Villers-Bocage: Operation 'Perch': The Complete Account

by Daniel Taylor

“If you're looking for a tactical WWII battle in a French village, this provides a top-rate resource.” ― Historical Minatures Gaming Society

Villers-Bocage remains lodged in the imagination of many readers as a costly and controversial defeat for the British Army in Normandy. This point of view is entirely reliant on just ten minutes of fighting plucked from a two-day battle. This account sets out to rectify that view.

Based on prolific first-hand information, including extensive interviews with veterans of the battle, this book explores every facet of the available information, subjecting it to in-depth analysis. Far from being the crushing defeat popularized in many histories, which tend to rely on German propaganda, Villers-Bocage can, in fact, be viewed as a remarkable and compelling recovery from an ambush. The shortcoming was that much of the territory gained in the advance was relinquished, so the first telling of the story was given to the Germans who, quite legitimately under wartime conditions, made the most of their advantage.

In this book, Daniel Taylor provides a minutely detailed examination of the course of the fighting, exploring both sides of the debate, allowing the reader to evaluate the strength of the argument. Dozens of first-hand accounts are brought together and placed into a comprehensible and accurate time-line. Both German and British official histories and personal accounts have been pieced together providing an astonishing level of corroboration. Accompanying the written history is extensive mapping and an unprecedented quantity of photographs, from multiple sources, which add definition and visual verification. This book lays to rest the myths built up around the battle.

Genres: World War II

160 pages, Hardcover

Published June 30, 2023

About the author

Daniel Taylor (Ph.D., Emory University) is the author of eighteen books, including The Myth of Certainty, Letters to My Children, Tell Me A Story: The Life-Shaping Power of Our Stories, Creating a Spiritual Legacy, The Skeptical Believer: Telling Stories to Your Inner Atheist, Believing Again: Stories of Leaving and Returning to Faith, and a four novel mystery series, beginning with Death Comes for the Decontructionist and ending with The Mystery of Iniquity. His most recent novel, The Prodigal of Leningrad, is set in that city during the Nazi siege of World War II. He has also worked on a number of Bible translations. He speaks frequently at conferences, colleges, retreats, and churches on a variety of topics. Dr. Taylor is also co-founder of The Legacy Center, an organization devoted to helping individuals and organizations identify and preserve the values and stories that have shaped their lives. He was a contributing editor for Books and Culture. Dr. Taylor is married and the father of four adult children. Website: www.WordTaylor.com

Reviews

[Catherine Mustread · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the most famous and controversial battles the British fought in Normandy. On June 13, 1944, British forces were ambushed at Villers-Bocage by Waffen SS German Panzers, including one commanded by German Panzer ace Michael Wittmann. This kicked off a two-day battle that resulted in a major British withdrawal. Chris and Rick dig into this story with Daniel Taylor, author of Villers-Bocage: Operation "Perch": The Complete Account. The debate still swirls. Was it a crushing British defeat or a compelling recovery from an ambush that was misunderstood by an already nervous high command. Has Wittmann’s role been exaggerated or was he really the hero the Nazis made him out to be? [History Happy Hour 112424]

[James Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent account of the much debated battle of Villers Bocage, which is widely celebrated as a victory for the Germans. Taylor does much to try to get to the truth of what happened, meshing together the official British and German accounts, and drawing on the recollections of each side. He also forensically examining the surviving photographs. Far from being a spectacular German victory - attributed by the German propaganda machine to Tiger Ace SS Captain Michael Wittmann - the truth is much more prosaic. Taylor shows that Wittmann was a recklessly courageous man, who took an immense risk in attacking a strung out British unit. He did not however single-handedly stop the British advance as Taylor shows - other German soldiers also played a part, and British soldiers may have been equally brave but their equipment was no match of Wittmann’s Tiger tank. Taylor also records small parts of the fight, including the rounding up by a ‘Hiwi’ in SS service of dismounted British tank crews using a pistol and a kitchen knife. This is an impressive account of one small chapter in the Normandy campaign.