British/Canadian recommended reading

[bracco_n]

Hello everybody, with the incoming of the Commonwealth module I'd like to read something about the Anglo-Canadian landings and further fight inland. Are there any books you could recommend?

Thanks in advance!

[Sabot6]

Hi, I'm just finishing up Ian Daglish's three books on EPSOM, GOODWOOD and BLUECOAT (which comprise his "Over the Battlefield" Series). I am spatially challenged and have always struggled to visualize the terrain, the movements of the combatants, the distances involved, etc. This series, with wonderful maps and aerial photography of the battles, often while in progress and showing tanks on the move, has been exceptionally helpful to me. It also doesn't hurt that the author (IMHO) is an excellent writer....

I've also tried to complete the two volume set on the 12th SS from Stackpole (Hubert Meyer, author), but I found them rather opaque. Having completed the "Over the Battlefield" Series, however, I may try them one more time.

I'd love to hear from others who enjoyed Daglish's books and who can recommend similar volumes....

[W1ll1am]

I've enjoyed reading the (freely available) Official History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War, Vol III The Victory Campaign: The Operations in Northwest Europe, 1944-45. Get it at http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhh-dhp/his/oh-ho/detail-eng.asp?BfBookLang=1&BfId=29.

Also recommend Brian A. Reid's 'No holding back' covering Operation Totalize. Goes into more detail describing operations, equipment, the decision making process, and what went right and wrong (in hindsight).

[JonS]

Reid's "No Holding Back" is wonderful. Excellent detail on the palanning and conduct of a complex operation, and has tons of great scenario fodder.

Graves "The South Albertas" is excellent.

Jary's "18 Platoon" is a very nice little memoir of a British infantry subaltern.

Ken Tout's books are pretty good, especially "Tank!" and "A fine night for tanks"

Armoured subaltern memoirs, all good:

Boscawen's "Armoured Guardsmen"

Wilson "Flamethrower"

Bellamy "Troop Leader"

Hills "By Tank Into Normandy"

Blackburn "The Guns of Normandy" (Canadian gunner officer memoir)

My pick of all those would be "No Holding Back"

Edit: one point on No Holding Back; I was lucky enough to get a 1st edition hardback. I believe that there is a much cheaper Stackpole paperback out now. I like Stackpole, they do good work, but I suspect that NHB will suffer badly from compressed and/or omitted maps. The copy I have contains a /ton/ of really wonderful maps and illustrations (including complete depictions of each of the armoured columns used on the first night, right down to the individiual vehicle and their place in the column), and it'd be a crying shame if were you to miss out on those for the sake of a couple of bucks. In a similar vein, for Christmas I got a recent paperback edition of Kershaws 'It Never Snows In September', which is a good book, but this edition has most of the maps (and /all/ the photos) omitted, and the ones remaining are poor quality black and white reproductions of some of the original large colour maps.

[JonS]

I'd love to hear from others who enjoyed Daglish's books

I found the BLUECOAT book very good, except ... there was some odd omissions and errors. There are some very good photos, and some of the maps could be good, but often neither are very well explained regarding what you are looking at, nor where they occurred. There is a photo, for example, of the location where a UK SP field artillery regiment was attacked by SS Panthers - great stuff, but just try and figure out exactly where that photo is of. The maps are weirdly truncated too, making it difficult to figure out where they are and what they're showing.

His description of many some battles that I looked at in detail get a bit confused too. He conflates events that happen over a number of days into a single event. You generally wouldn't know or notice unless you try and correlate his descriptions with the same events as described by other authors.

That said, though, the books are well worth the price.

[kipanderson]

Hi,

From JonS

Reid's "No Holding Back" is wonderful. Excellent detail on the planning and conduct of a complex operation, and has tons of great scenario fodder.

Graves "The South Albertas" is excellent.

Jary's "18 Platoon" is a very nice little memoir of a British infantry subaltern.

Kebn Tout's books are pretty good, especially "Tank!" and "A fine night for tanks"

Heavens... that is scary , as I would also list the exact same books. But just to emphasise that the first two are fantastically well explained operational/unit histories, of a type, the second two personal memoirs.

All good stuff,

All the best,

Kip.

[Wodin]

The Guns of War by George Blackburn.

Superb read, memoirs of a Canadian FO.

[akd]

Except it is The Guns of Normandy, and in Jon's list above.

