The Bloody Battle for Tilly: Normandy 1944

by Ken Tout

This sequel to A Fine Night for Tanks focuses on the bitter infantry travail around the fortified villages south of Caen. The Canadians made five attempts to capture Tilly before the Scottish Seaforths eventually fought their way in.

Genres: Military Fiction, Military History, History, World War II, Nonfiction

246 pages, Hardcover

First published November 25, 2000

Reviews

[Christopher Dove · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was published in 2000 and the author, Ken Tout, was a veteran of the conflict. He saw action in a Sherman tank during Operation 'Totalize'. He told the story of the tank battle in his first book 'A Fine Night for Tanks'. This book tells the story of the same battle but concentrating on the experiences of the infantry that took part rather than the armour. The book certainly focuses on the experience of the soldiers in the front line, rather than the strategy and tactics of the commanders. This sometimes made it difficult for me to get an overall picture of how the events were playing out. In this respect, I would have found it very useful to have more maps showing details of trrop movements. There is only 1 map in the book, which is a very generic map of the whole of Normandy and was not useful in pulling out the details of this particular conflict centred around a few small villages. This book gives a very clear picture of what it was like to fight on the ground in the Normandy campaign and is recommended for those readers who want a get a view of the battle from those that took part.

[Britain · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book improved as I turned each page.

At first, it was a slog. The author copied and pasted or paraphrased (which I use loosely) diaries or action reports of soldiers and officers involved. Soldiers do not always write well and he was a tanker writing about infantry actions he served alongside. It can be rough to read at times though there is a noticeable authenticity in the tone.

However, the information is top rate. He laid out what the soldiers went through on a slow, methodical, and very rough "holding action" or distraction where lives were the sacrifice.

The author "redeemed" himself at the conclusion where he took criticism of the battles head-on. Many armchair-generals and historians took issue with how the battles were fought and actions were implemented, but he pushes back empathically and articulately as one who served there could. It touched me.

Ken Touts took on an underappreciated and relatively unknown part of the breakout from Normandy prior to Paris/Belgium/Germany that we don't often discuss, especially the Canadian involvement.

I highly recommend those with World War 2 interests to try out Tout.

[David Batho · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit heavy going, to start with, as Ken Tout is setting the scene and explaining the ‘grand strategy’. A larger, clearer and more detailed map would help with this, s many of the villages are not shown on the map provided. As you get into it, the book holds your attention. You are left in awe of the sacrifices of the (mainly) Canadian soldiers heading towards Falaise. The final chapter, ‘Reasons and Recriminations,’ is superlative, as it compares the Battle for Tilley to other comparable battles, compares the two armies and their equipment.

[M 2Wood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ken Tout conveys compassion by showing Captain Miller’s willingness to rescue his fellow marines. When private Jamieson and Private Matthews were trapped behind enemy lines in Normandy, Captain Miller says, “No brother will ever be left behind in this infantry” (134). The reader sees Captain Miller’s compassion during difficult times in war, which leads to the rescue of Private Jamieson and Private Matthews. This emphasizes Captain Miller’s compassion to leave no man behind. Conversely, the reader sees Captain Miller as being ruthless at the end of the story when he captures and kills a German General. Captain Miller says, “I shot him for the fellow marines he killed” (223). The reader sees Miller’s ruthlessness because rather than sparing the German as a prisoner of war, he decided to kill him immediately. Captain Miller is an admirable character because his compassion to do anything to help marines is illustrated throughout the story. His compassion outweighs his ruthlessness because it is consistently shown throughout the story, whereas Captain Miller’s ruthlessness is illustrated only the one time.

[Ian Willey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good account that has too much in common with WWI than WWII through the attractional nature of the battle

[Brian Blad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Awesome resource for advanced squad leader scenarios. Working on a few myself!