Book Review: D-Day, Philip Warner

Philip Warner's superb book is in fact mostly a compendium of accounts by men who took part in the manifold aspects of D-Day. The quality of these correspondent's writings is variable. But the best stuff is absolute gold.

Warner opts to deploy his sources in a chronological-cum-thematic manner, which is good, as we can concentrate on one strand of action at a time, such as airborne drops, or the naval contribution, tanks, infantry, and so on, and thereby see how the bigger picture unfolds through multiple colourful facets, adding up to an exciting kaleidoscopic view of the whole.

Here's a list of the chapter headings:
I  Invasion from the Air: The RAF, the Gliders and the Parachutists
II  The Navies
III  On The Beach - The Sappers and others
IV  The Armoured Corps
V  The Infantry
VI  Marines and Commandos
VII  Intelligence and Signals
VIII  The Medical Services
IX  The Royal Army Service Corps
X  The Canadians
XI  The Royal Artillery
XII  The Chaplains
The French Viewpoint

The above list conveys both the arrangement of the books contents, and the scale and scope of Overlord itself. One thing that consistently emerges from the many vivid and moving testimonies that appear here is awe at the scale of it all. The book appears under a banner for The Telegraph newspaper, as it was in their pages that Warner published a letter asking for survivors of D-Day to contact him.

Philip Warner's own part in the content is quite minimal, consisting of brief introductory remarks for each chapter, and the selection and arrangement of the firsthand testimonies. These are, unsurprisingly having been collected in the U.K., very much weighted towards the British perspective. Americans and Canadians are mentioned in passing (the latter even having their own very brief chapter), but this is an avowedly and unashamedly Anglo-centric account.

What makes this particular book really enjoyable - thrilling, I would say - is the patchwork quilt of very personal stories. These range from the drily formal 'At 06:00 hours, we...' etc, to the very colourfully anecdotal ('we breakfasted on whisky and Mars bars'!). But, whilst none are Pulitzer Prize winning professional journos, the quality is, by and large, superb. Sometimes poignant, often funny, filled with both pride and humility, and replete with fascinating detail, they bring this gargantuan operation vividly to life in a way little else can.

I absolutely loved this book, and highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in this most momentous day. In one word: brilliant!

Book Review: The Germans In Normandy, Richard Hargreaves

Whilst this isn't 100% perfect - very little in life is! - it's bloody good. And I use the word bloody deliberately. This is very much in the (combat ruptured) vein of Anthony Beevor's WWII writings, in its expert deployment of firsthand testimony from all levels, revelling in mud and blood.

The book starts with pre-invasion preparations, and the odd mixture of ennui and anxiety, as the occupiers wait for the inevitable but long time coming opening of the 'second front' [1]. Once the invasion gets underway we move around, from the German reactions to initial Allied paratroop drops, to the lethargic response of the fractured chain of command, so familiar from other accounts and the depiction in the classic Longest Day movie. Yep, Hitler really was left to slumber!

Hitler demanded the impossible of von Kluge, at left. [2]

We frequently encounter characters such as Rommel, and Von Kluge, and it's interesting to note how their outward actions relate to their own inner personal feelings, the former apparent from their orders and their relations with both subordinates and superiors, the latter coming via less guarded comments to colleagues, or letters home. It's very clear that for all the vaunted fighting spirit, cutting edge materiel, and the dynamism and flexibility of auftragstaktik, the fragmented nature of the German armed forces and the complicated chain of command worked against decisive action.

But as the book proceeds, the air of inevitability builds: the Luftwaffe was by this point a spent force, the Kriegsmarine never became the equal of the Royal Navy, let alone the combined might of the UK/US maritime coalition, and the ground forces - split between the Wehrmacht, the SS, and diluted with Ostruppen, the young and the old Volksturm, etc. - were simply overwhelmed by the weight of Allied materiel.

Rommel on a tour of inspection of the Atlantikwall.

When the fighting is near the coast and the Allied position on land is still tenuous - Rommel's idea that Germany could only win if they prevented the Allies gaining a foothold was almost certainly the best hope they had [3] - the Allies could still bring to bear not only their airborne superiority, a decisive factor on the Western Front from hereon in, but also the incredible weight of their naval flotilla's firepower.

As the fighting moved inland the combination of total Allied airborne dominance and the scraping-bottom dribs and drabs situation for the German's, combined with Hitler's by now totally unrealstic and detrimental 'power of the will' philosophy, which would countenance no retreats, was a certain recipe for disaster. What's most amazing is how the Germans continued to believe and obey. I suppose sheer desperation and having been locked into a victorious mindset for so long may have enabled this.

It's not just top brass, this book is a paean to the trials of the 'Landser'.

As I say, this isn't perfect: there's no glossary, and the maps could've been more plentiful and informative. The photos aren't the best selection on the subject I've seen [4], and occasionally the text repeats itself somewhat. But this is not a dry recitation of unit names and troop movements, as so many military history books are, and is instead a very well put together patchwork or collage of firsthand testimony, which really brings the events to life.

I found this terrifically informative exciting and compelling, and would highly recommend it.

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NOTES:

Funk, poster-boy got the German war effort.

The main dustjacket photo is a colourised version of a very famous image of 18 year-old Hitlerjugend panzergrenadier Otto Funk, right after a small unit action in Rots, Normandy, 1944. Here's an interesting link to a webpage where you can learn more about the series of photos this came from, Otto Funk, and the location 'then and now'. The above image, cover of a German photo-feature magazine, is from the same series

[1] Really a third front, with the Ostfront (and Balkans) as the first, and the north-Africa then Italian/Med as the second.

[2] Kluge typifies the German generals: honour bound to obey, but ultimately unable to deliver, vacillating between belief and despair. His relation to the Stauffenberg plot and the fallout from that is a fascinating and tragic sub-plot. And it's a story echoed in the actions and fate of Rommel and others as well.

[3] Albeit still a forlornly unrealistic one.

[4] Apart from the Funk cover pic, all my picture selections for this post are not in this book.

Book Review: Arras, Counter Attack, 1940 - Tim Saunders

I've just finished reading this book, which I thoroughly enjoyed. 

Reeling from the speed of the German advance, French and English command and control was, by mid-May 1940 coming apart at the seams. As a consequence, what was intitially supposed to be the northern part of an Allied pincer movement, aimed at cutting through the corridor the Panzers had so rapidly opened up, became instead an ill-starred and half-baked operation, ultimately more about defence and retreat than the supposed or intended attack.

Tim Saunders, ex-military himself, has written an engaging account of this doomed action. Chapters 1-4 set the scene, starting with reflections on WWI and the birth of tank warfare, and the development of these ideas in the interwar years, and showing how, despite Britain and France having lead tank development early on, they were to be outpaced by Germany, when Hitler rode roughshod over the Versailles treaty, characters like Guderian championing a new form of all-arms warfare, spearheaded by tanks and mobile armoured troops, that would come be known as Blitzkrieg.

The caption of this pic says it shows 7th Pz Div, France, 1940.

Rommel and staff, France, 1940.

This photo was allegedly taken by Rommel himself, near Arras.

Further scene setting is developed in chapters concerning the planning of of Fall Gelb, the invasion of France, and the constitution and depolyoment of the BEF in France, along with the Allied plan, to strike East into Belgium, that wound up playing directly into the German's 'Sickle-Cut' strategy. Chapters then cover the new Allied plans, ostensibly to now attack south instead, and meet a northward attack by French forces. But these plans, over ambitious to begin with, were subject to constant revision, as the French will to attack evaporated, and even as the BEF forces deployed for the attack itself.

I'll leave my synopsis of the contents there, saying only that the following chapters follow the action of May 21st, the actual Arras Counter Attack, confused and fragmented as that is, with admirable clarity. And the evolving story is liberally peppered with quotes from primary sources on both sides, albeit weighted somewht more to the British perspective. I read another review on Amazon UK in which the reviewer calls into question the authenticity of 'Gun Buster', a source Saunders quotes at some length and on numerous occcasions. On the German side he quotes Rommel a lot, but in this instance acknowledging Rommel's own talent for self-publicity and exaggeration.

The BEF relied heavily on 'Carriers' like these.

An abandoned Matilda Mk I, France, 1940.

More abandoned Allied materiel, Matilda Mk II.

At this point I'll note some of the good and bad points of the book structurally: the background and the action itself are well structured. And one thing very worthy of note to commend this book is the excellent deployment of maps [1] and photographs [2] in conjunction with the text. Other useful inclusions are, in the several Appendices, the OOB for the 7th Pz Div, the Battlefield tour stuff, for those wishing to visit the scenes of these actions, and the analyses of the Operation as a whole, and its influence in Hitler's 'Halt Order'. But there are no OOB for the BEF or other Allied troops, nor a glossary, bibliography, or notes on sources.

So, compared with some writing on WWII, this is a bit patchy from the scholarly apparatus point of view. But, for me, as someone with very limited knowledge of this aspect of the war, this was a fascinating and compelling read. A glossary, bibliography, and notes on sources would all improve the book. But in its favour, its use of maps and photographs help make it more vivid and easier to follow than many other books in the military history camp.

Overall I'd definitely recommend this to those with an interest in the period. 

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NOTES:

Having also recently read about a similar instance of attack as constantly shifting rearguard action in Jeffrey Plowman's Greece, 1941, quite how 'we'* won the war, getting off to such a shaky and badly managed start, is a mystery. As Saunders observes on p.101: 'all-arms tactics were almost non-existent in the British Army of 1940.' He also notes that this remained true even as late save the Normandy campaign, post D-Day!

* Well, with the combined weight of industry and numbers that first Russia, then the U.S., and not forgetting our own ability to draw on the manpower resources of the Commonwealth, that 'we' becomes significantly larger, and the outcome less mysterious.

[1] Although having said this, the maps are not standardised, and seem to have been lifted from a number of uncredited sources. And in a few instances there is the amusing typo whereby the settlement Warlus is rendered as Walrus!

[2] These photos appear, by and large, at pertinent points in relation to the text, and really help illuminate it. Occasionally however they might have benefitted from clearer descriptions, as for example when an SdKfz 222 from the Africa Korps is shown. It's better than no pic' of the vehicle. But the fact it's a photo from an altogether different theatre should probably be noted, even if only in passing. 

Book Review: Army of Steel - Nigel Cawthorne

NB: The pictures used to illustrate this post are not from the book under review.

I got this at The Works, for just £2, brand new. RRP was £7.99. At that low a price I thought I might as well take a punt on this. Army of Steel is a small paperback, running to just over 230 pages, and it's a light, easy read. There are a few black and white maps and photos sprinkled throughout, but it's not lavishly illustrated. Subtitled 'Tank Warfare 1939-1945', the focus is primarily on the 'panzers' of the German armed in forces in WWII.

How it started: Pz I, Poland, 1939. 

The book starts with a brief and fairly vivid account of the rapid conquest of Poland, before backtracking to look at the rise of tanks as weapons (their role in WWI, Britain/Churchill's championing of them [1], etc.), and their subsequent ascent to a position of central importance in the new 'Blitzkrieg' approach to war, that initially served the Germans so well. The chapter titles convey the arc of the narrative:

1) The Plains of Poland
2) Tanks and Tank Tactics
3) The Making of the Corps
4) Blitzkrieg
5) Into the Desert (This is one of the biggest chapters! Slightly over-represented, perhaps?)
6) Operation Barbarossa
7) Soviet Superiority
8) Tigers in Normandy
9) Last Gasp in the Ardennes
10) Panzer Kaput

Guderian en route to the Ostfront.

Army of Steel is liberally sprinkled with quotes from a wide variety of sources, ranging from inter-war British theorists (Liddel-Hart, Fuller, Churchill), to Panzer commanders like Rommel and Guderian, right down to crews in the thick of the action (characters like Schmidt and Von Konrad), which definitely make for a more lively engaging account. I've heard it said that Rommel's and Guderian's reputations are over-inflated, the former mostly by admirers (inc. many amongst the Allies), the latter mostly by himself. Certainly this book leans heavily on Guderian, and seems to prortray him quite sympathetically. [2]

This book reminds me of Delderfield's Napoleonic history books, in that it was easy, quick and great fun to read, and not a stodgy academic book attempting to cover all the bases, or trying to come up with some new or unique angle or source (such books are often very good, but often also very long, and frequently quite hard work). I would suggest Army of Steel would make a good intro to the subject of tank warfare, especially as it was in WWII, and in particular from the German perspective.

How it ended: a Tiger II, or King Tiger, amidst the ruins of the 1000 year Reich.

What emerges is that, despite Germany's undoubted verve in tank design, the mass-produced standardised tanks of Russia and the U.S. eventually won out by, if nothing else, sheer weight of numbers. Germany's industry, including her access to raw materials, and her tendency to proliferate and over-engineer, all spelled doom in the long term.

As an avid reader of certain aspects of military history, and a model maker cum wargamer, I found this very enjoyable indeed. It covers a lot of territory, in every sense, but remains basic, and easy to digest. I read it over two days, and I'd definitely recommend this as a light entrée to a big and potentially very heavy subject.

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NOTES:

T-34s on the Eastern Front.