[JonS]

No, IIRC 'The Guns of War' is a compilation of 'The Guns of Normandy' (about Normandy, duh) and 'The Guns of Victory' (about the rest of the NWE campaign).

There is also 'Where the Hell Are The Guns', which I don't think is in 'The Guns of War', and doesn't include any combat (except for tangentially Dieppe), but which I thought was very good anyway.

[akd]

Is that what this is?

http://www.amazon.com/Guns-War-George-Blackburn/dp/1841192104/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329354792&sr=1-4

Description suggests same content as The Guns of Normandy, but that'd be great if there is a compilation of both books.

[JonS]

Kind of annoying that it has a US soldier on the cover. Sheesh, editors these days

Take a look at the reviews here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Guns-War-George-Blackburn/dp/1841192104/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329355619&sr=8-1

I'm pretty sure it's vols. 2 & 3 rolled into one. But, damn. Each of the volumes alone are substantial books. The thought of trying hold two of them up while reading in bed is frightening - I think I'd probably end up crushed to death

[Sirocco]

I'd recommend Maple Leaf Route: Caen. I got mine direct from the author many years ago. New it seems to cost a small fortune - top price I've seen is $1,179.60. But if you can pick it up used it's much more affordable.

[LuckyDog]

Stuart Hills "By Tank into Normandy" was a good personal account, and John Buckley's "British Armour in the Normandy Campaign 1944" was a great read. The latter does a good job of analysing the design decisions taken in previous years, what the tactical doctrine was and what really did it mean for the British/Canadian/Polish tankers when they came up against the Panzers in Normandy.

[Wodin]

Is that what this is?

http://www.amazon.com/Guns-War-George-Blackburn/dp/1841192104/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329354792&sr=1-4

Description suggests same content as The Guns of Normandy, but that'd be great if there is a compilation of both books.

Thats the one I have. It's both books together. Only the first volume is left out.

[wokelly]

"Colossal Cracks" by Stephen Hart is a very good read on British doctrine, tactics and leadership in Normandy. Pretty much redefined the British in Normandy, you won't find many serious studies on Normandy that do not cite this book or use the phrase "Colossal Cracks" when referring to 21st Army Group.

[Waycool]

Many good recommendations here I have read and own many of them. Colossal Cracks is on my to read list/shelf and I hope to crack it (pun intended) open soon.

[Michael Emrys]

"Colossal Cracks" by Stephen Hart is a very good read on British doctrine, tactics and leadership in Normandy. Pretty much redefined the British in Normandy, you won't find many serious studies on Normandy that do not cite this book or use the phrase "Colossal Cracks" when referring to 21st Army Group.

I recently read this apologia for Montgomery and didn't come away with much besides the idea that he was not as awful a general as his worst critics insist or as brilliant as his most ardent fans proclaim, which is the same opinion I arrived at years ago from a variety of other readings.

Yes, keeping casualties low and morale high were priorities—they usually are for any sensible commander. I'm just not convinced that the tactics he chose were necessarily the best to achieve those goals. Still, he was good enough to play a part in winning the war, which is more than the German generals can claim, however virtuistic they may have been.

Michael

[LUCASWILLEN05]

I can seconmany of thesuggestions above but for the Canadians I eould suggest Fields of Fire by terence Copp and, from he German side Meyer's divsisional history. Michael Reynolds has also produced a number of excellent accounts from the German side. He has also writtebn a history of the US 29th and British 3rd Infantry divisions ((Eagles and Bulldogs in Normandy 1944) Patrick Delaforce wrote a number of very useful British divisional histories.

[wokelly]

I recently read this apologia for Montgomery and didn't come away with much besides the idea that he was not as awful a general as his worst critics insist or as brilliant as his most ardent fans proclaim, which is the same opinion I arrived at years ago from a variety of other readings.

Yes, keeping casualties low and morale high were priorities—they usually are for any sensible commander. I'm just not convinced that the tactics he chose were necessarily the best to achieve those goals. Still, he was good enough to play a part in winning the war, which is more than the German generals can claim, however virtuistic they may have been.

Michael

Well Timothy Place's "Military training in the British Army, 1940-1944" is more critical of Monty in regards to tactics if you want another good view on the subject.

I can seconmany of thesuggestions above but for the Canadians I eould suggest Fields of Fire by terence Copp and, from he German side Meyer's divsisional history. Michael Reynolds has also produced a number of excellent accounts from the German side. He has also writtebn a history of the US 29th and British 3rd Infantry divisions ((Eagles and Bulldogs in Normandy 1944) Patrick Delaforce wrote a number of very useful British divisional histories.

