Normandy 1944: German Military Organization, Combat Power and Organizational Effectiveness (Hardcover)

He has also revealed new aspects of the Normandy campaign which up to now, have not, I believe, been given sufficient attention.

Most obvious is the unprepared ness of many, supposedly, elite formations to meet an allied invasion.

The author shows conclusively that all the SS panzer divisions committed to the Normandy battle lacked both sufficient fire power and more importantly, sufficient motorized transport to be deployed effectively against their opponents.

The same appears to be true for the ground force parachute divisions and army panzer divisions as well.

Another interesting aspect of the Normandy campaign, which the author has brought to light, is the reason for the delay imposed on many of the elite German formations in reaching the Normandy battlefield, quickly.

Up to now, the most common explanations have been 1) the mistaken belief held by the German High command that the landings in Normandy were a prelude to the main invasion in the Pas de Calais (hence their reluctance to commit the panzer divisions en masse to the Normandy battle) and 2) the constant interdiction which the allied air force subjected all German forces to that were attempting to reach the Normandy battlefield.

However, the author demonstrates, that quite simply, a lack fuel, was another major reason for the delay imposed on many German armoured formations attempting to reach Normandy.

Finally, the author reveals that although, many German divisions suffered serve casualties during the Normandy campaign they were not completely destroyed as has been previously supposed.

The losses sustained were borne by the front-line fighting formations while the rear-area supply and administrative units were left largely intact.

Overall, this is an excellent piece of historical analysis which sheds new light on the reasons for the defeat of the Wehrmacht in Normandy.

Zetterling's work is must for any serious student of World War 2.

It's a good sturdy hardback, well-bound and the pages are good quality - the content is well printed throughout. Some black and white photographs appear in the book, mainly as starting pages to the Chapters, and some graphs and tables are in the Appendices. This is an excellent reference book as the author lays out his case, so text takes priority. If I had any criticism at all, it's that there is no convenient map to refer too, when he comments on where certain units moved to throughout the campaign, but any devotee of this campaign with a good familiarity of the towns and villages in the region isn't likely to worry about that.

A core section of the book - and my favourite part - details each Abteilung and Division in the operational area, along with some of their supporting units. There is a reasonable amount of text on the unit's histories with information on what the unit was doing up to, during and after D-Day, the order-of-battle is noted using TO&E charts, and the personnel strengths, war material and equipment used are referenced as well. One area I found remarkable was the level of detail that shows how much captured artillery equipment the Axis forces had to rely on.

Further information on the transportation of the Divisional units around the region, and the losses the German units experienced in the weeks after D-Day also adds more to the reader's understanding on how the Normandy campaign progressed. At the back of the book are several interesting Appendices covering more specific areas, for example, the causes responsible for vehicle losses, and the numbers and types of tank supplied to the frontline.

The information is drawn from a wide variety of sources, including some of the staff officers' own papers and memoirs, and the author has done an excellent job in presenting it all to the reader in an accurate and balanced manner.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book as an addition to anyone's library who really wants to know more about the formations, men and material that opposed the British, Canadian and US forces. It provides the correct balance to a student of our modern European history.