What do you think?
Rate this book
29th Infantry Division: Normandy to Victory #1
Beyond the Beachhead: The 29th Division in Normandy
Describes the movements of the 29th infantry division during and after the Normandy invasion
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
54 people are currently reading
306 people want to read
About the author
Joseph Balkoski
28 books48 followersJoseph Balkoski is one of the world's leading authorities on the D-Day invasion of Normandy. He currently serves as Command Historian for the Maryland National Guard and for more than thirty years has chronicled the WWII history of the 29th Infantry Division.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
June 6, 2025
Beyond the bloodshed and horror of Omaha Beach on D-Day, there would be much more fighting for the soldiers of the 29th U.S. Army Division to do as they made their way down through Normandy. And throughout his 1988 book Beyond the Beachhead, historian Joseph Balkoski chronicles well the way in which this division of National Guardsmen from Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia achieved all that was asked of them, and more, as they did their part to liberate France and begin the larger task of freeing all of Western Europe from Hitler's tyranny.
Author Balkoski, as Command Historian for the Maryland National Guard, was uniquely well-situated to set forth this history of The 29th Infantry Division in Normandy (the book’s subtitle). In a preface, Balkoski writes that “my grand aim in Beyond the Beachhead was not simply to scrutinize D-Day. Rather, it was to examine the war at a minute level by using the 29th Division as an example of what all American combat outfits had to endure in World War II against tough and skilled opponents on all fronts.”
If, like me, you are from somewhere in the Maryland-D.C.-Virginia region, then you no doubt have seen a National Guard training center decorated with the 29th Division’s shoulder patch – a blue-and-gray circle, arranged in the yin-yang configuration. The idea was that the 29th, the “Blue and Gray Division,” would constitute a “perfect union” of illustrious Civil War-era units that had once fought against each other, from Virginia’s “Stonewall Brigade” to Maryland’s “Dandy Fifth” regiment.
And they would fight together, exceedingly well, on some of Europe’s bloodiest battlefields. The division’s commander, Major General Charles H. Gerhardt, was determined that this division of National Guardsmen would march and maneuver and fight as well as any “Regular Army” unit. He gave the unit its motto – “29, Let’s Go!” – and instituted strict discipline, as could be certified by any soldier who got caught with his helmet’s chin strap unfastened.
As the Normandy invasion drew nearer, the 29th underwent extensive training in a number of camps across southern England, from Cornwall and Devon to Portsmouth. And that training would come in handy. Before the invasion, Major General Norman “Dutch” Cota’s spoke to the 116th Infantry, the old Stonewall Brigade who would be serving as the spearhead at Omaha Beach, and his words were prophetic:
“This is different from any of the other exercises that you’ve had so far….The little discrepancies that we tried to correct on Slapton Sands are going to be magnified and are going to give way to incidents that you might first view as chaotic. The air and naval bombardment and the artillery support are reassuring. But you’re going to find confusion. The landing craft aren’t going in on schedule and people are going to be landed in the wrong place. Some won’t be landed at all. The enemy will try, and will have some success, in preventing our gaining a lodgement. But we must improvise, carry on, not lose our heads. Nor must we add to the confusion.”
Indeed, as Cota had prophesied, the Omaha Beach landing was initially a disaster for those elements of the 29th that first stormed the beach. While all five of the beaches were strongly defended, the configuration of Omaha Beach – including a concrete seawall reinforced by the Germans – made the beach, for a time, a deathtrap that threatened to bog down the entire invasion. Cota called out, “Gentlemen, we are being killed on the beaches. Let us go inland and be killed,” and the soldiers of the 29th blew holes in the seawall, achieved the crucial breakthrough, and began that dangerous trek inland.
By the morning of June 7, 30 hours into invasion, there were new waves of 29th Division soldiers going in, but their task was still exceedingly dangerous. Captain John K. Slinghuff of the 175th Infantry’s Company G later mused that
“You had plenty of time to think about home and mother and ‘medium rare’ and all those things you liked….That was the worst part of the invasion for me. I was plenty scared. We began getting in close to the shore, and occasionally machine gun bullets would rattle across the ramp in front of you, and then maybe you would stick your head up a little bit. I stuck my head up once in a while to take some pictures, and pulled it down again very quickly. But you always had that thought in your mind that ‘My God, it is going to be about five minutes and that ramp isn’t going to be there, and I am.’”
