Since the fall of France in May 1940, the Allies had set their sights on avenging Nazi transgression. Four years later, preparation for D-day, the invasion of Normandy, was complete. More than 100,000 soldiers were to land on the first day. Nearly 12,000 aircraft and 5,000 warships would bomb and shell the beaches and ferry men and material ashore. Ike’s biggest worry was the weather. High wind, thick cloud, and heavy seas would swamp the invasion more thoroughly than anything the Germans might throw at it. And racing across the North Atlantic were a suite of storms which could do just that. It was up to one man, James Martin Stagg, SHAEF’s chief meteorologist, to tell Ike when the storms would arrive. If he got the forecast wrong, D-day would fail.
USAToday.com June 4, 2014 on D-Day: The most important weather forecast in history.
John Ross’s account of the circumstances surrounding the D-day forecast is insightful and supremely readable. The book brought me face to face with General Eisenhower as he listened to Stagg deliver the forecast that saved D-day. – Col. Tom Accola, U.S. Air Force (Ret), Career USAF weather officer, former staff weather officer for US Army in Europe, director of the Air Force Weather Association.
A wonderful piece of research on a little-known aspect about D-Day. The fascinating background concerning the difficulty of predicting the weather for D-Day without which Eisenhower could not have made his momentous decision. – Winston Ramsey, Editor-in-Chief, After the Battle magazine, Essex, United Kingdom
The D-Day weather forecast was arguably the largest gamble of World War II and through the persistent efforts of John Ross we can now better appreciate the behind the scenes drama and genius that opened a small yet operational window that the Allies exploited to achieve victory. – Thomas E. Crew, Naval Meteorological and Oceanography Command and author of Combat Loaded: Across the Pacific on the USS Tate.
LYON’S PRESS On The Forecast for D-Day 272 pages with maps and illustrations