A book club - with a difference.

im on the last 40 pages on my overlord book by max Hastings, I knew about d day, but the book has let me learn about the details that mostly get missed, it was a inevitable victory for the allies on the macro level, but the germans put up a great resistance.

the British really didnt do all that much in the grand scheme of things, we held down the most difficult German devisions, but we really struggled with achieving the objectives we set out before the invasion, but I also belive Montgomery knew this and didnt want to make any aggressive pushes for territory in the first place, he was a officer in the firts world war and saw the damage that battles had on the male population and wanted to mitigate the losses to British soldiers by letting the Americans and their growing strength do the hard yards.

I did find it boring and ive struggled to finish the book in the end, its the second book of his ive finished but I dont think ill be putting myself through that again, its interesting but boring, the is lots of detail but with my adhd its just hard to sit through this type of book.

I read this book some years ago. My dad went over on D+4 and was involved in the British battles around Caen. He was lorry driver and Im very proud of him. He passed in 1987. If you liked Max Hastings’ prose check out his Das Reich. Its about the journey of this Nazi armoured division from the south of France to Normandy, significantly though it covers the atrocities they committed on the way, so its not a nice read. 

did he ever tell you any of his stories of the war, one thing I find the most interesting is the real experiences of the people actually there and their emotions.

it was said its the greatest feat of military logistics ever seen by man, and looking at the statistics it truly is impressive.

thank you for the suggestion I do like the real peoples stories that sounds very informative and dark, I finished one of his other books on bomber command he is a good author, I think im gonna go in retirement for his books now as I find them to long for my attention span, I started it in august and its taken 6 months to finish it lol.

Yes he did, a few were funny but most were dreadful and each told to me only once. He was with his division from Normandy right across to the end in southern Denmark, having latterly doubled back from further east. I cannot repeat here the horror of his experiences and what he witnessed other than to say it included many of his pals being killed, German atrocities on individuals, and finally on entire communities, notably the Jews but many other groups too, as he was part of the unit which liberated the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. There are horrific photos online, one with him potentially in a group of British soldiers, if you know where to look (Im not going to say where).

He suffered ptsd as a consequence but this was never considered in the years after the war. It affected our relationship and damaged me in turn.  I have however been able to understand what he went through and so reconcile my memories of childhood to his experiences. 

He wouldn’t have agreed with your comments about General Montgomery, nor Max Hastings’ interpretation from the comfort of the peace these brave men won for us. The fighting around Caen was ferocious and deadly, as much for the French as everyone else involved. The medieval city was reduced to rubble, Hill 112 was hell on earth. Then Falaise another killing zone. And as for the east it defies belief. 

Let us never forget 

AnA

Yes he did, a few were funny but most were dreadful and each told to me only once. He was with his division from Normandy right across to the end in southern Denmark, having latterly doubled back from further east. I cannot repeat here the horror of his experiences and what he witnessed other than to say it included many of his pals being killed, German atrocities on individuals, and finally on entire communities, notably the Jews but many other groups too, as he was part of the unit which liberated the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. There are horrific photos online, one with him potentially in a group of British soldiers, if you know where to look (Im not going to say where).

He suffered ptsd as a consequence but this was never considered in the years after the war. It affected our relationship and damaged me in turn.  I have however been able to understand what he went through and so reconcile my memories of childhood to his experiences. 

He wouldn’t have agreed with your comments about General Montgomery, nor Max Hastings’ interpretation from the comfort of the peace these brave men won for us. The fighting around Caen was ferocious and deadly, as much for the French as everyone else involved. The medieval city was reduced to rubble, Hill 112 was hell on earth. Then Falaise another killing zone. And as for the east it defies belief. 

Let us never forget 

AnA