When Captain Slinghuff saw one of the 175th Infantry landing craft strike a German mine and explode – it didn’t sink; it just ceased to exist, with pieces of it, and all within it, rising into the air and falling down on the men in the other boats – his understandable feelings of nervousness were no doubt enhanced.
Among the factors that made the Allied efforts even more difficult were factors relating to the geography of Normandy itself. The Norman landscape is a bocage, a pastureland that is crisscrossed by tall, thick hedgerows; in 1944, those hedgerows provided helpful hiding places for the German defenders, but were extremely difficult for Allied liberators to attack. Eventually, the soldiers of the 29th Division learned that they could bust through a hedgerow most effectively by mounting two sharp metal prongs on the front of a Sherman tank, driving full-speed into the hedgerow, and knocking down its top half, shrubbery and all.
Balkoski, throughout Beyond the Beachhead, shows a flair for the little story that dramatizes the larger picture, as with the story of Major Glover Johns at the 1st Battalion command post, facing an attack by German Fallschirmjäger (paratroopers) who had made an incursion into American lines in the initial part of the fighting for the strategically important town of St. Lô.
At first, nothing went right for the unlucky Major Johns at the 1st Battalion command post. His telephone lines were dead because the alert Fallschirmjäger had cut every wire they found….Cut off from his company CO’s, Johns had little idea of what was happening on the front line; he could only guess from the noises of battle, which unfortunately were dominated by the distinctive “brrrrp” of German machine pistols. The battle sounds grew louder and louder. The Germans were obviously nearing the 1st Battalion command post, a few hundred yards behind the front. Johns and his staff grabbed their carbines and waited tensely for the Germans to rush the headquarters dugout. Sgt. Joe Fischhaber, a member of the 110th Field Artillery liaison team, muttered to Johns, “If you get me out of this alive, I’ll dance at your wedding.”
Luckily, the Germans failed to detect the command post, and the sound of enemy gunfire gradually faded as the Fallschirmjäger pushed deeper into American lines. Several years after the war, Johns married, and Fischhaber kept his word.
The St. Lô battles went on for nine bloody days; but at the end of it, on 19 July 1944, the Allies had liberated the town of 12,000. The town suffered heavy damage: “After the war, the French nicknamed St. Lô the ‘Capital of Ruins.’” But its people were relieved to at last be free – as all of France, and all of Western Europe, would one day be.
Beyond the Beachhead ends with the soldiers of the 29th being redeployed toward Brittany, with the new task of taking the strategically important Breton port of Brest. “The 29th Division,” Balkoski notes, would not be going home any time soon – but that is another story.” And indeed, that “other story,” of the 29th Division’s remaining World War II service, is one that Balkoski has taken up in a number of subsequent books. But this book may hold the most interest for the relatively casual student of the Second World War, because of the way in which it emphasizes how the well-known horrors of D-Day set the tone for a long and difficult campaign of liberation.
Meticulously researched, and well-illustrated with maps, charts and photos, Beyond the Beachhead is written in a spirit of love and reverence for the “Blue and Gray Division.” Balkoski writes that “The 29th Division was, and continues to be, a family – a large and exceptionally close-knit family”, and adds that “it has been an unsurpassable privilege to have been accepted as a member of this family.”
Readers from Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia may read Beyond the Beachhead with special pride, as it was citizen-soldiers from those parts of the U.S.A. that constituted the 29th Division. But any reader who appreciates stories of the courage and sacrifice that the members of the Allied forces demonstrated, in the fight to preserve Western democracy against the worst tyranny ever to threaten that democracy, will find this book a powerful and evocative reading experience.
