Book Review: Pictorial History of the US 3rd Armored Division in WWII, Darren Neely

Having just read a text based account of the 12th SS Hitlerjugend in Normandy, this pictorial history from the Allied side of the same Western European theatre was a welcome change of pace.

The US 3rd Armrd Div arrived in Europe about a fortnight after D-Day, and from then onwards was at the sharp end - as befits a unit also named ‘Spearhead’ - from France to Belgium and in into Germany and wars end. 

The huge number of black and white photographs gathered together here are a terrifically rich and evocative resource, perfect for the history buff, modeller or wargamer. Split into four chapters, each begins with a short summary of the operations the Div took part in during a given period, and then fleshes this out with loads of captioned photos. 

Some of the darker photos could perhaps have been filtered and tweaked a bit for better clarity. And, a pet peeve of mine, it’s deuced hard to relate numerous ‘note such and such’ textual admonitions to the corresponding images, due to them being smaller, cropped, insufficiently clear, or whatever. Hence docking half a star. 

Most of the pics depict US troops and materiel, naturally. But there’s also a lot of imagery showing knocked out German stuff. So, all in all a fascinating and useful resource, bringing to life this units crucial part in the post-Normandy Western Front campaign. 

Book Review: Hitlerjugend, 12th SS Pz Div, Normandy, Saunders/Hone.

Superb! A thoroughly gripping account of the role of the SS Hitlerjugend’s role in the  Normandy ‘44 campaign. From the units creation, to its deployment and combat, opposite British and Canadian forces in the battle for Caen and beyond. Well illustrated with maps and photographs, and enlivened with firsthand accounts, I found this a terrifically engaging and informative read. Highly recommended.

Book Review: D-Day, Stephen Ambrose

This is an excellent book. It's a pity it overhypes itself on the cover; as good as it is I don't think it's definitive. I'm not sure any single volume account of D-Day could really achieve that, frankly. It's also both heavily weighted to the U.S. perspective, and within that, the events at Omaha beach. Both latter facts are understandable enough, but mitigitate very heftily against any claims of being definitive. Never mind that the Canadian and British aspects are given very brief coverage, mostly at the end of the book.

A couple of more basic or general points in its favour, leaving aside for the moment the core content, which is excellent, are the glossary - they should be absolutely mandatory in all military history books, in my view - and the excellent maps, which by the looks of them were commissioned specifically for this book.

A fuller view of the Robert Capa photo that appears on the cover.

Ambrose has a very nicely tuned and balanced writing style, it's dry and factual where it needs to be without being dull, and he uses primary sources - a lot of oral history (interviews either he or others have conducted with veterans) - as well as any of the best (or should I say most popular/slickest?) war writers, like Beevor or, going back a bit further, Cornelius Ryan.

Indeed, re the latter point, Ambrose is in a powerful position to be the erudite authority he so clearly is, in that he was (now decesased, I believe?) at the time of writing, deeply involved not only in teaching on this subject, but also as a custodian involved in the fairly recently founded (again, when this was first published) New Orleans D-Day Museum*. And one of the many great things the museum could boast, with Ambrose involved again, was a unique (in its size and scope) 'oral history' collection.

And it's from these sources that this very colourful account gets many of its richer hues.

I believe this may be another of Capa's blurred but highly evocative images.

Whilst he doesn't shy away from the tragedies of war, collateral damage, friendly fire, prisoner executions, and all that, Ambrose does give a decidedly heroic ring to it all, pitting the 'citizen soldiers' (a phrase that's also the title of another book he's written) of an 'aroused democracy', fighting inly to liberate, against the empire-building Nazis, whose troops are - by this stage if the war, and in this particular theatre - either indoctrinated Germans, either docile or fanatical, or unwilling thralls, as per the Ost-truppen.

Whilst it's a all a bit rich - apple-pie 'n' God Bless the U. S. of A, and all that jazz - for a very sceptical chap like me, Ambrose does make pretty solid case in contrasting the sclerotic command malfunctions of the German's, Hitler in bed till noon, his panzers immobile without his personal authority, with the hands-off approach of Ike and Churchill. Gone is the  flexible auftragstaktik that characterised the first blitzkrieg years of the war.

