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by John E. Ross (Author)
Monday, June 5, had long been planned for launching D-day, the start of the campaign to liberate Nazi-held Western Europe. Yet the fine weather leading up to the greatest invasion the world would ever see was deteriorating rapidly. Would it hold long enough for the bombers, the massed armada, and the soldiers to secure beachheads in Normandy? That was the question, and it was up to Ike's chief meteorologist, James Martin Stagg, to give him the answer.
On the night of June 4, the weather hung on a knife's edge. The three weather bureaus advising Stagg-the US Army Air Force, the Royal Navy, and the British Met Office--each provided differing forecasts. Worse, leading meteorologists in the USAAF and Met Office argued stormily. Stagg had only one chance to get it right. Were he wrong, thousands of men would perish, secrecy about when and where the Allies would land would be lost, victory in Europe would be delayed for a year, and the Communists might well take control of the continent.
Author Biography
Long fascinated by the confluence of natural science and historic events, John Ross has authored or co-authored eight books in the past seven years. Five are outdoor travel guides: North America's Greatest Fishing Lodges (w/Katie Anders) (two editions); North America's Greatest Big Game Lodges and Outfitters (w/Jay Cassell); North America's Greatest Bird Hunting Lodges and Preserves (all Willow Creek Press); Great Water: Great Fish - the Worldwide Guide to Fly Fishing (Quintet, 2000); two editions of the TU Guide to America's 100 Best Trout Streams (Falcon Press), which won the 1999 National Outdoor Book Award, and Rivers of Restoration (Skyhorse, 2008) which contains 21 profiles of trout watersheds in recovery. His chapters focus on the interaction of human kind with the natural environment. His two remaining books pertain to higher education: Public Relations and the Presidency: Strategies and Tactics for Effective Communication (CASE Books, 2001), and The Quotable Graduate (w/Heidi Reinholdt) (Lyons Press, 2003). In 1977, he co-authored a guide to the physical environment of New Hampshire for use by the state's middle school students. He is contributing editor for Sporting Classics and Sports Afield magazines.