Author Balkoski, as Command Historian for the Maryland National Guard, was uniquely well-situated to set forth this history of The 29th Infantry Division in Normandy (the book’s subtitle). In a preface, Balkoski writes that “my grand aim in Beyond the Beachhead was not simply to scrutinize D-Day. Rather, it was to examine the war at a minute level by using the 29th Division as an example of what all American combat outfits had to endure in World War II against tough and skilled opponents on all fronts.”
If, like me, you are from somewhere in the Maryland-D.C.-Virginia region, then you no doubt have seen a National Guard training center decorated with the 29th Division’s shoulder patch – a blue-and-gray circle, arranged in the yin-yang configuration. The idea was that the 29th, the “Blue and Gray Division,” would constitute a “perfect union” of illustrious Civil War-era units that had once fought against each other, from Virginia’s “Stonewall Brigade” to Maryland’s “Dandy Fifth” regiment.
And they would fight together, exceedingly well, on some of Europe’s bloodiest battlefields. The division’s commander, Major General Charles H. Gerhardt, was determined that this division of National Guardsmen would march and maneuver and fight as well as any “Regular Army” unit. He gave the unit its motto – “29, Let’s Go!” – and instituted strict discipline, as could be certified by any soldier who got caught with his helmet’s chin strap unfastened.
As the Normandy invasion drew nearer, the 29th underwent extensive training in a number of camps across southern England, from Cornwall and Devon to Portsmouth. And that training would come in handy. Before the invasion, Major General Norman “Dutch” Cota’s spoke to the 116th Infantry, the old Stonewall Brigade who would be serving as the spearhead at Omaha Beach, and his words were prophetic:
“This is different from any of the other exercises that you’ve had so far….The little discrepancies that we tried to correct on Slapton Sands are going to be magnified and are going to give way to incidents that you might first view as chaotic. The air and naval bombardment and the artillery support are reassuring. But you’re going to find confusion. The landing craft aren’t going in on schedule and people are going to be landed in the wrong place. Some won’t be landed at all. The enemy will try, and will have some success, in preventing our gaining a lodgement. But we must improvise, carry on, not lose our heads. Nor must we add to the confusion.”
Indeed, as Cota had prophesied, the Omaha Beach landing was initially a disaster for those elements of the 29th that first stormed the beach. While all five of the beaches were strongly defended, the configuration of Omaha Beach – including a concrete seawall reinforced by the Germans – made the beach, for a time, a deathtrap that threatened to bog down the entire invasion. Cota called out, “Gentlemen, we are being killed on the beaches. Let us go inland and be killed,” and the soldiers of the 29th blew holes in the seawall, achieved the crucial breakthrough, and began that dangerous trek inland.
By the morning of June 7, 30 hours into invasion, there were new waves of 29th Division soldiers going in, but their task was still exceedingly dangerous. Captain John K. Slinghuff of the 175th Infantry’s Company G later mused that
“You had plenty of time to think about home and mother and ‘medium rare’ and all those things you liked….That was the worst part of the invasion for me. I was plenty scared. We began getting in close to the shore, and occasionally machine gun bullets would rattle across the ramp in front of you, and then maybe you would stick your head up a little bit. I stuck my head up once in a while to take some pictures, and pulled it down again very quickly. But you always had that thought in your mind that ‘My God, it is going to be about five minutes and that ramp isn’t going to be there, and I am.’”
When Captain Slinghuff saw one of the 175th Infantry landing craft strike a German mine and explode – it didn’t sink; it just ceased to exist, with pieces of it, and all within it, rising into the air and falling down on the men in the other boats – his understandable feelings of nervousness were no doubt enhanced.
Among the factors that made the Allied efforts even more difficult were factors relating to the geography of Normandy itself. The Norman landscape is a bocage, a pastureland that is crisscrossed by tall, thick hedgerows; in 1944, those hedgerows provided helpful hiding places for the German defenders, but were extremely difficult for Allied liberators to attack. Eventually, the soldiers of the 29th Division learned that they could bust through a hedgerow most effectively by mounting two sharp metal prongs on the front of a Sherman tank, driving full-speed into the hedgerow, and knocking down its top half, shrubbery and all.
