Battle for Mortain: The 30th Infantry Division Saves the Breakout, August 7-12, 1944 [Paperback]

Alwyn Featherston (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 27, 1998

From its very first page, the American infantryman is the hero of this magnificent account of men at war.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This dramatic military history recounts the little-known WW II defense of the French town of Mortain by the 30th Division, a National Guard outfit whose troops hailed mostly from Tennessee and the Carolinas. By stopping the German counteroffensive at Mortain, the "Old Hickory" Division saved the D-Day invasion forces from being pushed back to the Normandy beaches and gave the Allied high command enough time to bring pressure against both flanks of the German thrust. Featherston, a journalist with the Durham, N.C., Herald-Sun , reviews the controversy over Gen. Omar Bradley's failure to close the gap, a measure that would have encircled large German formations in France and shortened the war. Two German armies escaped through the so-called Falaise Gap but, as the author points out, the Allies took 50,000 prisoners and counted 10,000 enemy dead. It was a great Allied victory--made possible by the heroic stand of the 30th Division at Mortain. Featherston's superb narrative illuminates the overall strategic situation while concentrating on that division's lonely struggle. His account explains why S.L.A. Marshall, the Army's official historian, picked the 30th as the finest division in the European theater. Illustrations.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

American National Guard units have often been disparaged for their combat performance during World War II. This book, by a veteran journalist for the Durham, North Carolina, Herald Sun , sets the record straight in dramatic fashion for at least one such outfit, the 30th "Old Hickory" Infantry Division. For several days, one of its regiments heroically fought off a major German counterattack designed to roll back the Normandy invasion. Like all unit histories, this one is stuffed with names, personalities, and hometowns, but the action is fast-moving and will captivate the general reader. Featherston takes the 30th from its founding through its final battles and ends up with a useful study of a typical wartime citizen-soldier outfit. For most libraries.
- Raymond L. Puffer, U.S. Air Force History Prog., Los Angeles
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Presidio Press (April 27, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0891416625
• ISBN-13: 978-0891416623
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,230,805 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rings True To Someone Who Was There..., December 21, 2005

By 

Dr.Tim (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Battle for Mortain: The 30th Infantry Division Saves the Breakout, August 7-12, 1944 (Paperback)

My father landed on Utah Beach in the second wave on June 7, 1944 (D-Day +1). His unit was attached temporarily to the 28th Division, as reinforcements. Later they rejoined their real unit, the 1st Platoon, 2d Battalion, 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division.

After having defended Hill 314 for four days, out of ammunition and food, my father and three comrades were captured by German SS forces at Mortain on August 11, 1944. He spent the next 11 months in a German POW camp.

Yes, I'm proud of his service. However, I recounted all of this to establish his authority to comment on this book.

A man of few words, he shared that accounts of the aspects of the battle of which he had first-hand knowledge were very accurate. This book enabled my father to finally understand the full scope and nature of the battle, and reinforced for him (and his wife and five children) how amazing it is that he survived the experience.

We continue to pass this book from one family member to the next. We have all found the book to be an excellent read.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Informative fast paced read, May 7, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Battle for Mortain: The 30th Infantry Division Saves the Breakout, August 7-12, 1944 (Paperback)

As a current member of the 30th Mechanized Brigade I found this book to be an extremely interesting look into the roots and history of a forgotten Division. The author provided a great deal of insight into this critical battle through the personal experiences and recollections of the actual soldiers who fought against some of the best German troops at that time. This book was very informative and details a battle that very few people had heard of, which is a shame considering what these everyday soldiers accomplished under such exteme conditions. I would highly recommend.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Two stories under one cover., June 13, 2000

By 

Mitch Reed (Washington DC, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Battle for Mortain: The 30th Infantry Division Saves the Breakout, August 7-12, 1944 (Paperback)

Great book. I personally liked to read divisional histories, and this is in my top five. The writer takes you throught he divisions pre war history, European deployemnt, and combat history. The reader gets two stoies here, one is a history of a Army National Guard unit going to war, and the other is the Battle of Moritain, a pivital conflict in the conquest of France. I read it in a weekend, you will find it hard to put down as well.