Caen: Anvil of Victory

by Alexander McKee

The epic account of how the fate of Operation Overlord and the Battle of Normandy was determined at the lengthy and harrowing battle for Caen.

This book, written by a veteran of the campaign and renowned historian, Alexander McKee, is essential reading for fans of Anthony Beevor, Max Hastings, and Stephen E. Ambrose.

D-Day was the greatest amphibious operation in history, yet the battle for the beaches was only the beginning of a long campaign to push back German forces from Normandy.

The Battle for Caen was the climax of the Normandy fighting, where, for two months, elite troops from the British, Canadian, and German forces clashed in ferocious combat, house by house, hedge by hedge, beneath massive air bombardments.

Using over sixty-five eye-witness accounts from both the Allied and German sides, as well as from the French civilians caught in the conflict, McKee reconstructs the struggle to secure the Allied position in Western Europe.

From the storming of the beaches on D-Day to the decisive Battle of the Falaise pocket, McKee charts the course of the Battle of Normandy and provides fascinating detail on how the conflict at Caen shaped the entire campaign.

‘An excellent series of eye-witness accounts from both sides … a first-class “worm’s eye view” of the fighting.’ The Daily Telegraph

‘A superb tribute to the bravery and tenacity of both the Allied and enemy troops.’ Time and Tide

‘A brilliant and moving account of the confusion, the bravery and terror of war.’ Sunday Express

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

454 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 1964

About the author

Alexander McKee was no "yes-man", he dared to criticise many military, political, economic, media and academic icons and he always kept an open mind. He was fanatical about making his works as accurate as he possibly could. He was ever alert to plain-wrong, biased, distorted or sloppy reports and hidden agendas; wickedly delighting (the more so as a self-educated man) in criticising and exposing assertions that did not fit the evidence. Among his targets were those who tended to emphasise media-image-managment, the accumulation of personal wealth and career progression over both personal integrity and respect for other people's contributions. He gleefully highlighted all the many lapses of integrity that he found. Equally, many established experts, often highly educated people and indeed experts regarding the theoretical aspects of their disciplines, but whom he considered scandalously remiss when they complacently failed to complement such theoretical understanding with practical knowledge as a way to test their theories empirically. Consequently, some of them came in for some harsh criticism on occasion. One gets the impression from his work that some of them appeared reluctant to venture outside the academy at all; out into the "real world": let alone to mix with ordinary people. Implicitly, he urged them to converse with the fishermen, the builders, the soldiers, the doctors, the nurses, the shipwrights and the firemen to glean practical understanding from these practical people, who had to be willing and able to carry out the ultimate tests on their theories to provide demonstably working solutions in order to fulfill their typical working roles. Then he urges such experts in the theory to re-test their theories against the empirically derived knowledge gleaned from their excursions among the working classes, and to do so conjunction with their own senses, out in the "real world": rather than limiting themselves and risking their reputations on the results of thought experiments alone. He dug deep into eye-witness testimonies and spent countless hours searching libraries and museums for the documentary evidence surrounding each his-story. One may find this slightly comical that viewed against the background of established caricaturisations, when the elevated "pillars of wisdom", went "building castles in the air" around about the "ivory towers" and he found strong contradictory "real world" evidence he often lambasted them mercilessly, although it does sometimes seem to be overdone. In contrast, he made the point that some of the sloppy documentary historical works such as that of Sir Robert Davis, that temporarily led his own research astray (and much to his annoyance caused him to repeat untruths in public lectures) while causing the propagation of serious errors until he uncovered them, were nevertheless probably a consequence of the pressures of work, owing to the high quality of the rest of the publication.

Reviews

[Rich Post · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a bit of a confused mash partly due to the inclusion of only a few maps. The author also quotes extensively from participants of the battle and it's easy to miss the closing quotation marks at times. Despite these downsides some of the battle narratives provide perspective from both sides of the battlefield and a view of the British side of the Normandy battles.

Worth reading for those interested in military history or WW2.

[Francis X DuFour · Rating 5 out of 5]

A horrible, gut-wrenching battle that killed thousands on both sides

This detailed account of armies attacking and defending that key French city in a series of battles that dragged on for two months. The British forces planned to capture Caen in the first days of the invasion, but the terribly costly effort lasted for almost two months of indescribable brutality and huge losses of life. The eye-witness accounts vividly portray the horror of the battles and the destruction of entire units on both sides. Not for the weak of heart.

[Steven C Runo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frtailed Review of Normandy Battles after D-Day

After D-Day, the battles for Normandy did not proceed as the Allies and Germans planned and expected. .This book provides detailed accounts of the battles involved and the reasons why many actions were failures and tragedies, often accented by accounts of the participants. central to the overall account is the total destruction of the city of Caen by the Allied forces of “liberation - a tragedy seldom mentioned in D-Day overviews. In particular, individual tank engagements are described in vivid detail

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Riveting - at times gruesome - first hand accounts of the battle for Normandy.

I’d have given this book five stars if the writing was more clear at times about who was recollecting the action. I found (as others have also) that it wasn’t consistently apparent which side was speaking or being spoken about. Despite this, the book pulled me along and painted a vivid picture of events from both the high level view of command and the dirt level experiences of the soldiers on the ground. Highly recommended.

[Nick Boldrini · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good account of the Normandy campaign, relying mainly on first hand accounts stitched togethor, but it does a good job of that. If you want to learn the details of the campaign this isn't the book for that, but it is a good overview, and useful to give more of the feel of things rather than a drier historical account. It covers both sides, and the civilian side as well, and is very readable, though I found the authors editorial comments grated a little at times.