Balkoski, throughout Beyond the Beachhead, shows a flair for the little story that dramatizes the larger picture, as with the story of Major Glover Johns at the 1st Battalion command post, facing an attack by German Fallschirmjäger (paratroopers) who had made an incursion into American lines in the initial part of the fighting for the strategically important town of St. Lô.
At first, nothing went right for the unlucky Major Johns at the 1st Battalion command post. His telephone lines were dead because the alert Fallschirmjäger had cut every wire they found….Cut off from his company CO’s, Johns had little idea of what was happening on the front line; he could only guess from the noises of battle, which unfortunately were dominated by the distinctive “brrrrp” of German machine pistols. The battle sounds grew louder and louder. The Germans were obviously nearing the 1st Battalion command post, a few hundred yards behind the front. Johns and his staff grabbed their carbines and waited tensely for the Germans to rush the headquarters dugout. Sgt. Joe Fischhaber, a member of the 110th Field Artillery liaison team, muttered to Johns, “If you get me out of this alive, I’ll dance at your wedding.”
Luckily, the Germans failed to detect the command post, and the sound of enemy gunfire gradually faded as the Fallschirmjäger pushed deeper into American lines. Several years after the war, Johns married, and Fischhaber kept his word.
The St. Lô battles went on for nine bloody days; but at the end of it, on 19 July 1944, the Allies had liberated the town of 12,000. The town suffered heavy damage: “After the war, the French nicknamed St. Lô the ‘Capital of Ruins.’” But its people were relieved to at last be free – as all of France, and all of Western Europe, would one day be.
Beyond the Beachhead ends with the soldiers of the 29th being redeployed toward Brittany, with the new task of taking the strategically important Breton port of Brest. “The 29th Division,” Balkoski notes, would not be going home any time soon – but that is another story.” And indeed, that “other story,” of the 29th Division’s remaining World War II service, is one that Balkoski has taken up in a number of subsequent books. But this book may hold the most interest for the relatively casual student of the Second World War, because of the way in which it emphasizes how the well-known horrors of D-Day set the tone for a long and difficult campaign of liberation.
Meticulously researched, and well-illustrated with maps, charts and photos, Beyond the Beachhead is written in a spirit of love and reverence for the “Blue and Gray Division.” Balkoski writes that “The 29th Division was, and continues to be, a family – a large and exceptionally close-knit family”, and adds that “it has been an unsurpassable privilege to have been accepted as a member of this family.”
Readers from Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia may read Beyond the Beachhead with special pride, as it was citizen-soldiers from those parts of the U.S.A. that constituted the 29th Division. But any reader who appreciates stories of the courage and sacrifice that the members of the Allied forces demonstrated, in the fight to preserve Western democracy against the worst tyranny ever to threaten that democracy, will find this book a powerful and evocative reading experience.
June 22, 2016
4.5 stars.
This book was a surprise, in a positive way. When I started it, I thought that this was going to be a so-so account of the 29th Infantry Division in Normandy, but it turned out to be very good, in part due to the prose of the author and the organization of the text.
“[The 29th] was in combat for 242 days. Total casualties were 28,776. The percent of turnover for the division as a whole—including staff, support elements, artillery units—was 204.” This quote from the forward takes on significance as Balkoski describes the unrelenting combat and misery of operations in the Bocage.
This book is superbly organized; Balkoski describes the call up of the division in Virginia and Maryland, and how they trained until their deployment to England in the fall of 1942, and their subsequent training in England leading up to Overlord. The attention to detail is amazing, and this along with a tightly organized text is key to the excellence of this book. Balkoski uses first person interviews and vignettes to illustrate his points about the fighting, or the influence of key personalities. Another strength of this book is that Balkoski describes the capabilities of the 29th Infantry Division and their opponents, the German 352nd Infantry Division and the 3rd Parachute Division, side by side, from squad level all the way to division level. He also includes an easy to read MTOE table at the end of the book covering these three divisions.
Another aspect of this book which makes it a great read is Balkoski’s detailed description of the combat operations of the 29th as they sought to capture St. Lo. He includes plenty of maps with unit locations down to the battalion level, and intersperses personal stories which changes this from a dry unit history to a truly compelling read. As an example, Balkoski describes an incident involving the 2nd BN 115th Infantry. After continuous movement and fighting among the hedgerows, the unit was to pause for the evening.
