Blood and Steel: The Wehrmacht Archive, Normandy 1944

256 Pages·2016·8.83 MB·English

by  Graves D.E.

Other Books by Donald E. Graves
And All Their Glory Past: Fort Erie, Plattsburgh and the Last Battles in the North (Robin
Brass Studio, 2013)
First Campaign of an A.D.C.: The War of 1812 Memoir of Lt. William Jenkins Worth, U.S.
Army (Old Fort Niagara Press, 2012)
Dragon Rampant: The Royal Welch Fusiliers at War, 1793-1815 (Frontline Books &
Robin Brass Studio, 2010)
Fix Bayonets! A Royal Welch Fusilier at War, 1796-1815 (Robin Brass Studio &
Spellmount Publishing, 2007)
Century of Service: The History of the South Alberta Light Horse (The South Alberta
Light Horse Regiment Foundation & Robin Brass Studio, 2005)
More Fighting for Canada: Five Battles, 1760-1944 (Robin Brass Studio, 2004)
Another Place, Another Time: A U-boat Officer’s Wartime Album (with Werner
Hirschmann; Robin Brass Studio, 2004, 2011)
In Peril on the Sea: The Royal Canadian Navy and the Battle of the Atlantic (Canadian
Naval Memorial Trust & Robin Brass Studio, 2003)
Quebec, 1759: The Siege and the Battle (by C. P. Stacey; edited and with new material by
Donald E. Graves; Robin Brass Studio, 2002)
Guns Across the River: The Battle of the Windmill, 1838 (Friends of Windmill Point &
Robin Brass Studio, 2001, 2013)
Fighting for Canada: Seven Battles, 1758-1945 (Robin Brass Studio, 2000)
Field of Glory: The Battle of Crysler’s Farm, 1813 (Robin Brass Studio, 1999)
The Incredible War of 1812: A Military History (by J. Mackay Hitsman; updated by
Donald E. Graves; Robin Brass Studio, 1999)
South Albertas: A Canadian Regiment at War (South Alberta Regiment Veterans
Association & Robin Brass Studio, 1998, 2004)
Where Right and Glory Lead! The Battle of Lundy’s Lane, 1814 (Robin Brass Studio,
1997)
Soldiers of 1814: American Enlisted Men’s Memoirs of the Niagara Campaign (Old Fort
Niagara Press, 1996)
Redcoats and Grey Jackets: The Battle of Chippawa, 1814 (Dundurn Press, 1994)
Merry Hearts Make Light Days: The War of 1812 Journal of Lieutenant John Le Couteur,
104th Foot (Carleton University Press, 1993; Robin Brass Studio, 2012)
Normandy 1944: The Canadian Summer (with W. J. McAndrew and M. J. Whitby; Art
Global, 1993)

Blood and Steel:
The Wehrmacht Archive: Normandy 1944
First published in 2013 by Frontline Books,
an imprint of Pen & Sword Books Ltd,
47 Church Street, Barnsley, S. Yorkshire, S70 2AS
www.frontline-books.com
Copyright © Donald E. Graves, 2013
The right of Donald E. Graves to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
ISBN: 978-1-84832-683-5
eISBN: 9781473832466
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the
prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may
be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
CIP data records for this title are available from the British Library
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Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY
Typeset in 11/13.5 point Minion Pro Regular
Contents
List of Plates
Introduction
A Note to the Reader
German Ranks and Their Equivalents
Abbreviations and Acronyms Used in Text and Notes
Chapter 1 The German Experience of Battle
Formations and Units
Panzer Divisions on the Western Front, 6 June 1944 1; Order of Commanding
Officer, 46th Luftwaffe Field Regiment, 16th Luftwaffe Field Division, Prior to
Going into Action, 2 July 1944 5; Battle Experience, 3rd Parachute Division, July
1944 7; Report on Battle Experience, 10th SS Panzer Division ‘Frundsberg’, July
1944 14; German Experience of the Invasion Battles 20; Battle Experience of Recent
Operations by 2nd Panzer Division, Whose Sector Is Being Taken Over by 36th
Infantry Division 22; Diary of 1st Platoon, 5th Company, 1st SS Panzer Grenadier
Regiment, 1st SS Panzer Division, 9 July to 29 July 1944 30; Lack of Radio
Discipline, July 1944 33; Operation Order, 1056 Grenadier Regiment, 89th Infantry
Division, 4 August 1944 33; Führer’s Orders to the Commander of the St. Malo
Garrison, 9 August 1944 36; Order for Deployment, 85th Infantry Division, 12