Initially outclassing German panzers when they first met, and continuing to outproduce them throughout the whole war, the T-34, as pictured above, typified the Russian war effort. And as if the 'Red hordes' weren't enough, the Germans had to face U.S. Shermans; another front, another superpower enemy, and another standardised tank in seemingly unlimited numbers.

Shermans on the Western Front.

[1] Cawthorne gives the same basic outline as can be found here, at this IWM link, from which I'll quote the following:

 "The name 'tank' came from British attempts to ensure the secrecy of the new weapons under the guise of water tanks. During the First World War, Britain began the serious development of the tank. Ironically, the Royal Navy led the way with the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, establishing the Landships Committee in early 1915."

[2] Most of books I've read on the Ostfront quote Guderian, and usually apparently taking him at his own word. I've ordered both his books: Achtung Panzer and Panzer Leader. The former, published before WWII, is cited by Cawthorne as explicitly counselling against war with Russia, a position Guderian maintained he adhered to, right up until Barbarossa began, after which he stoically did his duty, albeit... well, he paints himself as something of a maverick, in his disobedience and openly critical relations with both the high command and Hitler. He was certainly put out to grass on occasion, even if usually called back in. An interesting subject for further reading?

Pictured above and below, unfinished King Tigers. Had Germany been able to build enough of its end of war weaponry, such tanks as these, along with their jets and intercontinental missiles, might well have significantly prolonged the war. The biggest issues, aside from the proliferation of competing designs, were raw materials and production capacity.

Film Review: The Desert Rats, 1953

An older poster for the movie.

My DVD has this father more sober cover.

Released just two years after The Desert Fox, The Desert Rats, despite seeing James Mason reprising his role as Rommel, and despite also featuring stock newsreel footage of actual combat, is an entirely different kettle of fish. 

This movie actually stays in the sandy wastes of North Africa. Well, sort of. Tobruk and environs mainly, actually! And it's a lot more of your typical action-based war film as well, whereas Rommel was more a character study.

A sandstorm arrives, reducing visibility. Just before the Germans attack.

Burton's MacRoberts in dashing action-hero mode.

Richard Burton stars as a British Captain named MacRoberts, given charge of a bunch of 'green' Aussies, freshly arrived in the theatre of operations. Which means, essentially, Tobruk, and the defence thereof. MacRoberts is a tough nut, twice decorated; a no nonsense, down to business kind of fellow.

At his first meeting with his new charges he discovers among them an old schoolteacher of his, Tom Bartlett (Robert Newton), now a drunkard. Their troubled but nonetheless close relationship is one of the key ones in the film. Eager for action, he sees that the men are soon blooded, along the way commending actions he approves of, and punishing those he doesn't. 

Some of his troops like him, some don't. His decision to court-martial a soldier who attempts to save their own Captain isn't popular. His old schoolmaster remonstrates with him, revealing a hitherto secret instance of his own leniency towards MacRoberts, back at school. How will MacRoberts react?

Bartlett, most likely confessing his cowardliness to 'Tammy' MacRoberts.

The film has an excellent cast, and a good energetic action-filled pace. It's filmed in a suitably sandy and dusty location, and - apart from obsessive military history nuts like us, who notice and disapprove of Allied materiél being passed off as German [1] - it all feels just about right. Even the sock footage is better integrated (though still easily discernible) than it is in The Desert Fox, largely because a lot less is used.

After initial success in repelling Rommel's first major attack, the remainder of the action centres mostly around two particular events, as well as following a more general plot trajectory that includes other minor actions. The first of these more major actions is a Commando style raid behind enemy lines. The second is the defence of a strategically important forward outpost east of Tobruk. Both of these main scenarios, the first being the big central set-piece of the film, the second a kind of conclusion, are excellently handled, such that you really feel involved in the men's plight.

Disembarking for the commando action. The funky looking italian trucks are actually American!

I do like Burton's jacket, especially those great big woolly collars!

Mason's reprise as Rommel is quite a scanty affair, amounting really to a few cameos. But he has such presence and charisma when he is onscreen, just as, if we are to believe the popular tales, Rommel also possessed, that this doesn't matter. [2] And so too does Burton. Their paths inevitably cross, the scenario in which this happens being a rather excellent and intriguing one that I won't spoil for those who haven't seen it.

I haven't looked into whether this is in any way based in real events as yet. But, regardless of whether it is or it isn't, it's certainly a cracking good war film. In terms of sheer balls out fun, it's, er... the nuts!

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NOTES:

[1] Donning my anorak: if I'm not mistaken the Desert Rats were a British fighting force, whereas these guys are the Australian 9th Division.

