Military Model Scene

Title: The Reaper's Harvesting Summer, 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend in Normandy
Author: Angelos N. Mansolas
Publisher: Fonthill Media
ISBN: 978-1-78155-817-1

This new book marks the continued interest in the story of the 12 SS Panzer Division, the Hitlerjugend, in Normandy in 1944. A 320-page hardback which is well illustrated throughout with archive images and maps.
The story is told across 19 chapters, plus 6 appendices with more detail of things like the Order of Battle of not only the Hitlerjugend Division, but also those of the Canadian 3rd Armoured Division and 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigades. Everything starts with an explanation of the background to the establishment of the 12th SS Panzer Division, with officers and NCOs taken from experienced personnel from other units, who were set to command the young soldiers who were to give the division its' name. The author also addresses the issues of War Crimes committed by the SS formations, before going on to describe their combat operations from facing Canadian troops especially. In the immediate aftermath of the landings, they tried to get to the coast and create a barrier between the Canadian and British landing beaches. We see how hard they tried, though considering the potential weight of artillery they would have faced from the Allied naval units had they got there remains a question we could debate for a long time. It goes on with their involvement in defending Caen, the battles against Operations Epsom, Windsor and Charnwood, and the bloody fight for Hill 112. Of course it didn't end in the little villages of Rots, Cheux and Le Mesnil-Patry, but went on through the fighting against other major Allied offensives, Goodwood, Totalize and Tractable before the final acts of the campaign as they were caught up in the cauldron of the Falaise pocket. It makes a lot of use of extracts from personal accounts, both from members of the division as well as those of their Allied opponents. Some of the things these describe give a graphic insight to some of the horrors that war brings, particularly for those who fought in tanks. Everything is rounded off with a look at what happened to the division and some of the commanders at the end of the war, including the trial of the commander, Kurt Meyer.
I know some people question books on the actions of the SS divisions in WW2, but I found this a well balanced and very interesting read. I always remember my father's comments, he didn't think of them as criminals, but he did say they were always a tough opponent. With a shortage of replacements, fuel, artillery ammunition and more, these German units faced a numerically superior and well supplied allied force, who were backed up with artillery and air support which the Germans were never able to match. An good read for anyone interested in the Normandy campaign of 1944.
Thanks to Fonthill Media for our review copy.

Robin