CrossChannel Attack eBook Gordon A Harrison
Download As PDF : CrossChannel Attack eBook Gordon A Harrison 
This first European Theater of Operations tactical volume covers the prelude to the 6 June 1944 assault and combat operations of the First U.S. Army in Normandy to 1 July 1944.
CrossChannel Attack eBook Gordon A Harrison
Gordon Harrison's book on the invasion of Normandy is the most comprehensive book I have read on the subject. The scope of the book includes the actions of the Americans and their German counterparts in Utah and Omaha beach sectors. I would highly recommend Omaha Beach: D-Day June 6, 1944 and Utah Beach: The Amphibious Landing and Airbourne Operations on D-Day by Joseph Balkoski if you would like more details on the beach landings. After setting the scene with the planning and preparatory activities, the British activities from Juno-Gold-Sword Beaches and lodgment area are neglected for the most part. The author addresses this at the beginning by saying this is the historical record of American activities in World War II. I would recommend Overlord: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy by Max Hastings if you would like coverage of the non-american allies involvement in Normandy to. Harrison did have access to the British military archives and he uses them to good effect as they have direct interaction with American movements.This book starts by explaining how the Allied plans to assault the French coast were developed. Plans for making a cross-Channel attack had started even before the United States had entered the war; however, the British considered any such plan infeasible except where the Germans withdraw from France on their own accord or the German determination to fight would completely collapse. The book follows the strategic discussions where the United States pushed for a cross-Channel attack as the primary strategy to defeating Germany with the British pretending to entertain the idea to encourage a US buildup of troops in Great Britain as a defensive force rather than offensive. It continues by following the planning of the North Africa and later Sicily and Italy operations which the US reluctantly agreed to despite US strategist believing the actions would only prolong the war. I had not realized that Allied strategy had been so divided and found this quite interesting. In fact without the insistence of the Russians that the cross-Channel attack should be the primary action and Mediterranean operations were only diversions, the cross-Channel attack may not have happened until the Germans voluntarily withdrew from France.
The book includes the Digest of Operation Overlord, a kind of abstract written by the planners of Operation Overlord summarizing the proposed assault including the selection of landing point, its objectives, and conditions for victory. From this you will have a more comprehensive understanding of why the Normandy beaches were selected and what the planners were truly concerned about when they were drawing up their plans. There is more here than is normally summarized in other books.
Harrison also consults many German sources that became available after the war including captured correspondence between the different headquarters and statements by captured German officers. He outlines how the defense of the west was organized and how it was impacted by the requirement of resources to defend the other sectors especially against the Russians. He describes the formation of command under Rommel and describes the competing ideas on strategy of defense of the west. What results is a command structure where no one agrees on strategy and paralyzation at inopportune moments.
Harrison discusses preparatory measures by bomber command in the months prior to the invasion to assist the cross-Channel assault. He explains the controversy over what should be targeted and the results on the Luftwaffe and French rail system. He also discusses the organization and operations of the French resistance. All the other D-Day histories I have read have neglected these topics altogether.
After setting the scene, Harrison then tells the story of D-day and Operation Overlord. The scope of the book covers actions in the V Corps area through June 18th (where the Americans settle into the defensive) and actions in the VII Corps area through July 1st (capture of Cherbourg). In this he covers the linking up between V and VII corps (including the fighting around Carentan), the slow drive towards St. Lo, the link up of V Corps with the British, the fighting around the Caumont Gap, and fight to capture Cherbourg. I think the level of detail provided is adequate on the American landings and actions. The German activities and movements are described well and Harrison even points out where the German's command structure broke down and did not know the status of separated units. The interesting thing between reading this book and German reports (see Fighting in Normandy: The German Army from D-day to Villers-Bocage with excerpts from German commander interviews which Harrison frequently references) is the Germans view that the Allies attacks were missing opportunities. Of course the one attack where the Allies did try to out flank the Germans and exploit a weak spot resulted in a major reverse at Villers Bocage. The same happened in reverse in the Cotentin Peninsula where the Germans were unable to handle the airborne forces despite their numerical superiority on D-Day. It is easy after it is all over to question the actions of others when the complete picture is known. This book goes a long way into explaining how and why the Battle for Normandy unfolded as it did.