“The Army’s cardinal rule about digging a foxhole before going to sleep was ignored that night. Whole platoons slumped against hedgerow embankments, and most men were asleep within minutes….From behind every hedgerow, MG 42s and submachine guns opened fire on the slumbering Yanks. Mortar rounds fell into the pastures every few seconds….The 29ers never stood a chance. With no time to set up a coherent defense, [they] ran to and fro looking for a way to escape the death trap, but the Germans on top of the surrounding embankments could easily pick off the Yanks…. As Gerhardt [the division commander] listened, he became enraged. “No security!” he screamed. “They just went into the field and went to bed!””
The intensity of the fighting in Normandy is shown by the fact that from 6 June to 14 June the 29th suffered 2400 casualties, which was 17% of its authorized strength. By mid-July, the toll was much higher. Riflemen accounted for 37% of the division’s strength, but accounted for over 90% of the division’s casualties. Most of the rifle companies that landed on D-Day went through almost a complete turnover in personnel. The battle for St Lo itself cost the division more casualties than it suffered on Omaha Beach.
“In March 1945, when the 29th Division was momentarily in reserve, the 115th Infantry was scheduled to receive a Distinguished Unit Citation. General Gerhardt wanted each company guidon to be carried by a member of that company who had served with the outfit on D-Day. Half the regiment’s companies could produce only a handful of such men. The other companies—mostly rifle companies—could find none. Every single G.I. in these units had joined as a replacement.”
Balkoski also gives a good description of the replacement system of both the German and American armies, and illustrates how key leaders were replaced when they became casualties. He points out that by the occupation of St Lo in July 1944, the 29th Infantry Division had rendered the German 352nd Infantry Division and 3rd Parachute Division combat ineffective through personnel and equipment losses.
Balkoski packs an amazing amount of detail into this book, which is only 294 pages. His writing style and organization of his material made this possible, and the result is a compelling, fast paced narrative which went by all too quickly. I highly recommend this work for those who want to find out what fighting in the Bocage was like for both German and American units.
This book was a surprise, in a positive way. When I started it, I thought that this was going to be a so-so account of the 29th Infantry Division in Normandy, but it turned out to be very good, in part due to the prose of the author and the organization of the text.
“[The 29th] was in combat for 242 days. Total casualties were 28,776. The percent of turnover for the division as a whole—including staff, support elements, artillery units—was 204.” This quote from the forward takes on significance as Balkoski describes the unrelenting combat and misery of operations in the Bocage.
This book is superbly organized; Balkoski describes the call up of the division in Virginia and Maryland, and how they trained until their deployment to England in the fall of 1942, and their subsequent training in England leading up to Overlord. The attention to detail is amazing, and this along with a tightly organized text is key to the excellence of this book. Balkoski uses first person interviews and vignettes to illustrate his points about the fighting, or the influence of key personalities. Another strength of this book is that Balkoski describes the capabilities of the 29th Infantry Division and their opponents, the German 352nd Infantry Division and the 3rd Parachute Division, side by side, from squad level all the way to division level. He also includes an easy to read MTOE table at the end of the book covering these three divisions.
Another aspect of this book which makes it a great read is Balkoski’s detailed description of the combat operations of the 29th as they sought to capture St. Lo. He includes plenty of maps with unit locations down to the battalion level, and intersperses personal stories which changes this from a dry unit history to a truly compelling read. As an example, Balkoski describes an incident involving the 2nd BN 115th Infantry. After continuous movement and fighting among the hedgerows, the unit was to pause for the evening.
“The Army’s cardinal rule about digging a foxhole before going to sleep was ignored that night. Whole platoons slumped against hedgerow embankments, and most men were asleep within minutes….From behind every hedgerow, MG 42s and submachine guns opened fire on the slumbering Yanks. Mortar rounds fell into the pastures every few seconds….The 29ers never stood a chance. With no time to set up a coherent defense, [they] ran to and fro looking for a way to escape the death trap, but the Germans on top of the surrounding embankments could easily pick off the Yanks…. As Gerhardt [the division commander] listened, he became enraged. “No security!” he screamed. “They just went into the field and went to bed!””
