assault troops of the 3rd Battalion, 16th RCT, from the first two waves, shelter under the chalk cliffs (which identify this as an area of Fox Red).