"Books on the UK/Canadian experience in Normandy and beyond?" Topic

I'm looking for some book recommendations about the UK/Canadian forces in Normandy, to broaden my understanding of their war experiences. Since apparently everyone has biases, I ought to share mine: I'm mildly pro-Monty, generally inordinately fond of the British and Canadians en bloc, like Simonds and Horrocks, know little about Bucknall, and nurse a pretty strong antipathy for German-penned memoirs.

The books I own and have already read are below; I think they give me an okay general understanding, but leave me with a lot yet to learn:

Colossal Cracks, S A Hart

Tank Tactics: Normandy to Lorraine, R Jarymowycz (not very impressed by his thesis or conclusions)

The Canadian Army in Normandy, J English

Surrender Invites Death: The Waffen-SS in the Normandy Campaign, J English

Fields of Fire, T Copp

Cinderella Army, T Copp

The Brigade, T Copp

No Holding Back, B Reid

Breaking the Panzers, K Baverstock

British Armour in the Normandy Campaign, J Buckley

Decision in Normandy, C D'Este

Normandy 1944, N Zetterling

Hill 112, J J Howe

Normandy: The British Breakout, J J Howe

With the Jocks, P White

British Armour in Normandy, L Fortin

Raising Churchill's Army, D French

Military Training in the British Army 1940-1944, T H Place

Caen: Anvil of Victory, A McKee (found him a bit of a Gloomy Gus)

The Normandy Campaign 1944: Sixty Years On, ed. John Buckley

Battlezone Normandy Series:

Road to Falaise

Battle for Caen

Operation Epsom

Battleground Europe Series:

Operation Bluecoat

Hill 112

Operation Goodwood

Operation Epsom

Mark Zhuehlke has an excellent series of books detailing the Canadian view of the 2nd World War, from Italy through Dieppe to VE day. Half of my modest reference bookshelf is his books alone. They are a bit more dry than the Stephen E. Ambrose end of the spectrum, but still full of enough details and vignettes to keep things interesting. The Scheldt Estuary volume in particular is good, since it's such a neglected part of the war.

link

Any of the books by Ken Tout should fit the bill. He was a Sherman crewman and has a style of writing that I quite enjoy. link

Although his account of his service from the start to the finish of the war, Bill Cheal's 'Fighting Through' does describe his participation in the D-Day landings with the Green Howards and continues through his time in Normandy until he was wounded.

Regards,

Fletch

How about…

Churchill's Desert Rats : From Normandy to Berlin with the 7th Armoured Division by Patrick Delaforce.

Eagles & Bulldogs in Normandy 1944 by Michael Reynolds.
Subtitle is The American 29th Division from Omaha to St Lo and The British 3rd Division from Sword to Caen.

Bounces back and forth between the two divisions, chronologically for the most part. Since half is on the 29th may not be exactly what you are looking for but one of the fascinating things is the similarities and differences of some of their experience, especially when it comes to command, between the two.

Looking at the list of the titles you have already read, I think you would find Robin Neillands "The Battle of Normandy" interesting. It is an excellent study and highly recommended (by me!)

WRT the Canadians, two that I like are The Long Left Flank
link

and Tug of War
link

The latter (not to be confused with Graham & Bidwell's book on Italy) is a particularly detailed and brutal look at the fighting in the Scheldt estuary.

Also try Tank Tracks, which is about 9 RTR (Churchills) from its formation to the end of the war:

link

Two Sides of the Beach is a very interesting, low-level account of the fighting. It really supports the Too Fat Lardies' idea about the effects of Big Men on combat:

link

Charge of the Bull by Jean Brisset;
Armoured Guardsman by Robert Boscawen, published by Leo Cooper, Pen and Sword Books Ltd
Sons of the Reich: II SS Panzer Corps by Michael Reynolds, published by Spellmount Ltd
The Black Bull by Patrick Delaforce, published by Sutton publishing.
"Taurus Pursuant" – the history of the 11th Armoured Division.

I would concur that Ken Tout's books are very good.
Keegan's "Six Armies in Normandy" is very good and the other titles by Denis Whitaker are excellent, which cover the Rhineland battles and Normandy. Essame and Belfield did a couple regarding Normandy and the invasion of Germany which were quite useful and one called "The Killing Ground" co-authored by James Lucas and about the battles for Hill 112 was excellent…..

'The Bloody Battle for Tilly'- Ken Tout again.
link

'Tank Tracks' is available to read for free online at the RTR Association website:

link

My favourite personal memoirs are:

'18 Platoon' by Sidney Jary (SLI, 43rd Div)
'By Tank Into Normandy' by Stuart Hills (SRY, 8 Armd Bde)
'With the Jocks' by Peter White (52nd Div)
'The Man Who Worked on Sundays' by Padre Leslie Skinner (SRY, 8 Armd Bde)

Any of the Patrick Delaforce formation histories are good for following the course of a particular division's campaign.

'Assault Crossing' by Ken Ford, regarding 43rd Div's bloody crossing of the Seine at Vernon is excellent and it's recently been published. He did another excellent book on the Battle of Geilenkirchen, but I don't think that's been republished.

'Go To It!' by Peter Harclerode is an excellent history of 6th Airborne Division.

'Breaking the Panzers' by Kevin Baverstock is a superb study of the Battle of Rauray on 1st July 1944. Probably the best 'Battle Book' of the lot.

'Tilly sur Seulles' by Stephane Jacquet (I think?) is a superb and comprehensive study of the long and bloody battle for Tilly-sur-Seulles. Rather expensive though.

I'd recommend all of the little Pen & Sword battlefield guides. My personal favourites are the three written by Tim Saunders for Market-Garden – 'Hell's Highway', 'Nijmegen' and 'The Island'.

I'd also recommend the 'Battlezone Normandy' battlefield guides, as well as the new(ish) series of Osprey-style battle books by Histoire & Collections.