Tuesday, June 6, 1944, 130,000 Allied troops landed in Normandy. Among them were 177 French soldiers. While the number may appear small at first glance, the symbolic significance is immense. These men, who fought against the Nazi occupation have now been able to return to their homeland, with their weapons in hand, nearly four years after being forced to leave. This group of French solders belong to the commandos, an elite corps created by Churchill after the costly evacuation of Dunkirk.
At their head is Philippe Kieffer, a banker of 40 years whose enthusiasm and persistence finally convinced the British to accept these French soldiers into their shock troops.
However, "commando Kieffer’s” success in Operation Overlord is not merely symbolic. It is on this fateful day—D-Day—that the French Green Berets will achieve, at the expense of heavy losses, all of their objectives, which includes taking of the Ouistreham casino that had been transformed by the Germans into a heavily fortified bunker.
Illustrated with numerous photographs, maps, drawings and graphics that immerse the reader into the heart of the action, this book provides a detail accounting of the extraordinary journey experienced by the "177," from their rigorous training in Britain until the last raids in early 1945.