History is rife with rumors and what-ifs? The period between the end of the Dunkirk evacuation in June 1940 and the German invasion of Russia a bit over a year later is no exception. Most of the recorded history for this period - at least vis-à-vis England - has to do with efforts to prevent a landing by Germany. This usually involves discussions about the air war and the Luftwaffe's inability to gain air supremacy. In the last five years or so, there has been a surge in books related to how landings and movements inland from the invasion beaches would have been resisted so-called 'stay behind' units and non-military organizations.
At the same time, there has been another research thrust dealing with the question: were there landings that were beaten off? Stories about this were initially heard in August/September 1940 and have sporadically popped up over the past 80 years. Generally, these stories suggest landings were attempted along the East Anglican coast - not the south coast - and that they were stopped mainly by the sea being set aflame. It is then stated that all involved were ordered not to speak of the matter.
Martin Bowman, a well known aviation writer, has written a book that tries to reach a conclusion about what did or did not happen. he takes a very methodical approach doing this. He lays out the military and political situation; the techniques of the Wehrmacht to carry out air/land/sea invasions in Europe; what conventional and unconventional defenses the British had in place and a collection of witness accounts. Bowman also provides a conjectural account of how such a battle might have unfolded. In the end, he doesn't tell us what happened but does hypothesize a where-there's-smoke-there's-fire scenario.
The book is really quite fascinating. I had been in the Nothing Happened category, but now believe something did. (Note: I am being deliberately vague so as to not spoil another reader's journey through this process.) it is also poorly edited with redundancies and repetition. When one considers the book was some six months late being published - an event usually caused by writing delays or editing issues - makes me wonder what was the cause.
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- Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2020