I highly recommend the Whitman Publishing version of this book. I previously had the Barnes and Noble publishing of the book and it was missing many of the referenced maps. The Whitman version has nice full color maps.
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CrossChannel Attack eBook Gordon A Harrison Reviews
Great value, Comprehensive and thorough. But the logistics are a bit boring!
The text is that of an early work on the subject originally published in 1950 and has the advantage of fresh memory and the authority of the US Army Historical Section.
The kindle edition is very badly printed and edited as to be practically useless.I gave it three stars out of respect for the source. As a book it is not worth buying it in its present form and should withdraw it.
DVK
Good book
Great book. Fast delivery.
Text is OK but there are 20 maps referenced by roman numerals and 6 referenced by Arabic numbers. The 6 are in the text but reduced to page size making them difficult to understand labels. The 20 are nowhere to be found. Makes understanding the battle movements impossible. Had to read with computer running map program and current maps not always the same. Plus no annotations on current maps. Without the maps book is kinda useless and boring.
The book begins with the growth of the Anglo-American alliance that began in 1940 as a simple liaison relationship, a conduit for communication that would develop into a full fledge alliance in December 1941 when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and Hitler declared war on the US.
Using primary records, the author reconstructs the key discussions, meetings and conferences that will lead up to the Normandy landings. The true relationship of the allies is shown, showing where they agreed on planning and strategy but also how the two countries differed on objectives. The relationship was quite contentious throughout the entire period. There was friction not only with the politicos but also with the military commanders. He takes you step by step through the many stumbling blocks and variations of Operation Overlord and the people influencing the operation. This pre invasion history of the Allies is quite extensive, taking up half the book.
In Chapter four, the discussion moves to the German Army, explaining that by late 1943, its ranks were thinning out due to casualties and by forming the second front in the west. It goes on to describe in detail the defensive measures taken to repulse the expected landings. The author also provides good coverage of German history in France from mid 1940 when France surrendered to Operation Sea Lion right up to June 1944.
The defensive measures put in place in 1944 was specially interesting and includes fortifications, mine fields, beach obstacles to division deployments. Rommel was hoping for several more months to complete his preparation. By June he had accomplished a lot but there was more to do. The impact the Eastern Front had on the West is also discussed. You'll read about the divisons transferred to the Eastern Front or Italy, diluting the strength in France, Denmark. The panzer divisions get special attention from the author as well but the dwindling Luftwaffe receives adequate but less attention.
The rest of the book covers the tactical aspects of reaching the beach, fighting to get ashore and forming a beachhead on Omaha and Utah. The fighting coverage continues through the month of June culminating in the capture of Cherbourg.
The author will describe, as the Navy guns continue their barrage, the ordeal of the 1st ID, 29th ID and 4th ID in securing their respective beaches against horrific crossfire. He'll describe the difficulties the 2nd Ranger Battalion had at Pointe du Hoc while the 82nd and 101st Airborne try to secure their drop zones. He'll explain the bravery of Cota and Roosevelt as they direct their men off the beach. The battle coverage is very good though not elaborate; anecdotal experiences are not represented. Discussions of V Corps and VII Corps continue to be covered as they fight their way off the beach. He'll continue to explain the daily events for the month as they slowly push the Germans back.
Another book in the series, "Breakout and Pursuit", will take up after Cherbourg and include Operation Cobra to the Falaise Pocket etc.
In addition to the narrative, there are six maps showing some of the key engagements. The black and white maps were good but I was hoping for more of them. There are many great photos; these are some of the best you'll find of Normandy and includes key commanders, aerial photos of hedgerow country, soldiers and battle scenes.
There is an extensive Appendix that includes the Overlord Plans, important documents, table of equivalent ranks, divisional comparison, German deployments, recipients of the DSC, a Glossary of key names and Code Words. In addition to the extensive Appendix, Footnotes, a Bibliography and Index are provided.
This is an excellent standalone book and would also complement the fine books by Joseph Balkoski, enhancing the overall experience of the D-Day invasion and the early weeks in Normandy.
This is one of a large series of books published by the US Army. I have a few of these books and all have been excellent and would recommend them all to WWII enthusiasts.
