Barrie Samuel Barnes was brought up by his grandparents on a North Hull housing estate, his grandfather served in the Great War in the 2nd Hull Pals, 11th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, and the young Barrie Barnes would sit at his grandfather’s knee and listen to tales of his exploits in Egypt and France. It was these stories that fired Barrie’s interest in military history. After leaving school at the age of 15 with no qualifications, he led a rich and varied life, working in a number of unskilled occupations for the next 18 years. Eventually, after marrying and having three children, he took control of his life and gained a string of ‘O’ and ‘A’ levels in quick succession by attending night classes while working through the day. He eventually entered full time education and earned a BA (hons) and an M/Phil Degree at Hull and Leeds Universities. He then continued with his studies at Leeds University and gained a Post Graduate Certificate in Education which allowed him to join the teaching profession in September 1982. Barrie had at last found his true vocation in life and was to become a dedicated and enthusiastic teacher for over 26 years, rising to various management positions as he progressed. During his time working in the teaching profession, he wrote and had published eight books on Military history. In 2007 he retired from the teaching profession, left his beloved hometown of Hull, and moved to a small East Yorkshire Market Town, where he continues to work on his history studies. This, his 12th Book, has been years in the making and features many interviews he conducted himself over a period of 40 years. This detailed and brutally honest, no-holds barred, study of the bloody Normandy Campaign is by any standard a supremely absorbing story and the reader is left to make their own judgement of history from a book they are never likely to forget. Barrie is at present working on the second volume of the history of XXX Corps that follows their progress from the Seine, where this book leaves off, to the Reich.