Capa again: Omaha, pinned down on the beach, sheltering behind German obstacles.

One of the things that winds up happening is that things are in exact reverse of how, on paper, they should've been: the Allies were landing against a supposedly extremely well-fortified coast, not using harbours, but beaches. The Germans, with the land and its transportation networks at their backs should've been the easier supplied and maneuovred. But, thanks to the Allies total air and naval superiority, it is the Allies who are free to manoeuvre and resupply more or less at will, with the Germans in Normandy effectively cut off, on a landlocked island.

Whilst D-Day wasn't on the scale, in terms of troop numbers and vehicles, as some of the largest clashes on the Eastern Front, it was the most massive combined operation by land, sea and air ever. Even Stalin freely admitting as much, and suitably relieved/impressed by it. The mind still boggles at the scale of it. And it continues to exercise a deep fascination. It's kind of shocking and surprising how little photographic documentation has come down to us so far.

It's a bit surprising there aren't more photos like this, conveying the enormity of the operations.

Another of Capa's few surviving images.

The fate of Robert Capa's photos [1], one of which is on the cover of this edition, may possibly sum that situation up. Related to all this, yesterday I caught the tail end of a recently produced American TV documentary entitled The Battle of Normandy: 85 Days in Hell, which appears to include lots of 'previously unseen' footage (much of it looking very nicely restored, and a good deal even in colour). So perhaps as time goes on more visual material will emerge? I do hope so!

Anyway, this book is excellent, a suitably rousing document that is also a tribute to the events and the men it brings to life again for us. Superb, and very highly recommended.

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Ambrose as I first saw him, on ITV's superb The World At War.

NOTES:

[1] The story goes that Capa shot 106 photos, but that back in England the excited developer botched his job in his eagerness, only eleven of the photographs surviving. There are also stories going around that suggest Capa 'sexed up' his account. Read more here.

Book Reviews: Hitler's Defeat on the Western Front, Seidler & Hitler's Defeat on the Eastern Front, Baxter

This has reached me in a timely fashion, right after reading a series of books such as Operation Totalize and The Germans in Normandy, which cover the same period and territory. Being an Images of War title, this is naturally a more pictorial treatment, which nicely complements the aforementioned text based books.

In this title, the text is largely confined to four brief 'chapters': Defending Northern France; Battles in Holland and Belgium; Defending the Rhine; Last Battles in the West. Each of these is followed by big chunks of captioned photographs. Some of these images will be familiar to hardened veterans of WWII studies, but there are also a good number that live up better to the 'rare photographs from wartime archives' tagline.

This view of an SdKfz 251 from atop a tank is great.

As is quite common in series such as this, there are a few editorial gaffes, such as when the same image appears twice, as does a Panther passing wrecked buildings, appearing on both p.11 and p.66. At least the captions differ! Speaking of the captions, they're okay. But given that they form the bulk of the text, they could've been better, i.e. more informative and/or interesting. Once again there's some redundant repetition.

Still, overall the pictures are great, and having them at ones' fingertips as reference in book form is fab. There are also some additional appendices, giving unit compositions and OOBs. So, all in all, a useful and enjoyable addition to the Images of War series.

Rommel inspects SPGs and crews. Note natty sackcloth tank tops!

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This title sounds like it should be the perfect complement to Siedler's book, as reviewed above. And in some respects it is. Certainly it's a complement. But, alas, it's far from perfect. As usual with Ian Baxter's work, in my experience of it thus far, the prose is occasionally very clumsy, and some captions are either boringly obvious, redundantly repetitious, or just plain wrong.

In this particular addition to the highly useful but quality-wise fairly variable Images of War series, Baxter seems peculiarly obsessed with the SS. The SS are, I would say - and I perhaps share the fascination many, Baxter quite obviously included, have with this darkly fascinating branch of the Nazi war machine - very over-represented here. And a lot of the references to them seem almost gushingly admiring.