Text book government history book cited by all the best authors.
Gordon Harrison's book on the invasion of Normandy is the most comprehensive book I have read on the subject. The scope of the book includes the actions of the Americans and their German counterparts in Utah and Omaha beach sectors. I would highly recommend Omaha Beach D-Day June 6, 1944 and Utah Beach The Amphibious Landing and Airbourne Operations on D-Day by Joseph Balkoski if you would like more details on the beach landings. After setting the scene with the planning and preparatory activities, the British activities from Juno-Gold-Sword Beaches and lodgment area are neglected for the most part. The author addresses this at the beginning by saying this is the historical record of American activities in World War II. I would recommend Overlord D-Day and the Battle for Normandy by Max Hastings if you would like coverage of the non-american allies involvement in Normandy to. Harrison did have access to the British military archives and he uses them to good effect as they have direct interaction with American movements.
This book starts by explaining how the Allied plans to assault the French coast were developed. Plans for making a cross-Channel attack had started even before the United States had entered the war; however, the British considered any such plan infeasible except where the Germans withdraw from France on their own accord or the German determination to fight would completely collapse. The book follows the strategic discussions where the United States pushed for a cross-Channel attack as the primary strategy to defeating Germany with the British pretending to entertain the idea to encourage a US buildup of troops in Great Britain as a defensive force rather than offensive. It continues by following the planning of the North Africa and later Sicily and Italy operations which the US reluctantly agreed to despite US strategist believing the actions would only prolong the war. I had not realized that Allied strategy had been so divided and found this quite interesting. In fact without the insistence of the Russians that the cross-Channel attack should be the primary action and Mediterranean operations were only diversions, the cross-Channel attack may not have happened until the Germans voluntarily withdrew from France.
The book includes the Digest of Operation Overlord, a kind of abstract written by the planners of Operation Overlord summarizing the proposed assault including the selection of landing point, its objectives, and conditions for victory. From this you will have a more comprehensive understanding of why the Normandy beaches were selected and what the planners were truly concerned about when they were drawing up their plans. There is more here than is normally summarized in other books.
Harrison also consults many German sources that became available after the war including captured correspondence between the different headquarters and statements by captured German officers. He outlines how the defense of the west was organized and how it was impacted by the requirement of resources to defend the other sectors especially against the Russians. He describes the formation of command under Rommel and describes the competing ideas on strategy of defense of the west. What results is a command structure where no one agrees on strategy and paralyzation at inopportune moments.
Harrison discusses preparatory measures by bomber command in the months prior to the invasion to assist the cross-Channel assault. He explains the controversy over what should be targeted and the results on the Luftwaffe and French rail system. He also discusses the organization and operations of the French resistance. All the other D-Day histories I have read have neglected these topics altogether.
After setting the scene, Harrison then tells the story of D-day and Operation Overlord. The scope of the book covers actions in the V Corps area through June 18th (where the Americans settle into the defensive) and actions in the VII Corps area through July 1st (capture of Cherbourg). In this he covers the linking up between V and VII corps (including the fighting around Carentan), the slow drive towards St. Lo, the link up of V Corps with the British, the fighting around the Caumont Gap, and fight to capture Cherbourg. I think the level of detail provided is adequate on the American landings and actions. The German activities and movements are described well and Harrison even points out where the German's command structure broke down and did not know the status of separated units. The interesting thing between reading this book and German reports (see Fighting in Normandy The German Army from D-day to Villers-Bocage with excerpts from German commander interviews which Harrison frequently references) is the Germans view that the Allies attacks were missing opportunities. Of course the one attack where the Allies did try to out flank the Germans and exploit a weak spot resulted in a major reverse at Villers Bocage. The same happened in reverse in the Cotentin Peninsula where the Germans were unable to handle the airborne forces despite their numerical superiority on D-Day. It is easy after it is all over to question the actions of others when the complete picture is known. This book goes a long way into explaining how and why the Battle for Normandy unfolded as it did.
I highly recommend the Whitman Publishing version of this book. I previously had the Barnes and Noble publishing of the book and it was missing many of the referenced maps. The Whitman version has nice full color maps.
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