Fighting The Invasion: The German Army at D-Day

by David Isby (Editor), Günther Blumentritt, Wilhelm Keitel

In June 1944 Allied troops were massing along the shores of southern England, in readiness for the invasion of Hitler's Fortress Europe. Facing them, from the Pas de Calais to Brittany, were German troops, dug in, waiting and preparing for the inevitable confrontation. This unique compilation of in-depth accounts by German commanders presents D-Day, and the events leading up to it, from the point of view of the officers entrusted with preventing the Allied landings. The accounts David Isby has selected, all written soon after the war's close for American military intelligence, cover preparations for invasion and intricately chart the development of German strategy as invasion looms. After detailing this planning stage, and the uncertain waiting, the accounts then turn to the ordeal of D-Day itself, the reactions to the first reports of troop landings, and a blow-by-blow account of the fighting. Fighting the Invasion paints a superb picture of D-Day from the German perspective, bringing home the entire experience from the initial waiting to the bitter fighting on the beaches and running battles in Norman villages. These are first-hand accounts by German officers and commanders that have never been published before in any language.

Genres: World War II, History, Germany, War

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

David Isby is an acclaimed author, attorney, and national defense consultant. In Washington, first as a congressional staff member and, subsequently, as a consultant on national security issues, Isby has worked for numerous firms with a range of governmental and private sector clients. He continues to write extensively on national security and military history topics, and is an author or editor of more than 20 books and 350 essays and articles in publications including International Defense Review, USA Today, Washington Times, Jane's Defense Weekly, Strategic Review, Comparative Strategy, Jamestown Terrorism Monitor, and Jane's Intelligence Review. He also has lectured at many staff colleges including National Defense University, US Army War College, US Army Command and General Staff College, Air Command & Staff College, US Marine Corps Command and General Staff College, Naval Postgraduate School, and other institutions.

Reviews

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an interesting book! This book assembles the post war writings of captured German officers on their actions defending the D-Day invasion landings. This is the second book on this topic I've read and both were sourced from much of the same US Army material.

Topics discussed include the German intel, plans for expected Allied actions, discussions on their own troops and equipment, logistics, and details on planning to defend the coastline. There is some Monday Morning quarterbacking for sure, with many obvious attempts at distancing themselves from the poor decisions or responses and clear attempts to blame higher ups for their shortcomings.

This said, I found the discussions to be fascinating. Highly educational were the writings on the defensive preparations and how surprised they were at the logistic needs on that first invasion day. Bunkers and positions were allocated ammunition and supplies for an estimated 2 weeks of constant action; the allocation was expended by early evening on the first day. That says a lot about how savage the fighting was and just how much firepower was being thrown at the invading forces. Hearing the officers complain about their soldier's performance was typical, and their disparaging remarks about captured equipment and conscripted troops was somewhat ironic. Their own reports made prior to the invasion seemed to indicate a great deal of confidence in their troops and equipment.

The book makes for a very worthwhile read for those interested in D-Day, and wanting to see how the Germans viewed the events. There are reviewers of this who throw the book shade, but frankly appears to be that special sort of reviewer who can only find 1 Star books to read. How can you really trust a reviewer with such bad tastes in books, lol? I think there is much to be gleaned educationally speaking from reading the viewpoints and experiences of the defeated, and this book really hammers home some good points on command control, air power, logistics, and defenses. Only fools ignore the lessons of history.

The book has no references primarily due to the source material all being interviews and interrogations of captured officers. It was produced for the US Army essentially, so you are not going to find a lovely bibliography.... THIS material is what becomes bibliography material. It is the primary source that historical authors will go to and reference.

The book is well assembled and printed, with no glaring errors or typos. The phrasing is that of German officers, and I appreciate that they retained their wording and context which is essential to truly gain insights into their mindsets. My only deduction was the lack of some basic maps and drawings linked to the individual officers so a better grasp of their unique situations were possible.

