Customer Reviews

Operation Dragoon: The Allied Invasion of the South of France

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

 

 

This is a pretty good book. The author, William Breuer, does a fine job in creating a story that encompasses both the technical and the human sides of the Allied invasion of the French Riviera just after the Allied Normandy invasion of the western coast of France. Breuer also creates just enough background as to where we are in the campaign's action, and then fills in those scenarios with human figures, both American, German, and French Resistance.

The book has several phases, all of which are well done. The first is the preparation for the invasion by the Allies and all the problems that went along with it, plus the concern by the German Generals that an attack was likely. The second portion deals with the airborne troops landing in the dead of night, and the adventures that went along with such a risky undertaking. This portion is perhaps the most interesting and installs in the reader some of that Walter Middy feeling.

The author then goes on with the landing of the gliders, the beachhead bombings, attacking the beaches by assault troops, and continues on until the campaign is considered a success by the Allied forces.

Although the book is comprehensive, it is not boring reading but rather some very positive reporting. What is exceptional about the book is that the author has written it from the serviceman's level rather than from the general's level. The author therefore presents us with a lot of answers that we, as lowly privates and corporals want to know.: how G.I.'s got hurt jumping out of airplanes; what Axis Sally told the troops on the radio; how the Germans acted; how the French Resistance acted; how two soldiers walked up to a hospital in German territory and banged on the door, and then, discovering their mistake when a German opened the door, bluffed and demanded that the Germans surrender or their invisible Allied force surrounding the building would fire on them. The bluff worked!

Very enjoyable reading. Provides a thorough understanding of the southern France invasion.

William B. Breuer's "Operation Dragoon: The Allied Invasion of the South of France" is an easy to read tale of the first days of the oft maligned ANVIL/DRAGOON combined airborne-amphibious invasion of the Cote d'Azur. Breuer's writing style is certainly appealing and he picks good combat stories to highlight action. The big picture provided by Breuer of Operation Dragoon is not particularly new, having been drawn largely from a handful of previously published books. Yet, Breuer's prose and use of many personal accounts of the foxhole-level events compiled from interviews the author conducted of surviving participants provides the reader with enough to merit the books' reading. It is worth noting that Breuer takes a quite liberal (almost plagiaristic) approach to retelling certain events that have been presented elsewhere. For example, Breuer `borrows' heavily from Adelman and Walton's "Champagne Campaign", so much so that this reviewer felt as if he were re-reading portions of the latter book. Breuer does cite "Champagne Campaign" in the bibliography so the previous authors are getting credit for providing Breuer with information, yet the way material is liberally rehashed is a bit disturbing to someone in academics.

The aforemention caveats aside, "Operation Dragoon" is a solid read, containing ample information, worthy of a read by those interested in an interesting portion of the fight for Fortress Europa in 1944. 3.5 Stars.

I purchase books like this one to entertain my retired husband. While he has always enjoyed this genre, he was extremely well pleased with Operation Dragoon. He was "Sorry to have finished this book." He would highly reccommend it.

This book was wonderful! Tons of information, and in a very exciting and readable format. I had never heard of Operation Dragoon before, so this is all brand new to me. I'm really glad I found this book, and will be researching more on this operation of the war. The people that fought in this war will never get the recognition they deserve for all they did and endured. I can't recommend this book highly enough to anyone interested at all in things that went on in WW2. My thanks to the author for this gem of a book, as well as to the wonderful men who took part in this, be they living or gone.

Even though Mr Churchill didn't agree, this was an important landing for the Allies captured the important port of Marseilles and prevented General Blaskowitz from interfering with Operation Overlord as the Allies moved toward the German border.

Mr Breuer does a good job of describing the preparations of moving forces from Italy to the southern Riviera. He further describes the extensive planning of the beach landing and inland airborne drop, similar to Normandy. The author also describes the preparatory shelling, the landing, the commando raids, clearing of the mines in the water and on the beach. He explains how the paratroopers landed inland and prevented the Germans from attacking the new beachhead while it was still vulnerable and while the Allies were expanding that beachhead by capturing the town garrisons up and down coast. He also explains how the French Resistance helped and how the Allies moved off the beach, traveling up the Rhone Valley to Southern Germany to fall in line below 3rd Army.

The author provides five black and white maps and some photos of the key people and landing sites.
The landing doesn't have the scale or drama of Normandy but it was a necessary operation and Mr Breuer does a nice job explaining it.