Author: Stephen A. Hart
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472812891
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 100
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Book Description
In Operation Totalize, Lieutenant-General Guy Simonds' II Canadian Corps launched an attack from its positions along the Bourguébus Ridge south of Caen, striking south-southeast astride the main Caen–Falaise road toward the high ground that dominated the town of Falaise and the key west-east lateral road that ran through this town. Using sophisticated operational art the initial break-in achieved rapid success; indeed, more tactical success than any previous Allied break-in attack in Normandy. However, despite this rapid initial success, Totalize did not subsequently secure a decisive operational-level victory. Indeed, Simonds' forces subsequently struggled swiftly to complete the second break-in battle, and to transit into rapid exploitation operations. Had Simond's force been successful the German army may not have been able to extract themselves from the Falaise pocket and would have been surrounded and defeated – possibly bringing about the early end of the war in Europe.
Author: Brian A. Reid
Publisher: Stackpole Books
ISBN: 146175139X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 512
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Book Description
Landmark study of the Canadians' first major operation in Normandy New revelations on the death of German panzer ace Michael Wittmann Handsomely illustrated with maps, photos, and diagrams On August 8, 1944, the Canadian Army launched Operation Totalize, a massive armored and mechanized infantry attack that aimed to break through enemy defenses south of Caen and trap the German Army in Normandy by linking up with Patton's Third Army.
Author: Tim Saunders
Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
ISBN: 1526741296
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 280
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Book Description
By early August 1944 the Germans fighting in Normandy had been worn down by the battles around Caen, while to the west, the American breakout was finally gaining momentum. Now was the time to launch II Canadian Corps south towards Falaise. With much of the German armour having been stripped away for the Mortain Counter-Attack, hopes ran high that the Corps, reinforced with British tanks, the 51st Highland and the Polish Armoured Divisions, would repeat the success of their predecessors in the Battle of Amiens. An innovative change of tactics to a night armoured assault and the conversion of seventy-two self-propelled guns to armoured personnel carriers for the accompanying infantry was very successful, but up against their implacable foes, 12th Hitlerjugend SS Panzer Division, the pause for bombing allowed Kurt ‘Panzer’ Meyer to deploy his division. Consequently, when the 4th Canadian and Polish Armoured Divisions were launched into their first battle they made frustratingly little progress. As the Canadians advanced over the following days, the battle degenerated into a costly fight for ground as the Hitlerjugend struggled to contain the inexperienced Poles and Canadians. Operation Totalize is renowned for the death of SS panzer Ace Michael Wittmann at the hands of Trooper Joe Ekins and the destruction of Worthington Force, the result of a navigational error.
Author: Jonathan Fennell
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107030951
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 967
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Book Description
Jonathan Fennell captures for the first time the true wartime experience of the ordinary soldiers from across the empire who made up the British and Commonwealth armies. He analyses why the great battles were won and lost and how the men that fought went on to change the world.
Author: Richard L. McCrerry
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 73
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Book Description
2. Verdenskrig. Frankrig. Beskrivelse af 2. canadiske armékorps operation Totalize mod landevejen Caen-Falaise 7-8 august 1944. I beskrivelsen er der i særlig grad lagt vægt på planen for taktisk luftstøtte til operationen samt på 51. Highland Divisions rolle i operationen bl.a. anvendelsen af pansrede mandskabsvogne og de operative problemer ved at gennemføre et natangreb i divisionsramme. Beskrivelsen er forsynet med fyldigt kortmateriale samt korps- og divisionsbefalinger og Order of Battle (troppeinddeling).
Author: Roman Jarymowycz
Publisher: Stackpole Books
ISBN: 1461751780
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 377
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Book Description
Explores the doctrinal, strategic, and tactical ideas behind World War II tank combat Contains detailed maps and diagrams Critiques the performances of commanders like George Patton, Bernard Montgomery, and others Focusing on five Allied tank operations from July to September 1944--Operations Goodwood, Cobra, Totalize, and Tractable and Patton's tank battles around Arracourt--armor expert Roman Jarymowycz draws on after-action reports, extensive battlefield reconnaissance, recently discovered battle performance reviews, and war diaries to evaluate the successes and failures of the art of armored warfare as practiced by Allied tank commanders in France in 1944.
