A Handbook to German Ground Forces in Normandy

First published in 2010, for this new edition Swedish military historian Zetterling, author of several works on Germany and the Second World War, has revised and expanded his essential guide to German ground forces involved in the Normandy campaign.

Zetterling divides his topic into two main parts, and adds a number of appendices.

The first part, about a quarter of the total pages, discusses Zetterling’s sources, German military terminology and unit organization, troops numbers, the role of Allied air power, German tank models, manpower losses, and so forth.

In the second part, about 40-percent of the text, Zetterling covers German combat forces involved in the campaign, including independent artillery, flak, tank, infantry, and other combat formations to higher headquarters, as well as divisions, including Waffen-SS and Luftwaffe formations. There’s a brief history of each unit, of varying length depending upon its size and role in the campaign, a short review of its organization and equipment, and a series of notes.

The balance of the book consists of an extensive series of appendices, including as tabular chronological outlines of the arrival of units in the theatre, a brief analysis of casualty figures, and a look at the role of German flak units, among other things.

The absence of an index, and a map or two, is to be regretted, but Normandy, 1944 is a valuable reference for anyone seriously interested in the battle for Normandy.

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Note: Normandy, 1944 is also available in several e-editions.

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