The intensity of the fighting in Normandy is shown by the fact that from 6 June to 14 June the 29th suffered 2400 casualties, which was 17% of its authorized strength. By mid-July, the toll was much higher. Riflemen accounted for 37% of the division’s strength, but accounted for over 90% of the division’s casualties. Most of the rifle companies that landed on D-Day went through almost a complete turnover in personnel. The battle for St Lo itself cost the division more casualties than it suffered on Omaha Beach.
“In March 1945, when the 29th Division was momentarily in reserve, the 115th Infantry was scheduled to receive a Distinguished Unit Citation. General Gerhardt wanted each company guidon to be carried by a member of that company who had served with the outfit on D-Day. Half the regiment’s companies could produce only a handful of such men. The other companies—mostly rifle companies—could find none. Every single G.I. in these units had joined as a replacement.”
Balkoski also gives a good description of the replacement system of both the German and American armies, and illustrates how key leaders were replaced when they became casualties. He points out that by the occupation of St Lo in July 1944, the 29th Infantry Division had rendered the German 352nd Infantry Division and 3rd Parachute Division combat ineffective through personnel and equipment losses.
Balkoski packs an amazing amount of detail into this book, which is only 294 pages. His writing style and organization of his material made this possible, and the result is a compelling, fast paced narrative which went by all too quickly. I highly recommend this work for those who want to find out what fighting in the Bocage was like for both German and American units.
March 2, 2020
After reading many a book about D-day I find it increasingly interesting too read books dealing with fragments of it.
This book is one such book. And what a book it is. Firstly neither this book will leave any doubt in the raeders mind that war is dirty and merciless businesses. And that the landings on Utah June 6th was a grave example. Balkoskis use of personal accounts stresses the point.
However this book was also a kind of 'wwii army divisions for dummies' to me. And the direct comparison in set up with with the 29th direct opponents, the German 352nd infantry and the 3rd Falchirmmjeager dividions, was very educational.
I can only recommend this book wholeheartedly to any reader with an interest in D-day
This book is one such book. And what a book it is. Firstly neither this book will leave any doubt in the raeders mind that war is dirty and merciless businesses. And that the landings on Utah June 6th was a grave example. Balkoskis use of personal accounts stresses the point.
However this book was also a kind of 'wwii army divisions for dummies' to me. And the direct comparison in set up with with the 29th direct opponents, the German 352nd infantry and the 3rd Falchirmmjeager dividions, was very educational.
I can only recommend this book wholeheartedly to any reader with an interest in D-day
December 8, 2012
This is an important book in WW2 literature. It details the transformation of a raw National Guard unit (the 29th Division) into the effective combat unit it was in Normandy. Having read pretty much everything there is on D-day, I can readily say that there is no one that more about the 29th Division in WW2 than Joe Balkoski.
Highly recomended no onl as a good basic book on the US Army in WW2, but also as a great work on the 29th and it's time in Normandy. I also highly recomend his foll up works taking the 29th further into Europe, although if you only read one, this is the THE one
Highly recomended no onl as a good basic book on the US Army in WW2, but also as a great work on the 29th and it's time in Normandy. I also highly recomend his foll up works taking the 29th further into Europe, although if you only read one, this is the THE one
May 3, 2021
Excellent unit history of the 29th Infantry Division. Mr. Balkoski does a great job of weaving the first hand accounts with the units movements.
July 23, 2019
A well researched and written history of the US 29th Infantry Division leading from mobilization through the Battle for Normandy during World War II. There are excellent comparisons regarding the composition of the 29th and the German division that they faced on D-Day.