August 1944 37; Report of the Strength of the Divisional Formations under the
Command of Seventh Army, 31 July 1944 38; Appreciation of the Situation of
Seventh Army, 10 August 1944 40; Allied Evaluation of the Combat Worthiness of
12th SS Panzer Division ‘Hitler Jugend,’ 18 August 1944 41
Chapter 2 Defending Normandy
Extracts from the Telephone Log of Seventh Army and Fifth Panzer Army,
June, July and August 1944
The Enemy Has Landed: Seventh Army Attempts to Deal with the Invasion, 6 June
to 11 June 1944 44; Feldmarschall von Kluge Deals with Operation Cobra, 31 July
50; The End in Normandy: Telephone Log of Seventh Army, 6 August to 7 August
1944 54; Fifth Panzer Army Defends against Operation TOTALIZE 81
Chapter 3 The German Experience of Battle
Soldiers’ Diaries and Memories
Diary of Private Bucher, 264th Infantry Division, November 1943 to 3 September
1944 86; Extracts from Diary of a Panzerschütze of 4th Company, I Battalion,
Panzer Regiment 88, 21st Panzer Division, 7 June to 13 July 1944 89; Extracts from
the Diary of Obergefreiter Norbert Ohe, 9 Troop, 276 Artillery Regiment, 276th
Infantry Division, 15 August to 19 August 1944 91; Extracts from the Diary of a
Medical Sergeant, 17 August to 22 August 1944 92; Diary of Sergeant W. Krey of
732 Grenadier Regiment, 712th Infantry Division, 31 August to 30 September 1944
93; Extracts from the Diary of an Unidentified Corporal, 4th Company, Grenadier
Regiment, 719th Infantry Division, 25 August to 17 September 1944 94; Extracts
from the Diary of an Officer, Boulogne Garrison, 7 September to 19 September 1944
99; To the Bitter End: The Last Hours in the Falaise Pocket 103
Chapter 4 The Individual Soldier’s Experience
Letters to and from Home
Letters Home, July 1944 105; From a Letter of Obergefreiter W. Doehla, FPN
43769B, Dated 18 August 1944 107; Letter to Private Alfred Nikolaus, FPN 23289,
From his Brother in Strasburg 107; Letters from German Soldiers to Their People at
Home 108; Letters Home, Late August 1944 110; Letters from Home, April to June
1944 113; Letters from Home, September 1944 115
Chapter 5 Tactics
General Directions
Panzer Group West, Directions for Conducting Battles 117
Chapter 6 Infantry Weapons and Tactics
Defensive Tactics, 38th SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment, 17th SS Panzer Grenadier
Division, July 1944 121; Orders of 22nd SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment, 10th SS
Panzer Division, July 1944, Regarding the Manning of a Defence Line 122; General
Principles for the Officer Commanding a Panzer Grenadier Company (Motorized),
Extracted from a Pamphlet Issued by the Inspector-General of Panzer Troops, 12
June 1944 124; Battalion Orders for Defence, II Battalion, 980 Grenadier Regiment,
272nd Infantry Division, 15 July 1944 125; Tactical Handling of Volksgrenadier
Divisions, September 1944 127
Chapter 7 Anti-Tank and Artillery Weapons and Tactics
Achtung! Panzerfaust 129; Care in Firing Panzerfaust and Panzerschreck 130; How
to Use the Panzerfaust (Klein) 131; Tactics of 277th Anti-Tank Battalion, 277th
Infantry Division 133; Tactics of 326 Artillery Regiment, 326th Infantry Division
134; German 8.1 cm Mortar Tactics, II Battalion, 979 Grenadier Regiment, 271st
Infantry Division 135
Chapter 8 Armoured Vehicles and Tactics
A German View of the Hornet 137; Use of the Panther 139; German Heavy Tank
Battalion Tactics 141; Panthers and Tigers (A German View) 148; 8.8 cm Pak 43 on
Panther Chassis (Jagdpanther) 149
Chapter 9 Allied Evaluations of German Armoured Vehicles, Weapons and Tactics
Experience with Tiger Tanks in Italy 153; Analysis of 75 mm Sherman Tank
Casualties Suffered, 6 June to 10 July 1944 156; Effect of German Anti-Tank Mines
on Vehicles 161; Notes on German Defensive Tactics in Normandy 162; Effective
Range of German Tank Guns 164; Rates of Fire of German Tanks and Assault Guns
165
Chapter 10 The Training of Senior Officers
German General Staff Training, 1944–1945 166; Course Notes from Divisional
Commander’s Course, 1943 168
Chapter 11 Shortages of Medical Supplies, Weapons and Equipment
