Customer Reviews

The Bloody Battle for Tilly

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While the Americans were engaging in a War of movement to envelop the bulk of the German forces in Normandy at Falaise the Canadians and the British were tasked with engaging the main German strength in Normandy. To keep the majority, and the best, fighting units of the German army from turning to block the American advance. Montgomery therefore had to push hard enough to keep German strategic minds on the area south of Caen. In the battle that followed hardened Panzer Grenadier, and SS Divisions lead by the most seasoned, battle-trained officers in the history of warfare fought against fresh-faced Canadian volunteer regiments getting their first taste of battle. In some units the casualties approached those their father's regiments had suffered in World War I.

Although the allies had superlative artillery support and control of the air, they faced an amazing disparity in other equipment: German arms were simply better and fired more quickly, more accurately and with a hitting power that could not be equalled in the immediate Normandy arsenal of the allies. The Tiger tank and the 88mm anti-aircraft-cum-anti-tank gun riegned supreme. In commanding positions, direct assaults on German postions around Tilly-la-Campagne garnered a frightfull harvest of death. Whole regiments were wiped out and Tout describes it with the eye of a survivor (Tout served in the Royal Armoured Corps during the Normandy battles).

He gives a good account of the Canadian action and recounts the battle honours of some of the oldest Canadian Highland and French-Canadian Regiments. He describes the relentless charge into Hell across Norman wheatfields of the Canadian Black Watch Regiment and its sudsequent annihilation. The unsuccessful and confusing night attack on Tilly by the North Nova Scotia Highlanders and the deadly game of cat and mouse played in abandoned iron mines between French Canadian Regiments and the 12 SS Hitler Youth.

But the task was achieved and the bulk of the enemy forces never faced the Americans and were therefore unable to save themselves from eventual envelopment, it was a success in inter-allied cooperation between Anglo-Canadian and American forces.

As with most military history books, there never seems to be enough maps. Tout uses aerial photos taken during the battle and these are helpful but difficult to read. His writing style is easy and he really gives you a feel of what it was like to be on the cutting edge of the offensive facing an enemy better trained and armed.

It is also a little short on detail as to where and what the Americans were doing during this time. This is important because timing for all of the crucial operations in Tilly revolved around American movements. This would allow us to get a better feeling of the pressure on the Brits and Canadians to keep pushing, even at times when it was clear that frontal attacks against the well fortified villages, farm houses, orchards and hedges around Tilly were bound to have only a slight chance of success.

If you like military history narratives, this is a very good one.

I have read a lot of books about the Battle of Normandy over the last couple of years. This book is one the finest in my collection. It is a fantastic combination of historic facts and eyewitness accounts. As a person like me, who was born after the war, you will never fully understand what these people must have felt marching into battle. After reading the book your imagination comes a little bit closer to that feeling. If you are interested in the Battle of Normandy this book is a must!

This book should be a top choice of most readers who are interested in the Normandy Campaign. The book vividly describes the "hell" of this little know battle. The first person accounts, while common in the book, really describe the problems and bravery of the Canadians during this crucial period. The author also ties in the larger picture as well as writes about the weapons used. This book is a great follow on to Blanford's "Both Sides of the Beach", as well as "Steel Inferno" by Michael Reynolds. One of the better first person accounts around.

While the Americans were engaging in a War of movement to envelop the bulk of the German forces in Normandy at Falaise the Canadians and the British were tasked with engaging the main German strength in Normandy. To keep the majority, and the best, fighting units of the German army from turning to block the American advance. Montgomery therefore had to push hard enough to keep German strategic minds on the area south of Caen. In the battle that followed hardened Panzer Grenadier, and SS Divisions lead by the most seasoned, battle-trained officers in the history of warfare fought against fresh-faced Canadian volunteer regiments getting their first taste of battle. In some units the casualties approached those their father's regiments had suffered in World War I.

Although the allies had superlative artillery support and control of the air, they faced an amazing disparity in other equipment: German arms were simply better and fired more quickly, more accurately and with a hitting power that could not be equalled in the immediate Normandy arsenal of the allies. The Tiger tank and the 88mm anti-aircraft-[gun]-anti-tank gun riegned supreme. In commanding positions, direct assaults on German postions around Tilly-la-Campagne garnered a frightfull harvest of death. Whole regiments were wiped out and Tout describes it with the eye of a survivor (Tout served in the Royal Armoured Corps during the Normandy battles).

He gives a good account of the Canadian action and recounts the battle honours of some of the oldest Canadian Highland and French-Canadian Regiments. He describes the relentless charge into Hell across Norman wheatfields of the Canadian Black Watch Regiment and its sudsequent annihilation. The unsuccessful and confusing night attack on Tilly by the North Nova Scotia Highlanders and the deadly game of cat and mouse played in abandoned iron mines between French Canadian Regiments and the 12 SS Hitler Youth.

As a previous reviewer points out this fighting was messy and confused. It was messy and like some WWI battles it just degenerated into a series of local actions until the Anglo-Canadian forces cracked the line. There were no massive flanking maneuovres; this was the anvil battle with the American hammer squeezing the forces. Equally important, and necessarily different.

But the task was achieved and the bulk of the enemy forces especially armour, never faced the Americans and were therefore unable to save themselves from eventual envelopment, it was a success in inter-allied cooperation between Anglo-Canadian and American forces.