December 12, 2024
Two US infantry divisions feature prominently in the story of Omaha Beach and the Normandy Invasion - the Big Red One (US 1st) and the 29th Infantry Division. This book includes a detailed look at the 29th Infantry Division's experiences on Omaha Beach. But it is much more than that. The 29th Infantry Division was a National Guard Division. Balkoski discusses the process of a National Guard division becoming incorporated into the US army - the process of being called up and trained for a year, their experiences, and the prejudices they faced. Balkoski also offers a detailed look at the training of the 29th prior to the D-Day invasion. He performs an interesting comparison of the firepower of small units in the 29th and their German counterparts, including the difference in firepower and the different approach to replacements and how the different approach impacted US and German logistics and unit cohesion. Finally, in this book, Balkoski follows the 29th post-D-Day as it works to capture its objective, St. Lo, weeks later.
The discussion of the 29th's role at Omaha Beach would make this a worthwhile read, but the additional material on the National Guard transition process, training, analysis, and work in the weeks following D-Day make it that much better.
The discussion of the 29th's role at Omaha Beach would make this a worthwhile read, but the additional material on the National Guard transition process, training, analysis, and work in the weeks following D-Day make it that much better.
July 24, 2020
Excellent book detailing the efforts of the 29th Infantry Division from the D-Day landing on Omaha Beach to the capture of St. Lo in July of 1944. The author covers the call up of the National Guard division with men mostly hailing from Virginia and Maryland, their training in the U.S. and England, and their first taste of battle on bloody Omaha Beach. The writer also has details from the German Army units who were defending the French coast at Normandy (and not all of them were German).
Company A of the 116th Regiment of the 29th Division were mostly men from the rural Bedford, Virginia area and nineteen of them died in the first minutes of the Omaha Beach landing. Three other died later in the campaign. There story is captured in detail by Alex Kershaw in his book, "The Bedford Boys."
Company A of the 116th Regiment of the 29th Division were mostly men from the rural Bedford, Virginia area and nineteen of them died in the first minutes of the Omaha Beach landing. Three other died later in the campaign. There story is captured in detail by Alex Kershaw in his book, "The Bedford Boys."
November 27, 2025
This is an incredibly well-written book about the 29th Division at the Battle of Normandy in June–August 1944. It's filled with unforgettable stories of the men from each unit of the 29th Infantry Division, and their overall push to capture the town of St. Lo during immediately following the D-Day invasion at Omaha Beach. For those that are looking for a book that also thoroughly explains infantry and combat units, as well as military hierarchy, this book is a must-read for any WWII historian.
December 17, 2017
Lots to like about this book, especially the explanations of comparative German/ US organization and armaments and also replacement policy. These elements would be the reason I would hang on to this book for potential reference.
Otherwise, pretty much anecdotal — sort of a collective unit memoir. Biggest flaw — and it was BIG — is lack of maps. Details of tactics lose clarity without maps!!
So, maybe 2.75 stars after all.
Otherwise, pretty much anecdotal — sort of a collective unit memoir. Biggest flaw — and it was BIG — is lack of maps. Details of tactics lose clarity without maps!!
So, maybe 2.75 stars after all.
September 29, 2022
An excellent history of the Division that was the first ashore at D-Day. Balkoski details how the 29th Division was organized right down to the squad and what types of weapons were used. He also does this for the German division that opposed the 29ers. This was woven into the story, which was not only action-packed, but filled with the personal stories of the men who fought. An excellent companion to his book, Omaha Beach. Highly recommended for any WW II buff.
December 8, 2017
The definitive story of the 29th Infantry Division during the Normandy invasion. Couple with Balkoski's other books on the 29th and you have a complete and authoritative collection on the division critical to America's success in World War II.
September 8, 2023
This is a thorough and intimate look at frontline combat achieved through the study of the 29th Infantry Division’s role in the Normandy campaign. It’s detailed, easy to understand, and excellently written.
May 1, 2018
Very good read, some useful information for scenario design. My copy extra special as it was signed by the author and dedicated to one of the soldiers the book was written about :-)
Ian
Ian
March 22, 2022
Very interesting look at the Division in which my Grandfather served.
August 4, 2025
One of the easiest to understand Division-Level histories of the Second World War. Balkoski's prose makes the whole book a page turner.
29! Let's go!
29! Let's go!
