Overview
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 unique 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 invasion and intricately chart the development of German strategy as invasion looms. After detailing this planning stage, and the uncertain waiting, the accounts then turn to the ordeal of D-Day itself, the 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 Normandy villages. These are first-hand accounts by German officers and commanders that have never been published before in any language.