A detailed German perspective on D-Day, featuring accounts by German commanders on preparations, strategy, and the brutal fighting during the Allied invasion of Normandy.

“The planned landing operation in France of the Allies was on so large a scale – and of such decisive importance – that the preparations for it could certainly not be kept secret…Everyone realized that, sooner or later, the invasion would have to become a reality.” – Generalmajor Rudolf, Freiherr von Gersdorff.

In June 1944 Allied troops were massing along the shores of southern England in readiness for the invasion of Hitler's Fortress Europe. Facing them, from the Pas de Calais to Brittany, were German troops, dug in, waiting and preparing for the inevitable confrontation.

This compilation of in-depth accounts by German commanders presents D-Day, and the events leading up to it, from the point of view of the officers entrusted with preventing the Allied landings.

The accounts David Isby has selected, all written soon after the war's close for American military intelligence, cover preparations for the invasion and chart the development of German strategy as invasion looms. They then turn to the ordeal of D-Day itself including reactions to the first reports of troop landings and a blow-by-blow account of the fighting.

Fighting the Invasion paints a superb picture of D-Day from the German perspective, bringing home the entire experience from the initial waiting to the bitter fighting on the beaches and running battles in Norman villages.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Contributors to this Volume: Positions Held on D-Day
• Editor’s Introduction
• Glossary
• Part One: Preparation: Commands and Commanders
  • Report of the Chief of Staff by General der Infanterie Günther Blumentritt (B-283)
  • Preparations Against the Invasion by Generalmajor Rudolf Freiherr von Gersdorff (B-122)
  • Ideas and Views of Genfldm Rommel, Commander of Army Group B, on Defense and Operations in the West in 1944 by Generalleutnant Hans Speidel (B-720)
  • Von Rundstedt and Rommel by General der Infanterie Günther Blumentritt (B-344)
  • Seventh Army, June 1942—6 June 1944: Report of the Chief of Staff by Generalleutnant Max Pemsel (B-234)
  • Preparations by Panzer Gruppe West Against Invasion (mid-1943—5 June 1944) by General der Panzertruppen Leo, Freiherr Geyr von Schweppenburg (B-466)
  • The Invasion by Generalfeldmarshall Wilhelm Keitel and Generaloberst Alfred Jodl (ETHINT 49)
  • The Invasion and the German Navy by Grossadmiral Karl Dönitz and Konteradmiral Gerhard Wagner (ETHINT 28)
  • The Invasion by General Walter Warlimont (ETHINT 1)
• Part Two: Preparation: Organizing and Deploying the Units
  • Panzer-Type Divisions (Western Front) by General der Panzertruppen Leo, Freiherr Geyr von Schweppenburg (B-466)
  • Background: The 709th Infantry Division by Generalleutnant Karl Wilhelm von Schlieben (B-845)
  • Coast Artillery Sector Cotentin by Generalmajor Gerhard Triepel (B-260)
  • Preliminary Report on the 243rd Infantry Division on the Cotentin Peninsula by Hauptmann Herbert Schoch (B-845)
  • History of the 21st Panzer Division from the Time of Its Formation until the Beginning of the Invasion by Generalleutnant Edgar Feuchtinger (B-441)
  • The 352nd Infantry Division by Oberstleutnant Fritz Ziegelmann (B-432)
  • Employment of the 711th Infantry Division on the Invasion Front: Preparation by Generalleutnant Joseph Reichert (B-403)
  • The 346th Infantry Division to 4 June 1944 by Oberst Paul Frank (B-008)
  • Organization of the 6th Fallschirm Regiment by Oberstleutnant Friedrich, Freiherr von der Heydte (B-839)
  • The 2nd Panzer Division: Preparation by General der Panzertruppen Heinrich, Freiherr von Lüttwitz (B-257)
  • Organization of the 3rd Fallschirm Division by Generalleutnant Richard Schimpf (B-541)
  • III Flak Corps by General der Flakartillerie Wolfgang Pickert (B-597)
• Part Three: D-Day: Invasion
  • OKW War Diary: 6 June 1944 by Major Percy E. Schramm (B-034)
  • OB West on D-Day by General der Infanterie Günther Blumentritt (B-283)
  • The Beginning of the Invasion and the 346th Infantry Division by Oberst Paul Frank (B-008)
  • The 711th Infantry Division and the Airborne Invasion by Generalleutnant Joseph Reichert (B-403)
  • Commitment of the 1058th Infantry Regiment and AOK Assault Battalion 7 by Oberstleutnant Günther Keil (B-844)
  • LXXXIV Corps on D-Day: The Landing Battles by Oberstleutnant Friedrich von Criegern (B-784)
  • 6 June: Cotentin Coast Artillery by Generalmajor Gerhard Triepel (B-260)
  • The Invasion: The 709th Infantry Division by Generalleutnant Karl Wilhelm von Schlieben (B-845)
  • The Invasion: The 352nd Infantry Division by Oberstleutnant Fritz Ziegelmann (B-432)
  • The 21st Panzer Division on 6 June 1944 by Generalleutnant Edgar Feuchtinger (B-441) :
  • The 711th Infantry Division Encounters the Invasion by Generalleutnant Joseph Reichert (B-403)
  • The Allied Attack: The 6th Fallschirm Regiment Reacts by Oberstleutnant Friedrich, Freiherr von der Heydte (B-839)
  • Invasion by General der Panzertruppen Leo, Freiherr Geyr von Schiveppenburg (B-466)
• Part 4: D-Day: Counterattack
  • LXXXIV Corps Counterattacks with Local Reserves on the Afternoon of D-Day by Oberstleutnant Friedrich von Criegern (B-784)
  • The 21st Panzer Division’s Situation (6 June 1944) by General der Panzertruppen Leo, Freiherr Geyr von Schweppenburg (B-466)‘
  • Counterattack of the 21st Panzer Division by Generalleutnant Edgar Feuchtinger (B-441)
  • I SS Panzer Corps Moves Up to Counterattack, 6 June 1944 by Generalmajor Fritz Krämer (C-024)‘
  • The 711th Infantry Division Prepares for a Counterattack by Generalleutnant Joseph Reichert (B-403)
  • Reaction to the Invasion by Oberstleutnant Gunther Keil (B-844)
  • The 2nd Panzer Division: Told to Hold in Place by General der Panzertruppen Heinrich, Freiherr von Lüttwitz (B-257)
  • III Flak Corps: Orders for the Initial Commitment in Normandy by General der Flakartillerie Wolfgang Pickert (B-597)