A nicely dramatic shot. SS? Yes!

The only real acknowledgement of their complicity in war crimes comes in reference to the crushing of the Warsaw uprising. The rest of the time Baxter continually sings their praises. As much as I'm fascinated by the SS myself, I found this irksome. And in a book purporting to cover the Eastern Front as a whole, this SS-focus just seemed a bit odd.

One possible explanation might be the sourcing of the photos, perhaps? In his acknowledgments Baxter refers to his gratitude re the use of photographs from several private sources. Maybe those sources are mainly SS related? If so, some kind of mention of that fact ought to have been made. 

More SS...

... and more.

On the positive side, this is one of the few Images of War titles wherein I haven't recognised lots of the images from other sources, such as the Bundesarchiv. Structurally it's akin to Seidler's Western Front book, with five brief chapters - Kursk; Fighting Withdrawal; Winter Warfare; Bagration & Aftermath; Last Battles - supported by the captioned photographs. But there's more text here than in Siedler's Western counterpart. This means more detail. However, it also means more lumpen prose and repetition. So, a mixed blessing!

The photos themselves are useful and interesting, if of quite varied quality. The over-representation of the SS may or may not irritate others. As I like their funky camo' gear, I can live with it. But it's not as broadly representative visually as Siedler's Western Front counterpart. Several appendices cover info on organisation, equipment and uniforms. I only glanced at the latter, so won't pass judgement on them here, they may be useful additions. Then again, they may not.

Can it be! Is this possibly not an SS unit?

Not the best of the Images of War offerings. But still interesting and useful for reference.

And lest ye forget... yet more SS!*

* I will confess that SS camo' gear is something I never tire of seeing.

Misc: D-Day 75th Anniversary!

75 years ago, today, the world's greatest military armada landed Allied troops and materiel on the shores of Normandy. I thought I'd remember and celebrate this with a post on the subject.

The first thing I'd like to note is how, growing up in the village of Comberton, five miles west of Cambridge, my family would frequently pass the American Cemetery (read more on the latter here), at Madingley. My dad would never fail to mention it, as we passed, on our way in to or out of town. But even in the ensuing years in which I grew to be fascinated by military history, models and wargaming, etc, I never took a real interest in the place.

The American Cemetery at Madingley, Cambridgeshire.

Indeed, it wasn't until my return to both my old 'neck of the woods', having moved back to Cambridgeshire after about a decade in London, and my eventual return to the hobbies and interests of my youth, which came later, that I finally started to visit the Cemetery, and comprehend its significance. I've been there three or four times now. It's well worth a visit. I was surprised they aren't holding a D-Day memorial service today. But I found out they did so earlier this year. In fact I only just missed it; May 27th.

Rather than me going into it, and why there's an American Cemetery here in the first place, interested parties should read the previously mentioned link, or this post, the latter of which has plenty of interesting info' from a local perspective.

I'll be watching this later. with a drop of vin rouge, to celebrate.

I had hoped that perhaps my Canadian grandfather, Bert Palmer, had taken part in the D-Day landings, or the Normandy Campaign. And he might have, even if only indirectly. Based on some sketchy information from my father I believe he remained in the U.K, due to a traffic accident/injury (sustained under wartime blackout conditions), working as a mechanic and chauffeur.

I reckon I'll take the afternoon off, and watch The Longest Day. But numerous chores need to be attended to first. Speaking of The Longest Day, a phrase I believe Cornelius Ryan got from (or at least attributes to) Rommel - and The Desert Fox was on TV yesterday! - I'm currently reading an excellent book entitled The Germans In Normandy, by Richard Hargreaves. This superb book does for Normandy what Andrew Field's Waterloo, The French Perspective, did for that momentous clash, giving views from 'the other side of the hill'.

An excellent exciting read.

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Some time later... chores mostly out of the way.

