Introduction

This book covering ‘The Americans from Normandy to the German Border August to Mid December 1944’ is part of a series of titles from Pen and Sword as part of their ‘Images at War’ series. These books cover the subject matter mostly in photographs and so offer a great visual reference for anyone interested in the subject matter regardless of the reason for that interest. For the modeller these books a huge amount of visual information that can help the modeller no end whjen looking for something a little different.

The following portion of the introduction is as supplied by the publisher:
This classic Images of War book takes up the story of the massive American contribution to the campaign in North West Europe during the autumn and early winter of 1944. Following the dramatic breakout from the Normandy bridgehead, events moved fast with the liberation of Paris quickly following and the Allies closed in on the German border.

But the apparent collapse of the Nazis was illusory. As lines of communication lengthened and German resistance stiffened, the Allied High Command was divided on the right strategy. The ill-fated Operation Market Garden brought home the reality that the war would continue into 1945. The Siegfried Line was penetrated and Aachen fell but the American First Army suffered heavy casualties in the Hurtgen Forest. As winter set in, the third Army crossed the Moselle River and into the Saar. The stage was set for the costliest battle in American history – the Bulge, to be covered in the Third and final volume of this trilogy.

With his superb collection of images and grasp of the historic significance of the actions so graphically described, Brooke Blades’ latest book will be appreciated by all with an interest in the final stages of the Second World War.

Review

This offering from Pen and Sword is part of the ‘Images at War’ series. This series of books are soft backed offerings having a good card cover with a very good spine to the book that keeps the contents in good order. This book covering ‘The Americans from Normandy to the German Border August to Mid December 1944’ has been authored by Brooke S Blades. This title from Brooke S Blades is the third title in the Images of War series covering the American contribution to World War II. The contents of this title are provided over 204 pages of good quality semi gloss paper.

The contents are presented in the following sections:
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1 – An Army in France
Map: Normandy from Avranches to Falaise Gap
Chapter 2 – Inferno in Normandy
Chapter 3 – ‘The Day the War Should Have Ended’
Chapter 4 – To the Border
Map: Normandy to the German Border
Chapter 5 – ‘When in Doubt, Lash Out’
Map: Operation ‘Market Garden’
Map: Division Landings and Dispositions
Map: Disposition of 3rd Bn. 2200 Hrs 18 Sept 1944
Chapter 6 – ‘Not one shall be forgotten’
Chapter 7 – ‘We need more ammunition if we are going to keep fighting this war,
Chapter 8 – ‘The men in town are going to take a beating’
Map: The Siegfried Line Campaign
Image Credits
Notes
References

At the end of this book there are some pages provided for the reader to make notes on images that have caught their eye or details on specifics that they wish to replicate. I highly approve of this as it provides the readers notes in a location that are easy to find in relation to the book.

This book offers a considerable amount of text which is unusual for this series and the author has provided that text in two forms. The text is a mixture of background to events and the units in various locations that will help modellers who want to get their models details just right. The text is well written and I found following the provided information an easy task and an informative one. I did not pick up any glaring errors in the text and so that should please those irritated by poorly written text. All told the text is a great addition to a title that would usually be purchased for its photographic content.

The photographs will I believe be the reason that causes the modeller to purchase this book most of all and I can promise that you will not be disappointed in what the author has chosen to supply. The period photographs are a great mix subject matter and are for the most part exceptionally clear and in focus, there are some that are a little soft and these show specific attributes the author has looked to provide. I am sure you will not be surprised that the humble GI is the main focus of the images, but the parachute units also get very well covered in all respects; this includes one trooper landing upside down. The German troops get limited coverage in this title most usually as prisoners of war and these show some interesting attributes of the troops. Something I was not expecting to see covered is the graves of the fallen, these cover both temporary and permanent graves and I was pleased to see how the populations of the countries where these men died treated and viewed these graves. The photographs are also an excellent mix of in action and at rest and this should meet the visual needs of all of us.

Conclusion

This title as part of the Images at War series is another great title in the line up due to the way the author has tackled the subject matter. The text is well written and clear which provides the reader with a good degree of information covering the background plus who and where. The photographs are a very good mix of images which are lifted greatly by very well written captions that accompany each and every one of them. The Allies never seem to get the coverage that the German forces got and this title goes a long way in helping to address that aspect.