Customer Reviews

The Clay Pigeons of St. Lô

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is truly an outstanding book on infantry action in WW2. The book focuses on the month long drive to take the town of StLo in the opening round of the Normandy campaign.

Specifically it focuses on a battalion of the 115th Inf, 29th Div that Major Johns takes over in June '44. The action is very fast paced, Johns is a good story teller and reveals his relationships with both his superiors and subordinates in great detail.

The book is more than just a "leadership textbook" however, the war's human toll is shown as well. The action takes place in hedgerow country, where tanks, artillery and airpower have limited effect, the adverseries are mostly from Hitler's elite Falschirmjager, so it is a tough fight the whole way. During the battles,Johns loses the bulk of his staff, and I think all his original line company commanders, wounded or KIA. This is infantry warfare before BC's hovered above the battlefield like immune gods in Hueys and staff and support were miles away. Major Johns faces all the same hardships as his men. I hope they reprint this book, mine is getting pretty dog-eared.

On another note, Colonel Glover S. Johns is highly praised by David Hackworth in his excellent work, "About Face". He was Hackworth's commander in 1961 and led the 1/18th Inf task force into Berlin (under JFK's personal orders) when the cold war was at its hottest, and was featured in an issue of Life magazine that year.

My mother, Mrs. Glover S. Johns, Jr., who recently celebrated her 84th birthday, called me today to advise that a friend had just stopped by her home in Austin, TX. with word of this site and the fine reviews of "The Clay Pigeons of St.Lo", written by my father Colonel Glover S. Johns, Jr. We would like to thank those of you who have treasured this book - a labor of love, pride, dedication and, at times, agony - as much as we have. I want to take this opportunity to salute and thank all those who served with my father and those have shown support for my mother since the Colonel's death in 1976. My father lived "The Clay Pigeons of St.Lo" and gave the book what he gave battle and his men: his very best. It is, indeed, a timeless and monumental work - monumental in its testimonials, monumental in its anonymity, and monumental in its unheralded magnitude. Lee Johns, son of Colonel G.S. Johns, Jr. - one of America's finest Fighting Sons.

This memoir is unlike any other memoir of World War II that I have ever read. Johns relates the stress, the worry, the fear, the exhaustion, the humor and the camaraderie with the ease of a seasoned storyteller. For the unseasoned reader, Johns's device of telling his story in the third person will take some getting use to, but that's done after only a few pages. More telling was Johns' own reasons for using third person, "people who fight wars up close to the enemy are not the same while they are fighting as they were before and after...His (Johns) life during that time always seemed that of another person." After that, "Clay Pigeons" is a fast read. Sadly, Bantam books never reprinted this now forgotten classic. Let's hope someone will do such a service and bring this book back. It demands a reprint.

This is the best book on infantry battalion command that has ever been written. One can feel the terror, pride, confusion, and anquish of a man who must make life and death decisions virtually every minute of every day. It complements the new movie "Saving Private Ryan" by giving the reader the "rest of the story" about what it was like to fight in the hedge rows of Normandy in 1944. A superb book.

This is the best single book on American infantry fighting in World War II that I have read. Then Major Glover Johns recounts his personal participation in one of the toughest fights our GIs faced; the struggle through the hedgerows from the D-Day beaches to St. Lo. More importantly, Johns' book demonstrates the critical importance battlefield communications played in achieving victory. As a Battalion Commander in the 29th Infantry Division, Johns' ability to manage his units was directly related to how fast phone lines could be restrung after each mortar attack or how successful his radio operators were in linking to artillery support units. Despite his relative remoteness from the foxholes, you feel every attack and suffer every loss as if you were shoulder to shoulder with the heroes who defeated Hitler's vaunted 2nd Parachute Division.

This isn't rehashed third-hand research, this is war as it was fought by one of our best combat commanders. Read it.

I greatly enjoyed reading this book. It not only held, but increased, my interest as I progressed through the story. "The Major" is a very credible author, and I had no trouble picturing what he described in my mind's eye. My understanding of how American soldiers in WW II fought the campaign in Normandy is now greatly enhanced. Good show!

If you enjoy personal narratives of combat experiences, you cannot miss with this book. It is a tale told in simple, direct, yet poignant language. There is no "big picture." It is what is all around you up to a distance of about 100 yards. It is what is stepped on & what collapses upon you. It is what whizzes by your ears & plays out indelibly before your unblinking eyes.

In a much smaller measure than the experiences of the author, this book will leave you forever changed.

A light Colonel writes this book in the third person. That makes it quite interesting. Having been there shortly after his story takes place, I find it hard to believe they were still stringing wires for communication. We were using high power 399's for division and army headquarters.
The book was good enough that I passed it on to several friends who are history buffs.

The book deals only with the time frame from when Col. Johns (then Major) inherits the 1st of the 115th until they capture St. Lo. During this time period, we get to see how hedgerow combat was (from the battalion commanders perspective), how German Fallshirmjagers fought, and the pressures higher command applies to their combat organizations. While Col. Johns was a battalion commander, this book does give a feel for front line combat, but no where near as directly as books such as Currah! or The Forgotten Soldier.

Col. Johns tells the story of how the 1st of the 115th (his unit) led the way to St Lo. In his telling, Col. Johns uses the third person familiar to describe the events his unit experienced rather than a first person account. This is very refreshing because story takes on more of a story tellers point of view rather than that of a person telling us how great they were.

This book is a very good re-telling of Col. Johns experiences in Normandy. If there's a weakness to this book, it's the fact that Col. Johns focuses his telling on the capture of St. Lo rather than his total exerience with the 1st of the 115th. Because of this, I found the book slightly lacking because I really wanted to know what happened to the unit later in the war and also to Col. Johns!

I'll recommend this book to those who've read Beyond the Beachhead, have an interest in the Normandy Campaign, or how a battalion commander operated during WWII. Overall, I'll rate this book 4.5 stars (out of a 5 possible). The reason I can't give this one 5 is because I preferred Company Commander by Charles McDonald for telling the struggles of command in combat at the lower levels. Since Amazon doesn't give half stars, I'll give the nod to 5 stars since Col. Johns' book is a compelling read.