I tried to buy a bottle of red wine from Normandy, but couldn't find any in my local Sainsbury. I know the region is more famed for cider and Calvados. But I fancied a decent French red. It wasn't until the day after (i.e. now, on the 7th, when I'm typing this!) that I 'googled' the subject. And as the map below shows, nowadays Normandy isn't really considered a wine region.

French wine regions.

Nevertheless, I did find this producer. No English options on their website, alas. And I haven't tried to see if they sell any wines here in Blighty. Anyway, the wine I bought yesterday - and I departed from my usual tightwad budget of £5-8, and sploshed out (Flyodian pun) on a £12 bottle - whose name/region escapes me now, was terrifically good; soft and smooth as a velvet slipper! Teresa, who won't usually imbibe during the week, took a slug or two when I told her the occasion.

Ok, I'll admit I haven't said a huge amount here about either D-Day itself, or the Normandy campaign, or the contemporary events held on June 6th, 2019. But that's not really the point of this post. This is simply a moment of celebration and remembrance of those seismic events of 75 years ago. So, here's to all those who stopped Hitler's rot. Bottoms up!

And, to conclude, shown above is a very interesting video I found on YouTube, which is a film of D-Day to D+3 footage, as shown to the Allied leaders - Churchill, Eisenhower, etc. - very shortly after the events.

Book Review: Operation Totalize, Tim Saunders

This follows on nicely from Charles More's Arromanches to the Elbe, which I read and reviewed recently. That book follows 144 RAC from Normandy to Germany, and includes coverage of their part in Operation Totalize [1]. It's great to be able to zoom in on a more detailed view of one component of the larger picture.

The Kangaroo, a 'de-frocked' Priest, was a product of Totalize. [2]

It's also of interest to me as my grandfather served in WWII, in the Canadian armed forces, and Totalize was a joint Anglo-Canadian affair. I had hoped Bert might've been involved in these events. But a chat with my dad at the weekend suggests that he probably spent the duration based in the southern U.K. (due to an injury sustained in a military traffic accident). Still, my Canadian connection remains!

I initially found the level of detail pretty hard going; there's an awful lot of unit names/numbers, and movements, and many, many maps, of very varied quality. But at the time I started this review I'd just finished chapter seven, which deals with Kurt Meyer's German counter-attack. The combination of maps and firsthand testimony, as well as regimental histories, etc, is superb. This is the battle during which Tiger ace Michael Wittman was put out of action by radio-op turned gunner Joe Ekins. [3] It's very vividly portrayed, making for an exciting and compelling read.

Tiger ace Michael Wittman, of Villers Bocage fame.

Wittman's tank after Ekins was done with it.

It's now some time later, and I've finished the book. Rather like Totalize itself, it kind of fizzles out, with the Allied forces partially achieving their objectives, and their German adversaries partially succeeding in containing them. But I found Saunder's account, overall, to be very interesting. It's amazing just how much material there is on WWII, and within that there's so much again, from broad perspectives (I have a book called The Second World War Explained on my 'to read' pile) to super-detailed blow-by-blow accounts of specific operations, such as this.

We're spoiled, really, aren't we!?

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NOTES:

[1] The 'z' in the spelling of Totalise is deliberate, U.S./Canadian style.

[2] M7 Priests on loan to British and Canadian forces had their armament temporarily removed, and armour-plates added to fill the resulting voids, so as to create APCs to deliver troops into battle alongside armour.

[3] Rather surprisingly, given how effective he proved as a gunner - he knocked out several other German tanks in this engagement - Ekins was returned to his radio duties, never to fire a gun again!

Book Review: From Arromanches to the Elbe, Charles More

This fascinating book follows the 144th Regt, RAC (Royal Armoured Corps) from landing, on D-Day +8, through the Normandy campaign, into Belgium/Holland, and ultimately across the Rhine. It does so in part through the memoirs of several who served in the regiment, leaning particularly heavily on the writings of Marcus Cunliffe. [1]

Churchill tanks act as Battle taxis, ferrying troops over the Elbe.