[Everett Sharp]

Normandy Campaign

The title is rather a misnomer as it does not deal just with Caen, but also the final breakout battles finishing with the horror of the so called Falaise Gap. Evidently an older book but very well written for all that; making you realise the bravery of the allied forces confronting the still very professional and far more experienced German army. Recommended as an overview of the campaign.

[Steven Marsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read but confusing at rimes

I loved rhis book and would have been difficult to write. I was confused at times which side was being reported on. Great descriptive writing though. Felt I was right there. Was totally moved by efforts of all sides. Thank you.

[Robert Hart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read

An overall recounting of the Commonwealth side of D-day through to the closing of the Falaise gap. Lots of eyewitness stories,but it sèmed a little disjointed at points. Some different views from other books on the subject.

[Daniel Poff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great view of the D-Day landing.

Great book that details the D-day landing and the hard fight on both sides. The Allies lost several battles, but the amount material support was too much for the enemy.

[Paul Hovey]

What a read!!!

I thought I had a very good understanding of the battle for Caen. I did not. Both sides were well represented throughout the book. I highly recommend this book to readers of World War II.

[Julie Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and confusing.

Interesting look at a specific aspect of D-Day and the weeks after. Needed more and better maps. Switching from German to Allied viewpoints confusing occasionally.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting read

[Kyle Mackenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best accounts of the Normandy campaign I’ve ever come across. Brilliant narrative, good blend of story and details.

[wally walter · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very full depth description of the Anglo Canadian part of the Normandy campaign

[Jan Reitzel · Rating 1 out of 5]

pro German military writing

According to this author the German military were head and shoulders above the Allies, only to be beaten by overwhelming force.

[walter e mcneil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best

Author mixes stories from allies and axis in the same paragraph, very confusing. Mixes in his own opinions all too often.

[Martin Bowen]

Interesting perspectives from both sides.

[Alexander Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

a moving tale of useless slaughter and general confusion

Well written. A strangely balanced view of allies and axis troops as if the Nazis were just innocents in a war of their own making.

[Frumenty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a history of the Battle of Normandy (06-06-1944 to 31-08-1944), in which the civilians of Normandy paid a disproportionate part of the cost in French lives for their nation's Libération. It is a work of meticulous scholarship, inasmuch as it presents in abundant detail the day by day reality of the struggle through the eyes of many eyewitnesses on both sides. It appeared in 1964, so no doubt it has been widely critiqued and its strengths and weaknesses (if such there are) are a matter of public record. I am a casual reader, and I make no apologies if it is found that I am ignorant of errors of fact, omissions, or misunderstandings of events that may possibly have been pointed out. My impression is that this is a first rate piece of work, balanced and thorough, and that it deserves to be taken very seriously.

The events narrated were never going to be easy to relate. The task of marshaling the source materials must have been huge, and shining a light through the "fog of war" when there are so many players, so many fronts, so many modes of warfare, so many events, and so many stories, all contending for the author's attention, would have been very hard indeed. My frequent confusion may have been alleviated somewhat had I not been reading the book on a Kindle (I was traveling), which is a terrific medium for print but poor for maps, diagrams, and other visual forms. I came away from reading this book with a very foggy idea of the overview of events, but a wealth of vivid impressions of the personal experiences of people caught up in them.

I will just add that I was impressed that McKee does not shrink from making adverse criticisms of Allied actions, whether it be the repeated exhibitions of incompetence at the top by the Americans (due to upper-echelon confusion, Omaha Beach saw the worst slaughter of the D-Day landings), or the unwarranted bombing of civilian targets in Caen ordered by Bernard Montgomery. The myth of D-Day may be very creditable to the soldiers on the ground, but as so often in war the decisions and mistakes of their leaders proved almost as deadly as the efforts of the enemy. Not all Germans fought back heroically; many were demoralized and thoroughly disenchanted with Nazism, and were glad of an opportunity to surrender; several incidents of mistreatment and even murder of German prisoners by their Allied captors are reported; there were atrocities on both sides. Other Germans proved themselves exceptionally good soldiers, loyal, effective, and brave, whatever one might have to say about the cause for which they fought. The Canadian fighting man gets a pretty good rap in this book, which I hope is a reflection of his true worth; Canadian troops were unusual in this conflict in that they were all volunteers.

I read this shortly after spending about 5 weeks of spring living in Normandy, a land of verdant fields and hedges, of peaceful stone-built villages with each its church spire or several, a busy and fruitful region; but for the many photographs, it would be difficult now to visualize it devastated as it was in 1944. The "hell of the hedges", as Allied soldiers dubbed the struggle in which hedges gave such effective concealment to German tanks and infantry, was the result of traditional farming practices that continue today, and which give Normandy much of its continuing rural charm.

[Mark Lisac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some books provide a better overall view of the battle for Normandy. Several describe individual actions in more detail (Mark Zuehlke's are particularly good). This one stands out because it puts the reader into the middle of the sights, sounds, smells and emotions of the physical and moral chaos that constituted two months of deadly struggle. McKee details the human reality with great effect: brutality, occasional mercies, sudden and unimaginable violence, breaks for tea, the frequent dependence of grand plans on the initiative and determination of a handful of men, the tragic sweeping of civilians into the maelstrom, pure luck both good and bad. The madness is captured by a nun's recording of a reversal that happens when she and other sisters try to lead hundreds of mentally ill out of an endangered convent hospital and across battle lines into hoped-for safety: "Some of our mental patients, thinking we had brought on all this suffering, in their delusions gave us untold trouble; others, however, became almost lucid, and did their utmost to help us, and to cheer on their companions."
It helps that McKee was there — not an observer or historian trying to reconstruct, but someone who lived through it trying to convey what it was like.