August 24, 2009
I love to read about battles for research into my own travel guides to European battlefields. In this book, Balkoski brings to us the actions of the US 29th Infantry Division's Normandy Beach invasion and the struggle to fight through the easily defended "bocage" fields of Normandy. The capture of St-Lo serious depleted the unit's strength incurring enormous casualties. Believing that a respite was in order, the division was instead sent to capture the town of Vire. By this time most of the individuals who had landed on the Normandy beaches only weeks previously, had become casualties, their places filed with replacements. None the less, the 29th Division became one of the US Army's premier infantry units.
I previously read Balkoski's companion volume: 'From Beachhead to Brittany: The 29th Infantry Division at Brest'. I believe this prior work to be a bit better written, sounding less like military after action reports and more like a telling of the story with thumbnail descriptions of the participants.
I previously read Balkoski's companion volume: 'From Beachhead to Brittany: The 29th Infantry Division at Brest'. I believe this prior work to be a bit better written, sounding less like military after action reports and more like a telling of the story with thumbnail descriptions of the participants.
August 1, 2012
Joseph Balkoski's Beyond the Beachhead tells in an energetic and effective manner the story of the U.S. Army's 29th Infantry Division during the opening phases of the Normandy invasion. The 29th Division was unique among the Allied divisions that struck the coast of Normandy on June 6, 1944. The 29th, the "Blue and Gray," consisted mainly of National Guard troops from Maryland and Virginia, in contrast to the regular Army divisions that made up the rest of the American invasion force on D-Day. Led by a disciplinarian general who gave the unit a motto, "29 Let's Go," and enforced a strict set of rules (heaven help the soldier who left his chin strap unsnapped), the 29th successfully made its way from the firestorm of Omaha Beach through the deadly maze of the hedgerows. It is an epic story, and Balkoski tells it in a manner that captures all its drama.
August 7, 2008
A good resource if you're looking for highly specialized information about one unit in WWII...or if you're looking for a more general picture of the US infantry in Normandy in the months after the invasion. My one critique of the book is that it spends so much time on the years between WWI and II, but ends rather abruptly after the capture of St. Lo. An epilogue detailing the 29th's activities in larger Europe would have been nice (or a companion piece--even nicer).
December 26, 2009
I really liked that it followed one division (the 29th) from preparing for D-Day clear through pushing inland. Seems so many are more big-picture or just dealing with D-Day itself. With this book, you are able to visualize the regiments, command structure, armament, and the soldiers themselves. I guess it's similar to Band of Brothers in some of those regards. Plenty of maps to keep a picture in your head of where the regiments were and a quick Google Map of France can help you too.
February 8, 2014
This is one of the better volumes I've read dealing with US Infantry tactics & equipment and training and combat in summer 1944. The book covers the 29th Infantry Div from call up to the liberation of St Lo, aside from that there's detailed comparisons to the German troops they fought and side by side break down of equipment and weapons and even the replacement system for soldiers. I was very impressed by this book.
March 19, 2015
An excellent history book. The writing was engaging and it was very easy to read. Sometimes the digressions onto the background of the soldiers seemed to get a little long, but I learned things, and this is good.
Now I need to get out my copy of St.Lo (a wargame designed by the author) and play it.
Now I need to get out my copy of St.Lo (a wargame designed by the author) and play it.
July 29, 2008
A good World War II book that gives who an understanding what an infanty division went through as they fought for every inch of land in World War II from Normandy and as they advanced through France.
March 9, 2011
I own this book and have read it through several times. Beyond the Beachead picks up the story of the Blue and Gray Division from June 7, 1944 through the end of the war.
Want to read
August 10, 2014This book was recommended in one of the "Bookmarks" magazine's issues of either: (Nov/ Dec 2007) or (Jan/ Feb 2008).
March 2, 2015
This is an interesting book the tells the story of the 29th Infantry divisions's part in the invasion of Normandy.
November 22, 2015
A very good narrative of the battles after the beach assault and through the breakout.
September 3, 2016
A seminal piece of WWII history and a great lead-in to Joe's multi-volume history of the 29th.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews