THE ARMORED CAMPAIGN IN NORMANDY: June-August 1944

1-209510

An outstanding amount of research went into this book, especially as it compares and contrasts various claims of kills and losses. It has a nice balance between recounting the operations, inserting the occasional first-hand account to make a point, and analyzing the numbers behind the battles.

--

A critical narrative using original documents of the Allies' victorious armored campaign in Normandy despite defective inferior tanks and poor leadership. 16 b/w illustrations, 10 maps.

Beginning with the D-day landings, this is a frank appraisal of the planned use and actual results of the deployment of armor by both German and Allied commanders in the major tank battles of the campaign including Operations Epsom, Goodwood, Cobra, Bluecoat, Mortain Counterattack, Totalize, and others.

Using new evidence about tanks on D-Day and tank losses in the campaign, this book is a critique of how Montgomery's plans to seize territory and break out failed in the face of German resistance. It details the poor planning by British generals who made many mistakes and how the German convoluted chain of command contributed to their own defeat.

Official reports, war diaries, After Action reports, letters, regimental histories, memoirs of generals and troopers, and Allied and German perspectives from tank crews are used to tell the inside story of the campaign from an armor point of view to give a different but detailed perspective.

For the first time the book gives real numbers of tanks lost in the battle of the campaign from research at archives around the world.