Chapters 11-12 Summary and Analysis

The chapter title, "Cracking the Atlantic Wall," comes from the reminiscences of Sgt. Elmo Jones, 505th PIR, a pathfinder, charged with laying out lighted Ts on the ground. Unlike most of the eighteen missions thrown off course by cloudbanks and antiaircraft fire, Jones' team lands on target and accomplishes its mission. Maj. John Howard's D Company, Ox and Bucks, also lands on target by glider and routs fifty defenders in five minutes. Behind them come 13,400 U.S. and 7,000 British comrades ferried by novice pilots, ignorant of weather conditions. Hitting clouds over the coast, they instinctively peel off, just as all hell breaks loose, with searchlights, tracers and explosions filling the skies. Most accelerate and take evasive actions, spilling passengers and cargo. Virtually every C-47 is hit and many are lost. Terrified troopers, feeling hopeless and nauseous in the bouncing...