[2] There are two, no, make that three, notable differences in Rommel's appearances in this film: first, he's hardly in it; second, in most his scenes (and German scenes generally) the characters, including Rommel, speak German (and my disc appears to have no subtitles); thirdly, in the main he's not portrayed so sympathetically as he is in Desert Fox.

Film Review: The Desert Fox, 1951

An older more dramatic poster for the film. As misleading in its visual content as the film's title!

A more contemporary DVD cover (same as mine). Less dramatic, but more in keeping with the content.

This is an odd film. For starters, the title is misleading. Only a very small portion of the movie is set in North Africa, where Rommel got his nickname of 'Desert Fox'. Most of the story unfolds in Europe, during the defence of France after D-Day.

James Mason is excellent in the title role, portraying Rommel as a suave, gentlemanly professional soldier. Also worthy of note is Leo G. Carroll, as von Rundstedt, who also portrays his character in a light many modern viewers might find surprisingly sympathetic.

The film is based on the literary and historical detective work of Desmond Young, who also portrays himself in a cameo role in the film, as a prisoner of war who gets a glimpse of Rommel at one point, and believes he owes his life to him. I won't go into the details, as I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't seen it.

Young's glimpse of Rommel.

Author Young appears in the film as himself.

One of the more striking cover designs for Young's biography.

Young became intrigued by the mystery surrounding Rommel's demise, and decided to investigate, which eventually lead to the publication of a book, and this film is built upon that book. The film itself starts with a brief depiction of Operation Flipper, a 1941 commando raid, the purpose of which was Rommel's assassination. [1]

One of several instances where footage shot for the movie is either superimposed over or intercut with stock newsreel footage from the war itself.

Most of the combat portions of the film, save only a flashback coda at the end, utilise real WWII footage, which, whilst adding authenticity, looks a bit weird to the modern eye. This was in fact quite a common practice at the time. But here it's handled a little heavy-handedly, in my view, with the result that it makes the transitions between such segments a bit clunky, and disruptive of the narrative flow of the dramatic element of the film.

Like so much to do with the war, and perhaps especially to do with Hitler and Nazism, much relating to the 'facts' are still hotly debated, and parts of the scenario this film is predicated on are contested, of particular relevance being the issue of whether Rommel was involved in the 20th July bomb-plot. This event, when Stauffenberg succeeded in placing a suitcase bomb in the 'Wolf's Lair', is depicted in a scene in the film.

Luther Adler as Hitler, giving Rommel a stern pep talk.

This scene is cut from the version I watched, but it's content is alluded to.

This is a good point at which to note that Luther Adler's portrayal of the Führer is pretty convincing, even in its very melodrama. [2] There's a very interesting scene - whether such a scene took place in real life I don't know - where Rommel meets Hitler, and attempts to make him see reason regarding the situation on the crumbling western front. Hitler continues to place his apparently unshakeable faith in himself, and the new V-weapons. It's a fascinating scene.

It was widely believed at the time that Rommel died of wounds received when his staff car was strafed. This film portrays a very different end to the general's career. I will, not wanting to spoil it, leave it here without giving too much away. What I will say is that this film's dramatic power crystallises around the ending, and is quite moving.

Von Rundstedt (Carroll) and Rommel (Mason).

Mason and his subject.

Interestingly it appears that Young's desire to clarify the story of Rommel has, in the longer term, failed. The 'Rommel myth', something this film is credited as being a key contributor towards, remains contested. It's also said of this film that it helped contribute to reconciliation between former enemies, by depicting some Germans as 'worthy foe', as opposed to caricature Krauts, Huns, Bosch, or whatever.

The Desert Fox doesn't explain why Rommel had such a good reputation as a general, that's taken as written, and pertains to a period prior to that covered in this biopic. What it does give is a portrait of the human side of a man struggling with his professional duties and his conscience, in a very tricky and unenviable position. And it's in respect of that theme that the film is most interesting and successful, whatever its relation to the truth of the events depicted.

Rommel with his wife and son.

Saying goodbye to his son in the movie.

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NOTES:

[1] Movie trivia fans might be interested to note that the commando raid is lead by Dan O'Herlihy, in an uncredited role. O'Herlihy is better known to me as General Ney, in Bondarchuk's Waterloo.

[2] Adler, an American actor, played Hitler twice; here and in a film called The Magic Face, also, coincidentally, filmed in '51. Adler's name sounds both strikingly Germanic, and yet totally Jewish. And he was indeed Jewish, performing in both Englsh and Yiddish, and best remembered in the US for his Broadway appearances in Fiddler On The Roof!