Author: Yves Buffetaut
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 1612007287
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 130
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Book Description
This WWII military history explores the dramatic turning point of the Battle of Normandy—illustrated throughout with archival photos and maps. On June 6th, 1944, the Allied forces embarked on Operation Overlord with the first wave of Normandy landings. But it wasn’t until August of that year that the tide of the battle—and the entire war—began to turn. The decisive moment came at the Battle of the Falaise Pocket. The German Army had managed to hold back the Allies for months, but its resources were running out, and the Allies ruled the skies. As the Allies began to push South and East, Hitler refused to permit Field Marshal von Kluge, the commander of Army Group B, to withdraw. General Montgomery ordered the Allied armies to converge on the Falaise area on August 8th, and by August 21st they had some 50,000 Germans surrounded. While many German soldiers did escape the encirclement, the losses were catastrophic. By the end of the month, Army Group B had retreated across the Seine, ending the battle of Normandy. This illustrated account examines the battle from the failed offensive at Mortain, looking at both German and Allied perspectives, using maps, diagrams and profiles to complete the story.
Author: Military Library Research Service Ltd
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 65
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Book Description
Author: Ken Tout
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0752499858
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 260
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Book Description
The fierce battle to capture the French village of Tilly-la-Campagne was an exceptionally bloody episode in the story of the allied breakout from Normandy in the summer of 1944. Small Allied infantry units faced an almost impossible mission, hampered by the proximity of the elite German 1st SS Panzer Division and ‘friendly fire’ from the erratic USAAF bombing raids. If that was not enough, appalling tactical errors by Allied commanders resulted in infantry attacks which were as costly pro rata as the losses suffered on the first day of the Somme. Drawing on vivid eyewitness accounts and the recollections of many who were there in 1944, Ken Tout’s masterly portrayal of the bloody battle is a fitting tribute to the British and Canadian youth, who fought, and the many who died, during the breakout from Normandy in the last summer of the war in Europe. Kent Tout, PhD, served as an NCO with the 1st Northants Yeomanry during the Second World War, fighting in Sherman tanks and saw action at Operation 'Totalize'. He now lives in West Sussex.
Author: Norbert Számvéber
Publisher: Helion and Company
ISBN: 1910294144
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 304
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Book Description
Waffen-SS Armour in Normandy presents the combat history of SS-Panzer Regiment 12 and SS-Panzerjäger Abteilung 12 in the Battle for France from June to the end of August 1944 based on transcriptions of their original unit war diaries from the Military History Archives in Prague. Both armored units belonged to the 12.SS-Panzer Division Hitlerjugend. SS-Panzer Regiment 12 was fully equipped with Panzer IV and Panther tanks. The main AFV of SS-Panzerjäger Abteilung 12 was the Jagdpanzer IV L/48 tank destroyer. The structure of the volume is partly source publication (documents of SS-Panzer Regiment 12) and partly study (the deployment of SS-Panzerjäger Abteilung 12). The text was written and footnoted by the author based upon original wartime files in Prague that have remained almost unknown. The book starts with the story of the units' establishment and training in 1943/1944, including, for example, the shipments of equipment, orders of battle and tactical numbers of the tanks. After this introduction, a highly detailed daily chronology of the combat actions is provided, from 12.SS-Panzer Division traveling to the Caen sector to Operation Totalize and the withdrawal to the Seine River. Documents from SS-Panzer Regiment 12 presented in the book include the following: combat reports, list of knocked-out enemy tanks, German personnel and tank losses, combat orders, summary of acquired combat experiences and others. This is an impressive look at tactical-level events and command decisions, highlighting the armored combat tactics that were able to stop Montgomery's Army Group from breaking through the German lines near Caen for two months. The study includes a number of detailed maps and excellent photos. In addition, the book has benefited from the contribution of rare information, photographs and documents from the archive of noted Waffen-SS historian Mark C. Yerger.