Initially equipped with Churchills, which were replaced with Shermans, the unit would eventually be reborn as the 4th RTR (Royal Tank Regiment), and was then furnished with Buffalo LVTs, in which capacity it had the honour of being the first British unit across the Rhine, ferrying troops over. [2]

One of many things I really enjoyed about this book was the way it covered both very well known actions - so for example we hear about how the regiment was embroiled in the famous Ardennes/Bulge actions - and also those frequently glossed over, such as their first real action, at Noyers, or when they helped in the reduction and capture of le Havre.

The photographic segment isn't the most exciting of it's type, but it does illustrate some of the people and places depicted. The several simple maps are better than average. And there's also a glossary, which is always a good thing. The book itself is well written, albeit in a rather plain way. At first I was worried it'd be one of those dry recitations of unit numbers and movements, and might be too obscure/specialised to keep me interested. But it proved otherwise, thanks in no small part to the extracts from the writings of Cunliffe and others, like Alan Jolly and Hilary Phillips.

Sherman's of the 144th Regt.

In the end, once I'd gotten really stuck in, More's account turns out to be a model of clarity and balance. Rather interestingly he addresses several well-worn clichés concerning the allegedly poor training, morale, equipment and performance of British troops and Allied materiel, giving a much more positive view than one is sometimes accustomed to hearing.

A number of familiar themes emerge, during combat or 'action' (not always the same, as when a recce in force advances unopposed), such as how tank numbers rapidly dwindle due to bogging down or mechanical failure. And the confusion or muddle, as when a barrage causes advancing troops to lose their way in the dust that's raised, or two units are given the same task. But such things are commonplaces of war, and More shows that these weren't necessarily purely Britush failings.

One clear thing that emerges is the imbalance of materiel. At one point the Shermans of the regt. - sixty or so - are temporarily mothballed, while the unit is issued with the Buffalo LVT. Whatever failings the Sherman may have had, often overstated anyway, they were available in numbers that meant, no matter how good the Panthers or Tigers opposing them were, there simply weren't enough of them.

'Buffalo' LVTs of the 4th RTR are readied for crossing the Rhine.

Structurally the first six chapters, after an initial introduction, follow the unit as it campaigns across Western Europe in 1944-45, the following chapter headings give a good overview: Arromanches to Noyers; Operation Totalize; Advance to the Seine; Holland and the Ardennes; The Rhine to the Elbe. For those of us who like potential wargaming scenarios, there are numerous terrifically exciting vignettes, such as first blood at Noyers, or the delivery of troops over the Rhine to take Sees.

The final chapters, The Experience of War and Regimental Ins and Outs are also very good, adding some very welcome supplementary dimensions to the book. Indeed, some of the most poignant personal revollections, as when the tanks force passage through a distraught elderly French woman's home, when crossing the Calonne at La Vallette, are tnot be found here.

All in all, an excellent book. Well worth reading.

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NOTES:

[1] Cunliffe was a successful academic and writer. An interesting footnote is that his first wife, Mitzi Solomon, was an American Modernist sculptor, whose chief claim to fame may well be that she designed the BAFTA Awards mask.

[2] Much to Monty's chagrin, the Americans were already across at Remagen.

Book Reviews: Panther Tanks, Normandy '44, & Defence of the West '45, Dennis Oliver

Taken together these two titles, numbers 3 and 18 in the Tank Craft series, give a very decent account of the Panther tank, as deployed on the Western Front circa '44-45. One might immediately think 'what then of the Panther's history and development before this, and it's service on the Southern and Eastern Fronts?' I'll return to these thoughts in due course.

As ever with Dennis Oliver, he deploys his own particular approach, utilising maps, timelines, organisational schematics, unit histories, and so on. Where he follows the standard Tank Craft template is in the central three segments: Camouflage and Markings, Model Showcase, and Modelling Products.

A Panther pauses on a French road, Normandy, '44. [1]

U.S. troops gathered around a disabled Panther.

