Over two years of research in Devon and Normandy came together in 2024 to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D Day with the publication of this intimate look into the final days before the Normandy Landings.

The ship, the Empire Javelin, was built in California USA and would eventually meet up with the troops she was to carry to Normandy on D Day – these were the men of the 116th Infantry of the United States 29th Division and which included the famous ‘Bedford Boys’ – a town in Virginia that saw 19 of its 22 young men killed on D Day. The book follows their journey from Virginia in 1939 through the landing in Normandy and includes many new items of research interest.