Customer Reviews

Invasion! Theyre Coming!: The German Account of the D-Day Landings and the 80 Days Battle for France (Schiffer Military History)

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Invasion, covers the German side of the Normandy invasion from D-Day to the eventual breakout. I found the book highly readable and very informative. Paul Carell has done a great job of taking the reader into the invasion day bunkers, where terrified grenadiers man their machineguns to the last bullet to Hitler's insulated headquarters where decisions are made that ultimately doom any chance for a successful defense.

Carell shows the incredible effect allied airpower has on the battle at all times. Most devasting, was probably the allied counter-espionage campaign, that had Hitler's HQ convinced that Normandy was merely a feint, the real invasion coming at Pas de Calais.

Numerous smaller combat actions show the incredible capabilities of the German Army, even at this stage of the war. I would agree with a previous review that the maps can be a bit confusing. Overall, for anyone really interested in knowing the full story of the Normandy campaign, I think this book is a "must have", definitely one of my all time favorites.

A look at D-Day and the battle for Normandy from the German perspective. How did those manning the Atlantic Wall feel looking out upon a fleet the size the world has never seen before or since? Wave upon wave of bombers pounded them and then the unnerving of the naval shelling. Their remembrances, conversations and fear put you there amongst the din and dust with them. Enough lived through it to make the outcome doubtful.

When was Marcks convinced that this was no diversion but the real invasion? And why did his words fall on deaf ears. Where was Rommel and von Rundstedt and why? There were three German tank divisions within striking distance of the coast and yet they remained in place. One Reg. sat with engines running, within 30 kilometers of the coast. Why did they not receive the orders to advance until it was too late? There was more than Hitler's madness at play, much more. As one reviewer previously noted, some of the maps were less than excellent but Carell's work belongs on the shelf of anyone with more than a passing interest in Normandy and the breakout.

Like Paul Carell's other books, this is an engaging, informative read with a German bias. Also like his other books, this is not a comprehensive, scholarly rendition but a selection of key events he wishes to share with his audience. While this is a very good read, I gave it four stars because its not as good as the author's "Hitler Moves East".

The first chapter, the largest in the book, tells of the German anxiety and anticipation of the Allied landing but with bad weather over the next few days the German command let their guard down. The different defense philosophies of Rommel and Rundstedt is discussed and the author seems to favor Rommel's plan of having his panzer divisions closer to the coast. The discussion also covers the fact that both Rundstedt, Hitler and the German command in France were completely fooled into believing the primary landing at Calais was imminent, that the landing in Normandy was a diversion.
There were many battles covered, though on different thoroughness. The first week of the invasion the engagements in front of Utah and Omaha Beaches as well as the capture of the Merville Battery were covered fairly well. Tilly and Bayeux were done well also but Operation Goodwod, Charnwood and Epsom were lightly gone over. The battle for the Contentin and Cherbourg had the greatest coverage while te Falaise Gap the next. Operation Cobra, Mortain were lightly mentioned but Operation Totalize was gone over more thoroughly. The story ends with the remnants of 7th Army and 5th PzA crossing the Seine after escaping Falaise.

Throughout the book the author stressed three main points. First and most important was that if Hitler had allowed the 15th Army, north of the Seine, redeploy to Normandy and allowed the panzer divisions that were in Normandy to move quicker to the landing that there was an excellent chance of defeating the Allies. If the forces at Omaha and Sword Beach were pushed into the sea, it would have been an easy task to destroy the remaining isolated beaches. The second point of empahsis is that air power of the Allies with artillery support were the two biggest causes for German defeat. And lastly the total lack of Luftwaffe support, especially in supporting the panzer columns, like Panzer Lehr when they were traveling long distances to reach Caen could have made a big difference for the Germans.
Coverage of Macouf, Azeville, Cherbourg, Osteck and St Mere Eglise in the west and Merville, Hill 112 and Operation Totalize in the east were especially welcomed events to read about, even though these were some of the toughest resistance points for the Allies.

There are a number of simple but helpful maps and photos to peruse as well as a Bibliography of primary and secondary sources to study. This is a decent book and for anyone interested in the German perspective should consider it.

An excellent view of the war in France from the "German" point of view. I had to always keep in mind that we Americans were the "enemy". It shows the human aspects of all soldiers, no matter what side they are on

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which describes the Normandy invasion from the German's point of view. I think the author is disappointed that his country blew so many opportunities to repel the Allies. But I can't give it four stars however because there are several minor annoyances that drove me nuts.

First, most of the maps are poor. Some are such low quality that I had trouble determining whether they were even properly oriented. I recall being taught to mark at least one compass direction when sketching a map for someone. I'm not sure I saw even one map so labeled.

Second, the text on the maps is not translated. And while I did study German 25 years ago, I had not planned on using my dictionary to translate words not often found in today's Allgemeine Zeitshrift.

Third, the text includes a number of words that probably could have been translated but were not. Kubelwagen is listed as "jeep" in my dictionary. Is that accurate or not?