The Normandy title features five models, all in1/35, and all very impressive. The Defence of the West  book, on the other hand, has just two 1/35 models and a single 1/48 example, the latter getting more pages than are normally given over to any one model in the Showcase section. Between the two books that's eight models, all bar one in 1/35. I'd have liked to have seen at least one bigger kit, in 1/16, perhaps, and one or two smaller models, in 1/72 or 1/76.

The colour profiles in the Camouflage and Markings chapter are nicely done, and are both fascinating and exciting. The range of styles and approaches the Germans employed, despite a palette of just three basic colours (which admittedly varied in themselves) was very diverse and, I find, endlessly intriguing. My only gripe on this front is that either the work of the illustrator, or perhaps the printing process, has rendered the core trio of colours less than 100% satisfactorily.

Panther in 'ambush' camo' scheme with infra-red sight.

Fabulous Panther Ausf G, by Lim Kian Guan, aka ChefLim. [2]

This is particularly noticeable with the green. The Dunkelgelb and Rotbrün, whilst only approximate, are near enough. But the green is way too light and bright. This is exaggerated even more in the bottom of the two cover images, shown at the top of this post (the Defence of the West one, sourced from Pen & Sword's own website listing for the book), where the green is almost fluorescent marker-pen bright! The actual books are closer colour-wise to the very top Normandy Campaign cover image.

Panzer graveyard with Panthers in the foreground.

A grimmer graveyard scene. Is this 'Ursula' again? [3]

It's this colour issue that leads me to dock half a balkenkreuz. Whether Oliver's obsessively detailed coverage is a blessing or a curse - what of Panthers in Italy and Russia, and prior to '44? - depends on how much hardcore info you can take, and whether you can stretch to buying so many titles on the one vehicle.

At an RRP of £15 a time (£14.99 to be exact), they aren't exactly cheap! NB: at the time of posting this review both titles are available at reduced prices, at Pen & Sword's website. I'm lucky in that the publishers have been generous enough to send me copies gratis, for review. Otherwise I'd be lusting after these whilst lamenting the lack of brass in my pockets! Anyway, as regards useful info and inspiration, etc, these books are fab. And I'd highly recommend them.

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NOTES:

Note on photos/pictures: in this post I've tried to use images that do appear in the books under review.  The two exceptions are the final black and white image above, and the colour picture of ChefLim's model, which is from his website.

[1] This picture appears in a smaller/cropped format.

[2] This superb model appears in the Showcase section of the Defence of the West title.

[3] The more eagle-eyed might notice that a charred corpse lies atop the rear deck of this knocked out tank. In fact more than one German soldier died on the back of this particular Panther - which may be 'Ursula', a Panther featured in Oliver's book on several different occasions - as other pictures I found online show clearly. A grisly reminder of the true nature and costs of war.

Book Review: The Americans On D-Day & in Normandy - Brooke S. Blades

Another excellent title from the very useful Images of War series. The pictures are terrific, as one would hope they would/should be in a series with such a title. The text is pretty good. At first I wasn't too sure, re the latter, as in places it's very dense with unit numbers and movements. But overall the text is actually pretty good.

Blades treats the subject to a mixture of chronological and themed chapters, starting with preparations in England, and then moving via airborne troop drops to the beach landings. So far so chronological, but then comes a chapter titled Soldiers, Prisoners and Civilians. The action then moves further inland, before we're given chapters on the wounded, the dead, and the battlefields then and now.

There are some minor issues with the text, like references to characters (usually the photographers) by one single name, with no other contextualising info. And at times the density of unit/movement info can get near headache inducingly opaque. With so much to cover this could've been a mess. But it works pretty well overall. And the pictures are fab.

The best of these Images of War books are really great resources for wargamers, modellers and military history buffs when, as here, they're packed with great photos, accompanied by illuminating text. The pictures are admittedly all black and white - and the US was one of the few participants, alongside Germany - to make frequent use of colour film in WWII. But it's really nice, as well as useful, to have such rich visual material as this to hand in print form, as opposed to trawling the web for it.

I'd definitely recommend this to anyone with more than a passing interest in the U.S. role in D-Day and beyond.