Loss of Equipment: Germany Army General Order, 12 August 1944 178; Equipment
Shortage – Seventh Army General Order, 21 July 1944 179; German Problems with
Medical Supplies 180; Medical Matters in 326th and 346th Infantry Divisions,
August 1944 182; Medical Matters in the Wehrmacht, 1944 183; Medical Matters in
III Flak Corps 184; Health Problems in the German Army, Normandy 185
Discipline, Morale, Propaganda and Tensions Between the Army and the
Chapter 12
SS
Discipline Problems in Panzer Group West, July 1944 187; Morale in 982 Grenadier
Regiment, 272nd Infantry Division, July 1944 189; Allied Propaganda: Order of
Commander, 276th Infantry Division 190; V-Weapons Are Coming 191; Morale
Boosting in 276th Infantry Division 192; Absence of German Airpower: A Reply
from the Luftwaffe High Command 192; An Effort to Boost Morale 193; Awards of
the Iron Cross 195; Boosting Morale in 1040 Grenadier Regiment, 226th Infantry
Division 196; Boosting Morale in 3rd Parachute Division, August 1944 198; Morale
Problems in an Ersatz Battalion 199; Guidance for the Award of Decorations, May
1944 200; Morale Boosting, 6th Parachute Regiment, September 1944 201;
Problems between the Waffen SS and the Army 202; Tension between the Waffen
SS and the Army 203
Chapter 13 Casualties and Casualty Replacement
Casualties and Desertion Problems in 2nd Company, 26th SS Panzer Grenadier
Regiment, 12th Waffen SS Panzer Division 205; Wehrmacht Volunteers (HIWIs)
206; Availability of Officers in the German Army 207; Ages of Personnel in 12th
Waffen SS Panzer Division, July 1944 211; Problems with Reinforcements, 1st and
12th Waffen SS Panzer Divisions 211; The Bottom of the Barrel: 276 Festungs
Machine Gun Battalion 213
Chapter 14 The Effects of Allied Artillery and Air Bombardment
Effect of Allied Artillery and Air Bombardment, 271st Infantry Division, July 1944
214; Effects of Allied Bombing and Shelling 215; The Effects of Allied Air Attacks
(1) 216; The Effects of Allied Air Attacks (2) 220
Chapter 15 Miscellaneous and Humour (Such as it Was)
Eyes Right! 222; Pay Day for Feldmarschall Kesselring, June 1944 222; Wehrmacht
Humour 223; Etiquette for the German Soldier 224; The Sight and Sound of Ground
Attack 225
Epilogue The Wehrmacht Retreats from Dieppe, August 1944
A French View
List of Plates
Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt inspecting a German unit. (Courtesy Service
Publications)
Generalfeldmarschall Rommel visits 21st Panzer Division. (Courtesy Service
Publications)
A leFH18 105mm howitzer mounted on a French Lorraine ammunition vehicle. (Courtesy
Service Publications)
French Somua half-track armed by the Germans with multiple 80mm mortars. (Courtesy
Service Publications)
A le FH16 105mm howitzer on the chassis of a British Mk VI light tank. (Courtesy
Service Publications)
A regiment of self-propelled 105mm guns on parade at Versailles. (Courtesy Service
Publications)
The Tiger I. (Drawings by Christopher Johnson, reproduced with permission from Brian
Reid, No Holding Back: Operation Totalize, Normandy 1944)
A knocked-out gun position on the Normandy coast. (Canadian Army Intelligence
Summaries)
The Tiger II. (Canadian Army photo, Author’s collection)
A Panther of I/12th SS Panzer Regiment. (Library and Archives of Canada, PA-114983)
The Jagdpanther mounted the deadly 88mm gun. (Canadian Army Intelligence
Summaries)
The Mk IV medium tank, work horse of the panzer divisions. (Drawings by Christopher
Johnson, reproduced with permission from Brian Reid, No Holding Back: Operation
Totalize, Normandy 1944)
Map: The Normandy Theatre, 1944.
Goliath remote-controlled demolition vehicle. (Canadian Army Intelligence Summaries)
Sherman of the Canadian 1st Hussars. (Courtesy R. T. Leslie)
Panzer grenadiers of the Panzer Lehr Division in their SPW 251 half-track. (Courtesy Uwe
Feist)
The PAK 40 75mm, the standard German divisional anti-tank gun. (Drawings by
Christopher Johnson, reproduced with permission from Brian Reid, No Holding Back:
Operation Totalize, Normandy 1944)
American soldiers examine an 88mm Panzerschreck. (United States Army)