As with most military history books, there never seems to be enough maps. Tout uses aerial photos taken during the battle and these are helpful but difficult to read. His writing style is easy and he really gives you a feel of what it was like to be on the cutting edge of the offensive facing an enemy better trained and armed.

It is also a little short on detail as to where and what the Americans were doing during this time. This is important because timing for all of the crucial operations in Tilly revolved around American movements. This would allow us to get a better feeling of the pressure on the Brits and Canadians to keep pushing, even at times when it was clear that frontal attacks against the well fortified villages, farm houses, orchards and hedges around Tilly were bound to have only a slight chance of success.

If you like military history narratives, this is a very good one.

With regret, I must conclude that this book misses the mark ... and by a considerable distance. I have a major interest in Canadian military history and was looking for a book that would tell the whole story of the unique Canadian divisions' breakout from Normandy. What I got was a long string of extracts from offical records combined with personal accounts ... lots of trees and no forest.

There is only one map in my text, located right after the table of contents. It is amateurish and confusing. This story begs for maps that picture the many detailed accounts of the Canadian actions, but there are none. Thus, this book repeats a common weakness of military accounts -- describing movement over complicated terrain in words only.

On the other hand, the photographs are interesting and valuable.

I do not challenge the other reviewers' reviews, but we clearly were not reading the same book. Had the accounts in the book been placed in the context of other Normandy actions, had the broader operational and strategic picture been painted, had the individual unit actions been organized and grouped to illustrate the major thrusts of the action, I might have enjoyed the book more. To be fair, the overall Canadian action involved straightforward slugging through an endless sucession of German defenses and that is a difficult story to tell. Unfortunately, the author apporached the story by slugging through an endless sucession of sometimes indistinguishable actions and he did not do it well.

I'm sorry to submit this review, but I think that there are other and better ways and books than this one to understand the Canandian contribution to the Normandy breakout.

While the Americans were engaging in a War of movement to envelop the bulk of the German forces in Normandy at Falaise the Canadians and the British were tasked with engaging the main German strength in Normandy. To keep the majority, and the best, fighting units of the German army from turning to block the American advance. Montgomery therefore had to push hard enough to keep German strategic minds on the area south of Caen. In the battle that followed hardened Panzer Grenadier, and SS Divisions lead by the most seasoned, battle-trained officers in the history of warfare fought against fresh-faced Canadian volunteer regiments getting their first taste of battle. In some units the casualties approached those their father's regiments had suffered in World War I.

Although the allies had superlative artillery support and control of the air, they faced an amazing disparity in other equipment: German arms were simply better and fired more quickly, more accurately and with a hitting power that could not be equalled in the immediate Normandy arsenal of the allies. The Tiger tank and the 88mm anti-aircraft-cum-anti-tank gun riegned supreme. In commanding positions, direct assaults on German postions around Tilly-la-Campagne garnered a frightfull harvest of death. Whole regiments were wiped out and Tout describes it with the eye of a survivor (Tout served in the Royal Armoured Corps during the Normandy battles).

He gives a good account of the Canadian action and recounts the battle honours of some of the oldest Canadian Highland and French-Canadian Regiments. He describes the relentless charge into Hell across Norman wheatfields of the Canadian Black Watch Regiment and its sudsequent annihilation. The unsuccessful and confusing night attack on Tilly by the North Nova Scotia Highlanders and the deadly game of cat and mouse played in abandoned iron mines between French Canadian Regiments and the 12 SS Hitler Youth.

As a previous reviewer points out this fighting was messy and confused. It was messy and like some WWI battles it just degenerated into a series of local actions until the Anglo-Canadian forces cracked the line. There were no massive flanking maneuovres; this was the anvil battle with the American hammer squeezing the forces. Equally important, and necessarily different.

But the task was achieved and the bulk of the enemy forces especially armour, never faced the Americans and were therefore unable to save themselves from eventual envelopment, it was a success in inter-allied cooperation between Anglo-Canadian and American forces.

As with most military history books, there never seems to be enough maps. Tout uses aerial photos taken during the battle and these are helpful but difficult to read. His writing style is easy and he really gives you a feel of what it was like to be on the cutting edge of the offensive facing an enemy better trained and armed.

It is also a little short on detail as to where and what the Americans were doing during this time. This is important because timing for all of the crucial operations in Tilly revolved around American movements. This would allow us to get a better feeling of the pressure on the Brits and Canadians to keep pushing, even at times when it was clear that frontal attacks against the well fortified villages, farm houses, orchards and hedges around Tilly were bound to have only a slight chance of success.

If you like military history narratives, this is a very good one.

Mr. Tout was a participant in the battle he writes about. He has done a great job in gathering every shred of writing about the battle, weapons, tactics, units, etc. This book would be an excellent read for any Canadian who was involved in the battle. Indeed, it appears that Mr. Tout's purpose was to fill in the previously undocumented history of Canadian forces in this battle.

All that said, Mr. Tout seems to be a much better tanker than a writer. As much as he tries he fails to bring the battle to life. It is tough going to read it all the way through. As a previous reviewer has said it is all trees and no forest. With few exceptions it is a rather dry recitation of what company did what when.

The book does rate 3 stars because there are delicious tidbits you can pick up here that you can't find anywhere else:

"...In a survey of 65 hits only 3 out of 53 hits by German 75 mm shot failed to penetrate the Sherman armour and all 12 out of the 88 mm shot penetrated.'

In short, Mr. Tout has done a tremendous job of gathering material. The presentation leaves something to be desired.