Hi everyone.

I've just read the recently released books "D-Day through German eyes" part 1 and 2 by Holger Eckherz and was wondering if anybody else has read the same books and what your thoughts on its authenticity are.


There are certainly some very interesting insights into the Normandy campaign including a lot of tank and AFV related aspects yet in researching some of what I read I seem to not be able to link the stories to actual places.

A case in point is a certain " La Dune St Pierre" on Utah beach which I cannot find on any map,even contemporary maps and very small scale local maps of the Manche Département.

I'm hoping some other users had read the book too and could give your input?

Perhaps the author is referring to Saint-Pierre-du-Mont?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Pierre-du-Mont,_Calvados

Hello there,

The books are, erm, interesting.
There's the StuG crewman who served in a unit that didn't actually have StuGs, for example, and a whole load of fantastical 'Sven Hassel' type stuff.
They were recommended to me by a friend, and I had high hopes. Hopes which were dashed, I'm afraid to say.

I'm not saying that they're definitely 100% fiction, but I would say whatever the base story was, it's been enhanced...

What did you think of them?

Cheers

Sean

A lot of the first person Russian Soldier stories from WWII have read more like a soviet propaganda script for a forth coming movie. The same applies for some of the Japanese first person accounts I have read. There are not as many that come across with an honest feeling of what happened and it maybe that the propaganda they were subjected to helped shape their memories or like your favorite uncle, that left out the bad parts of his war stories for your and his benefit. Few want to write that I used my flame thrower on a village and go on to describe all the gruesome details that happened to the villagers. More like "we moved through a village and encountered some resistance before moving on".

There is a interesting book with the German point of view on several branches of service called " Servants of Evil"
I would recommend it.

Hi all,

Thanks for the replies.

MikeyBugs95, in the book Eckherz says that "La Dune St Pierre" is situated directly on the shore, at the northern edge of Utah beach. Saint Pierre du Mont doesn't fit that description and I can't find any place even colloquially referred to by that name.

Interestingly, the soldier who was stationed in a Tobruk at this location on the beach later recounts having fled about 2km inland to a much larger bunker complex which is described as being armed with "PAK guns" (not naval guns or heavy artillery, which rules out the only locations I know in the area which can be described as significant bunker complexes, namely the batteries at St Marcouf and Azeville.)

Sean, I did not pick up on the Stug crewman inaccuracy but that is very interesting that you mention this. The author/interviewee goes to the trouble of describing the 'Saukopf' mantlet which I thought was an unusual amount of detail for an interview scenario.

While i really enjoyed reading the books, I do suspect that there is a degree of embellishment. Having said that,each one of those stories would make an excellent film along the lines of Saving Private Ryan ( ie based entirely in a factual scenario but fictitious characters and minutiae).