A good 4-Star book well worth any WW2 historian/ military historian's time to read.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another Nazi text glorifying the death of millions. Units are "not prepared" and have "not enough officers". There is no reference, and no numbers, just the emotion the young Nazi should feel when hearing of the "heroism".

[Erwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Look at All Those ($#@ Ships

An interesting account of the German’s actions on D Day. Not as filled with shock and awe as writers of the WWII invasion would have us believe. Of course these articles were put together sometime after the invasion which might account for the blasée renditions. In places there seems to be an excessive amount minutia, but the writers were military men after all. All in all an interesting rendition of the one of the most important days of the twentieth century.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much has been written about the D-Day invasion from the Allied perspective. Fighting the Invasion tells the story from the viewpoint of German soldiers from various German units. This is a good read for anyone who wants a balanced view of historical events.

[Brianna Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent premise and a must-read for WWII buffs. So many points here were so interesting to me--the inefficiencies of the German army, certain American miscalculations. In a strange sense, it almost seemed to dispel some of the myth-making around the invasion, to hear how hampered the German war effort was--the chain of command issues, their spotty intelligence, the lack of certain resources. In a way, it almost makes it possible to imagine a very different outcome, under not so different circumstances.

My only critical thoughts are, I do think it could have used a little more editorial input. I appreciated how candid the editors were about their sources, translation issues, etc., but would have liked a little more guidance between sections. I've always considered myself someone fairly well-read when it comes to World War II, but at times found myself wishing for more to the short transition pieces between sections--a capstone of sorts, maybe.

I also make it a policy to not criticize books for things that they are not (i.e., I won't fault an action story for not being more deeply philosophical), but I do feel this book lacked a personal touch. It was clearly not what this book set out to do, but there seemed a missed opportunity here to delve more into the mindsets and psyche of some of the major players here. There were obvious limits to the types of documents they could collect here, but I had hoped for more personal recollections, over the clinical, higher-level evaluations here, though I was fairly touched by the way many of the interviewees struggled with hindsight. I still think that something more bent towards memoir would make a great concept, and would be something I'd eagerly snatch up.

I think this is informed mostly by my expectations going into it, however, and what I was hoping the book would be. I liked what it ultimately was, but feel I liked the book more when it was still in the abstract.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for this review.

[Jl5841 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Isby catalogues the accounts of surviving German commanders who attempted to repel the allies at Normandy. By this he finds some important themes, including the apparent German disregard or 'defense-in-depth' and the inability for them to coordinate in the face of allied interdiction efforts via airstrike, paratroopers, and French resistance fighters. Collectively, they made for an inept and ill-supplied defense effort at the Normandy beaches.

So why was the fighting so brutal on the beaches if the Germans were so ill-prepared? Answer: amphibious invasions are extraordinary dangerous, even against weakened powers like 1944 Nazi Germany. For more on that, see Mearsheimer's 'stopping power of water.'

[Ron Baumer · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting account of D-Day from the viewpoints of the senior German staff. Their recollections appeared flawed (and the author does warn this) from accounts of the time. Additionally, some recounting was in the form of questions asked during their debriefing at the end of the war, and at times was a little boring. Overall, not a bad book that provides insight into what happened from the opposition's side,

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reports written after WWII by German high command. dry reports of interest to military historians.

[Jeff Putnam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting material that makes up the book not encumbered by the author's editorializing. Just the reminiscences of the participants

[Gabriel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book, for anyone who wishes to seriously study D-Day, this book is an great for learning the German perspective

[Jiří Szabó · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mé zhodnocení: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-FrB...

[Wilde Sky · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of articles / accounts by German officers of the allied invasion during WWII was interesting – in particular some of the details of the people and what the Germans did / didn’t know. But the articles were disjointed / repetitive and the writing stodgy making this more of a reference book than a standalone work.

[Darren Sapp · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the collections of articles and accounts from German officers very interesting, but they were also repetitive. Since this is not really a narrative, it's more of a resource book.

[Ian Willey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hoped this would be a more detailed work. Still I found it interesting but as others have stated it is a bit repetitive