I dislike Reynolds Steel Inferno work personally, filled with too many of the 1980's revisionist sterotypes about each side and a painfully terrible examination of opposing tanks with Reynolds going so far as to say only a luck hit on a Panzer (not panther or tiger) would disable it. It also reads like a mix of Hubert Meyers two volume work and Kurt Meyers memoirs which makes me feel he relied almost exclusively on those sources. Even when he refers to Canadian or British war diary quotations, he is quoting Hubert Meyer who actually did go and read those diary's. It just never felt like he did much research on his own, but relied on the works of others, which is not a bad thing but it just reinforced what was being written (including all the good and bad) without adding much new info.

I personally think John English's recent work "Surrender Invites Death: Fighting the Waffen SS in Normandy" has a more balanced examination of things. It can be summed up in the SS were quite good on the defensive despite the odds, probably looked better than they were because of Allied mistakes at times, but had quite a bit of difficulty in launching successful attacks themselves even when the odds were in their favor. It is a bit Canadian focused, but that is because English is Canadian and has written extensively on the subject (very critical of Canadian Generalship in past works though not as much in this one I find) so he brings lots of his previous works into this one.

[Kat Johnston]

I recommend Assault Division, by Norman Scarfe, though it's dense.

[Myles Keogh]

The "Battleground Europe" series by Pen & Sword Publishing has some excellent Normandy volumes featuring the British Army's battles around Caen. They're similar to Osprey's Campaign series- straight narratives about the subject battle with lot's of photographs in less than 200 pages. Their quality can also vary widely from volume to volume. Still, the volumes by Ian Daglish and Tim Saunders are pretty good.

Tim Saunders' volume on "Hill 112" is best of the entire series. He also wrote a volume on "Operation Epsom" and for Market-Garden three excellent books about the American airborne divisions' and XXX Corps' fight for "Hells Highway," "Nijmegan," and "The Island."

[Michael Emrys]

Well Timothy Place's "Military training in the British Army, 1940-1944" is more critical of Monty in regards to tactics if you want another good view on the subject.

Thanks, I'll look into that one. Raising Churchill's Army by David French, while not what I would rate as a first-rate book, has some interesting thoughts on the same subject.

Michael

[jameshr4]

I would recommend Hills By Tank into Normandy ....http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tank-Normandy-Cassell-Military-Paperbacks/dp/0304366404/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329650702&sr=8-1

Another tank book is Leaky Luck covers more than Normandy but was a Churchill Regimental CO in Normandy http://www.amazon.co.uk/Leakeys-Luck-Tank-Commander-Lives/dp/0750931957/ref=pd_sim_b_32

18 Platoon by Sydney Jary covers a Platoon Commanders war very good but now very expensive and rare http://www.amazon.co.uk/18-Platoon-Sydney-Jary/dp/1901655016/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329650894&sr=1-1

Also Patrick Delaforce has done a number of good Divisional histories from D-Day onwards. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tank-Normandy-Cassell-Military-Paperbacks/dp/0304366404/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329650702&sr=8-1

One of the best books I have read is called With the Jocks but it covers from Nov 44 onwards ....http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tank-Normandy-Cassell-Military-Paperbacks/dp/0304366404/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329650702&sr=8-1

[Crinius]

Fields of Fire: The Canadians in Normandy

http://www.amazon.com/Fields-Fire-Canadians-Normandy-Lectures/dp/0802037801/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b

Great read.

[JonS]

This thread seems to be heading in divergent directions. I fully second the recomendations regarding 'Colossal Cracks' 'Military Training in the British Army', 'Raising Churchill's Army', and 'British Armour in Normandy'. All four are very good books, but none of them are really

about the Anglo-Canadian landings and further fight inland

which was the OP request. Those four books are about how the Anglo-Canadian armies fought; the way they thought about battle, the equipment they used, and why they conducted battles they way they did. They thus provide an excellent theoretical framework by which to understand the Normandy and NWE campaigns, and the battles fought there, but IIRC none of those four books contains as much as a single detailed desciption of any particular battle.

For that, I think, you'd need to read the better memoirs - many of whcih have been mentioned here - and the better operational histories like 'No Holding Back' and 'The South Albertas', also mentioned above.