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Objective Saint-Lô 7 June 1944 - 18 July 1944
Author: Georges Bernage
Publisher: Pen & Sword Military Books
Objective Saint-Lô is an account of the battles to establish the US Army's bridgehead in France in the month following D-Day. The book covers the period from 6 June to the 19th July 1944 and focusses on the small-unit actions that took place as the Americans forced their way inland towards the town of Saint-Lô to the south-west of Omaha Beach.
The book runs to 250 pages and is generously illustrated with many photos and maps. The book is a direct translation of a French language book of the same name. Objectif Saint-Lô, by Georges Bernage, was originally published in 2011. Heather Williams' translation has been completed to a very high standard, reading naturally and fluently, however, whilst the narrative has been translated it must be noted that the maps have not. This would be irrelevant if the maps simply showed unit and place names as these would be the same in any language, however, it is a shame that the annotations recounting encounters and setbacks remain in French as it cheapens what is otherwise a high-quality book.
The narrative primarily follows the US 29th Division as they encounter German units in the Normandy field systems. The author draws upon relatively few sources to recount the story, notably the memoirs of Lt John S. Allsupp, an American officer, who's account was originally published in 1985. Despite being published forty years after the events, the author maintains that these memoirs are reliable and appears to have “walked the ground” to verify aspects of the story. Various German memoirs and diaries are used to construct the other side of the story. The even-handed treatment of both sides is one of the strengths of the book, flipping between the opposing armies, often in the same encounter to give a general account. It would be helpful if both sides weren't interchangeably referred to “the enemy” on occasion!
Whilst the difficulties of the fighting through the Normandy Bocage are well known, this book helps to bring home the claustrophobic, exhausting and downright dangerous experience of the US Army in advancing field by field against a skilled enemy. The relative ineffectiveness of American tanks and German successes in defending against them comes through strongly. In addition to this, although not stated by the author, the relative skill of the opposing sides appears clear; most of the time, American soldiers were new to combat operations and were facing Germans hardened by war, often on the Eastern Front. The difficulties of terrain and opposition that the Americans faced were clearly underestimated as Saint-Lô was originally planned as an objective for D-Day itself. The fact that is was the 19th July when the town was taken shows how far out the planning estimate had been!
The narrative follows the key events of the month, from the 29th Division landing on Omaha beach on the 7th of June (with the beach still under shell and machine gun fire at that time), to fighting inland, crossing the River Elle, engaging in vicious fighting at Hill 108 and concluding with the battle for Saint-Lô itself. Each chapter flits between US and German views of the fighting and concludes with a few pages of pictures. The abundance of contemporary photographs of units, arms and equipment and location photos make this book a useful resource for readers who are into the fine detail. A minor criticism here is that picture credits are not tied to a key that would allow the reader to trace the sources with any accuracy.
The pictures are well chosen and cover a wide range of subjects. Contemporary location photos are often complemented by modern views of the same place that will be of value to visitors to the area. Photos of troops in the field are generally of a high standard and help to tell the story. There are many pictures of commanders and individual soldiers, including tragic German obituary cards published by families to commemorate their loved ones who fell in these battles. The civilian cost is well-represented with photos of damaged buildings and French civilians attempting to salvage what they can. The book concludes with poignant photos of a French cemetery showing graves that contain multiple civilian burials resulting from allied air bombardment.
As a simple narrative account, the book succeeds in presenting a microcosm of the conflict in Normandy. The small details that are scattered throughout, from the use of Russian artillery by the Germans through to the use of the local Calvados to fuel American Zippo lighters, bring the conflict to life, while the maps allow the reader to follow the slow progress through the hedgerows. Much of the literature of D-Day focusses on the landings themselves and the more strategic overview as the Allies tried to break out of Normandy; if you want an insight into the tortuous and dangerous business of forcing the Germans back through the countryside in the immediate aftermath of the landings then you should consider this book.
The book runs to 250 pages and is generously illustrated with many photos and maps. The book is a direct translation of a French language book of the same name. Objectif Saint-Lô, by Georges Bernage, was originally published in 2011. Heather Williams' translation has been completed to a very high standard, reading naturally and fluently, however, whilst the narrative has been translated it must be noted that the maps have not. This would be irrelevant if the maps simply showed unit and place names as these would be the same in any language, however, it is a shame that the annotations recounting encounters and setbacks remain in French as it cheapens what is otherwise a high-quality book.
The narrative primarily follows the US 29th Division as they encounter German units in the Normandy field systems. The author draws upon relatively few sources to recount the story, notably the memoirs of Lt John S. Allsupp, an American officer, who's account was originally published in 1985. Despite being published forty years after the events, the author maintains that these memoirs are reliable and appears to have “walked the ground” to verify aspects of the story. Various German memoirs and diaries are used to construct the other side of the story. The even-handed treatment of both sides is one of the strengths of the book, flipping between the opposing armies, often in the same encounter to give a general account. It would be helpful if both sides weren't interchangeably referred to “the enemy” on occasion!
Whilst the difficulties of the fighting through the Normandy Bocage are well known, this book helps to bring home the claustrophobic, exhausting and downright dangerous experience of the US Army in advancing field by field against a skilled enemy. The relative ineffectiveness of American tanks and German successes in defending against them comes through strongly. In addition to this, although not stated by the author, the relative skill of the opposing sides appears clear; most of the time, American soldiers were new to combat operations and were facing Germans hardened by war, often on the Eastern Front. The difficulties of terrain and opposition that the Americans faced were clearly underestimated as Saint-Lô was originally planned as an objective for D-Day itself. The fact that is was the 19th July when the town was taken shows how far out the planning estimate had been!
The narrative follows the key events of the month, from the 29th Division landing on Omaha beach on the 7th of June (with the beach still under shell and machine gun fire at that time), to fighting inland, crossing the River Elle, engaging in vicious fighting at Hill 108 and concluding with the battle for Saint-Lô itself. Each chapter flits between US and German views of the fighting and concludes with a few pages of pictures. The abundance of contemporary photographs of units, arms and equipment and location photos make this book a useful resource for readers who are into the fine detail. A minor criticism here is that picture credits are not tied to a key that would allow the reader to trace the sources with any accuracy.
The pictures are well chosen and cover a wide range of subjects. Contemporary location photos are often complemented by modern views of the same place that will be of value to visitors to the area. Photos of troops in the field are generally of a high standard and help to tell the story. There are many pictures of commanders and individual soldiers, including tragic German obituary cards published by families to commemorate their loved ones who fell in these battles. The civilian cost is well-represented with photos of damaged buildings and French civilians attempting to salvage what they can. The book concludes with poignant photos of a French cemetery showing graves that contain multiple civilian burials resulting from allied air bombardment.
As a simple narrative account, the book succeeds in presenting a microcosm of the conflict in Normandy. The small details that are scattered throughout, from the use of Russian artillery by the Germans through to the use of the local Calvados to fuel American Zippo lighters, bring the conflict to life, while the maps allow the reader to follow the slow progress through the hedgerows. Much of the literature of D-Day focusses on the landings themselves and the more strategic overview as the Allies tried to break out of Normandy; if you want an insight into the tortuous and dangerous business of forcing the Germans back through the countryside in the immediate aftermath of the landings then you should consider this book.
Reviewed by Chris Stevenson
Follow Chris on Twitter @WW1TheGreatWar
Follow Chris on Twitter @WW1TheGreatWar