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by Frank Baldwin.
Softcover (7.25×9.75 inches). 80 pages. 2025.
Subtitle: Saint-Lo 1944
This Combat series volume provides a good overview of the battle between German Fallschirmjager (FJ) paratroopers and US troops in the bocage of Normandy (France) in 1944.
The introduction provides a quick summary of the situation after D-Day along with the troops’ uniforms, weaponry, tactics, leadership, and morale. That’s followed by the usual three battles: Hill 192 (June 12-July 12, 1944) with the US 2nd Infantry Division, Clearing the Way to St. Lo (June 12-July 18, 1944) with the US 29th Infantry Division, and Mont Castre Forest and Seves River’s White Witches Island (July 3-July 23, 1944) with the US 90th Infantry Division.
Within you’ll understand how FJ defended each field among the hedgerows and how the US devised “new” tactics of combining a modified Sherman tank, an engineering section, and a infantry squad to clear a field. It was difficult and it was costly in terms of casualties, but it proved effective at wearing down the Germans.
In one attack, the US 115th Regiment held a 5,475 yard front with three battalions in a line while the neighboring 116th Regt pushed the attack on a 1,315 yard front with one battalion up and two back (p51).
Due to the bocage, platoon-sized FJ counterattacks could infiltrate US lines and launch counterattacks on the flanks of US units, stall a drive, and then fade away. During the Mont Castre Forest and Seves River battle, such attacks pinched off a US salient and forced the surrender of 234 US troops, including two battalion commanders and nine other officers (p68).
The booklet contains 50 black and white photos, four color photos, five color maps, three color two-page action illustrations, and four uniform illustrations (front and back of FJ and US soldiers).
It’s another good volume in the Combat series.
Enjoyed it.
— Reviewed by Russ Lockwood
