Chapter 7 and 8 Summary and Analysis

"Training" is portrayed as an Allied obsession, for preparing diverse units to get ashore on Normandy is the make-or-break part of Overlord. Little thought is given to what they will do inland. After the Kassine Pass in 1943, Eisenhower allows no unit to stop training until the war is won. On learning it is the Americans' vanguard assault unit, the 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Division, shifts from containing blitzkrieg offensives to storming and seizing enemy strong points. They practice techniques at the squad level and work up through company and battalion levels. As training stretches out to two years, men grow impatient.

The 29th Division sails for England in September 1942, and settles near Salisbury, enduring homesickness, terrible weather, horrendous food, marching all over southwestern England, learning to "love the ground," and developing offensive tactics for loading and unloading landing craft...