March to Victory

Introduction: Using the Guide

To make the most effective use of this guide, we have several suggestions. Read the appropriate chapter, both "Overview" and "Tour" sections, before starting out on any given tour. More complete information about the museums which we mention can be found in Appendix A. We include maps in the "Tour" sections with places of interest keyed by numbers to the text. Material new to the second edition is keyed by bold letters. Our directions include approximate distances in kilometers on the Continent and in miles in England. You will need to estimate your travel time. Be generous. There is much else to be seen along the way. Know that in general it takes longer to get from one point to another in Europe than in the United States. The roads are often narrower, traffic is more congested, and built-up areas are more numerous. Furthermore, one must drive more slowly to see and read unfamiliar road signs.

This guide is too focused on military matters to be relied upon solely. Our maps are abstracts of more comprehensive maps of a particular region or city-not all towns and roads have been included. Therefore, you will need to acquire additional road maps. Those put out by Michelin, Bartholomew, and RECTA are reliable and widely available. You will also need guides to hotels and restaurants. The popular American ones are most useful for the larger cities. During the peak tourist season, we recommend that you make hotel reservations in the larger cities. For this, the previously mentioned guides can help. Elsewhere you will find that reservations are less necessary, especially if you arrive at your destination by mid-afternoon. Local tourist offices usually have current lists of hotels and restaurants and their prices, and they can arrange accommodations for you. These offices can be found by following the "i" (for information) signs. In the Netherlands, look for "VVV." There are often English-speaking personnel at the tourist offices who can help you with any problem you encounter.

We have provided in Appendix B a short annotated bibliography which includes military histories and other guides to the battlefields. The latter are more sharply focused than this one and are not generally available in the United States.

Outside of London and Paris, we assume that you will be driving. While it is certainly possible to use public transportation to reach many of the sites we describe, travel by automobile is both simpler and quicker, although not necessarily cheaper. Gasoline prices in Europe are triple those in the United States. Arrangements to rent, lease, or buy a car should be made in the United States. The names and addresses of those agencies that make such arrangements can be found in any of the general guides to travel in Europe. If you plan to tour in both England and on the Continent, it will be necessary to rent or lease one car in England and another for the Continent. We recommend that you cross the English Channel by Hovercraft. The comfort and speed are worth the small additional expense.

Those wishing assistance in visiting particular grave sites in military cemeteries contact:

American Battle Monuments Commission
Room 5127, Pulaski Building
20 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission
2 Marlow Road
Maidenhead, Berks, UK

Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräbefürsorge
Postfach 103840
3500 Kassel, Germany

Ministry of Anciens Combattants
rue de Berey
Paris 12, France

We have sought to be as accurate as possible in getting you to these World War II sites. Nevertheless, things change-new roads are built; old ones are closed; museums adopt different hours; battlefield remains are moved to a new site; and time erases the scars of battle. We also recognize that we have failed to mention many memorials, units, and engagements, sometimes by design, but often inadvertently. In any event, we would like to hear your suggestions about how to make this a better book.