The French naval bases at St. Nazaire and Lorient, occupied by the Germans in June 1940, quickly became the homes of massive U-boat fortresses--nearly indestructible submarine pens, built by mostly slave labor. From these bases, the U-boats struck merchant shipping at will from the Mediterranean to the North Sea. Thousands of vessels were lost, along with vital war materiel destined for Britain and the Soviet Union. As a result, the Royal Air Force began an all-out bombardment of the two ports. Despite their extensive efforts--and those of the Americans who joined them in 1942, the fortresses would survive, surrounded by the decimated French towns and countryside. This is the story of what was, perhaps, the longest ongoing battle in Europe during the Second World War, seen through the eyes of someone who experienced much of it firsthand. The desperate battle was waged on land, air, and sea. Because the dock at St. Nazaire could house and repair Hitler's powerful warship Tirpitz, British commandos carried out a daring raid to destroy it in March of 1942. They succeeded, but with great loss of life. The defenses of these fortresses were so strong that Eisenhower would ultimately decide to seek containment rather than destruction. The 66th Division, on its way to take up the task, lost its troopship Leopoldville to a German torpedo, with a loss of 802 men. The French underground movement in the area spawned a fighting force of 40,000 men to fight alongside the Americans, but the subsequent German reprisals would ultimately destroy many families in Brittany. Yet the bases stood, and continue to stand today.

Put simply, this book provides a detailed overview of the battles that make up the Cotentin Peninsula Campaign, an important part of the invasion of Normandy. While historians often cite specific examples of the fighting that took place on the peninsula, most treat the battles as individual events or singular parts of the overall Normandy campaign. In this work, Bradham takes a different approach, focusing on the unique set of battles that had to be fought before the Allies could call their foothold on Normandy secure. Bradham not only discusses the strategy used to secure the peninsula, but also gives detailed accounts of the major battles and tactical doctrine that was developed to fight them. Along the way he provides biographical information on the main actors, explaining how key personality traits along with personal relationships influenced their conduct while in battle. In doing so, the author outlines the effect of the campaign on the overall conduct of the war while discussing the lessons learned.