Finally, the German Army obviously had a fondness for ranks. Some translate directly but weren't, Unteroffizier = non-commissioned officer. Others are unique Generaloberst, literally general colonel. Perhaps the comparison is apples to apples but by leaving the word in German, something may be lost in my translation. To understand the relative rank of the various and sundry ranks, I spent quite a bit of time looking them up on Wikipedia. A glossary would have been nice for military terms that don't translate well. A table from top to bottom of the relative ranks with parallel columns for roughly equivalent Allied ranks would have been a great help, too. Perhaps this topic could only be covered in a book of its own; perhaps it already is.

Paul Carell is really Paul Karl Schmidt, a German, and he wrote this book on D-Day (+80 days) from the German point of view in 1960, a mere 15 years later.

The book gives us a rare look from the German side. The fact that it was originally written in German and only 15 years later gives it an immediacy and a verisimilitude that you can't get from any Allied source. You really feel like you are reading history, not history written years later by a researcher, but by someone who lived it. And this is despite the fact that he wasn't a front line soldier (he was an SS Obersturmbannführer in the Foreign Ministry) but he had access to German soldiers who were. In a way, he was the earlier incarnation of Ambrose but from the other side.

I just read Beevor's D-Day and this book provides a very interesting counterpoint to the other side. I recommend that any other reader should try this too.

For an in depth study I don't recommend this book, it really isn't deep enough, and with only 280 pages it can't be. To get a real in depth study of D-Day you need to read a number of books, but this book will give you the German point of view and for that, I highly recommend it.

Paul Carell's book "Invasion! They're Coming!", as the subtitle ('The German Account of the D-Day Landings and the 80 Days' Battle for France') suggests, presents the story of the Allied invasion from the German viewpoint rather than the one so oft presented - that of the Victors - whether presented from the American or British perspective. This English translation (by David Johnston) of the original German text provides the English-speaking world with a unique look into how it felt to be on the receiving end of the largest amphibious invasion ever staged. In June of 1994 the mighty Wehrmacht was no longer so mighty, with much of the "Atlantic Wall" of "Fortress Europa" being manned by old men, young boys and conscripts from occupied Europe. This is not to say that Hitler's defense, a la F.M. Erwin Rommel, was not impressive and daunting - in fact it was both. While the "Atlantic Wall" was far from impregnable as Nazi propaganda proported, Rommel's command had, with never quite enough resources or personnel, created a formidable barrier to the Allied invasion. Moreover, not all German troops were sub-par. There were veteran units with a cadre of experienced and battle hardened junior officers and NCOs to manage the less than ideal fighting troops. There were also veteran Waffen SS battle units in Normandy and West-Central France, both armored and not. Thus, while denuded relative to their hay-days of May 1940-July/August 1941, the German's soldiers were capable of mounting a defense that would seriously test the Allied invasion tide. Most would say that the invasion was a foregone conclusion, decided more by the material superiority of the Allied troops than their fighting ability, nothing in war is ever assured with General Chance being present.

Carell's book vividly tells the story of the invasion, from perceptions of its possibility, the long-held belief that the Normandy invasion was merely a diversionary attack, to the Allied breakout and then obvious defeat of the Western German Army. Carell (and/or the translator) writes with a flair that keeps the readers attention and paints a picture that makes one feel as if they are looking out on the thousands of vessels disgorging troops onto Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword beaches that 6th of June, or feeling the effects of the persistent Allied 'jabo' (fighter-bomber) attacks of troops in transit to the MLR, or the what it felt like to take part in the headlong retreat to escape the Falaise pocket. Seeing these events from the Victors side cannot give a reader the same sensation since writers from the Allied camp can't honestly capture the firsthand experiences of the Germans. Having said all these things it is important to note that Carell is writing from the standpoint of the defeated, and in doing so inevitably presents the story in the brightest light possible form the German perspective. Thus, the reader should take certain accounts with a grain of salt - while the conclusions are unarguable, the path to those conclusions can be different between victor and vanquished accounts. In fairness one should be aware that the victors are not immune to the "best spin" approach to storytelling! This caveat aside, Invasion! They're Coming! is a solid read worth reading, and should be of interest to serious and casual students of WWII equally, if for different reasons. All in all 4 stars.

This book gives credit to who it is due- the brave German soldiers, especailly the fanatical young boys from the Hitlerjugend Division, in attempting to, futilely, repel the invasion in 1944.

A gold standard on the German view of the invasion.And deeply moving too.

I liked this book. I've read many books on WW2. Few have given some of the insights that I have found here. For example, the importance of allied airpower is well known, but in no other book has its power against the enemy been as well documented. I also particulary liked the insights given into the German high command's actions in the battles covered. But there are problems with the book, too. The allied difficulties in the Normandy hedgerows are not specifically delt with. Also, the maps are poor. Finally, this is an expensive book. Is it worth the money? I would wait for the paperback.