A great image catalog from the wartime archives depicting the Nazi’s struggle against the vastly superior Allied paratroopers, tanks, armor formations, and men at the Western Front.
The images captured here are from the beaches at Normandy, Northern France, Belgium, the low countries as well as Germany. The chapters in this book provides images from the Germans defending Northern France, battles in Holland and Belgium, Defending the Rhine, last battles in the west, and the actual order of battles from these conflicts as well.
These German forces under the Command of Rommel were asked to defend against the beach landing of the allied forces in 1944. They built beach obstacles, tank obstacles and heavy gun fortifications in a valiant attempt to stop and push back the Normandy landings. The German forces defending in the area were General Dollman’s 7th Army near Normandy, General von Salmuth near Calais, as well as General Schweppenburg’s Panzer Group West. By late May there were an estimated 600,000 beach obstacles laid in both areas (Normandy and Calais) with thousands of troops moved to coastal areas and focused on repelling the invasion. This area was labeled the “killing zone” by the Germans. Despite the vast buildup of forces the Germans were exhausted, worn out, and understrength from years of battle. These men were now expected to defend Northern France from the largest amphibious invasion in history. History was not on their side.
Hitler’s Defeat on the Western Front 1944-1945 is a superb collection of images to be treasured by historians and authors as well. A great addition to any war library this collection details the horrors of war as seen through the lens of the combat photographer during World War II, specifically 1944 thru 1945 at the Western Front.
This book is available on Amazon.com (US), Amazon.co.uk (UK) and Pen and Sword Publishing.
