Military Review English Edition May-June 2014 | Page 81

REVIEW ESSAY

Atkinson is right to dwell on Operation Overlord,
the ambitious air and sea assault of Normandy, in
the early pages of his final volume. It was here that
Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander, earned his spurs—planning and executing
a complex operation fraught with difficulties. Six
thousand ships and landing craft—including 700
warships—and 150,000 men, undertook the greatest amphibious invasion ever mounted. American
casualties were predicted to reach 12 percent of the
assault force alone, with the 1st Infantry Division
estimating that under “maximum” conditions, casualties could reach 25 percent. Eisenhower needed to
mitigate factors such as surprise, weather, and tidal
conditions. Because of bad weather, he made the key
decision to push back the operation 24 hours to 6
June 1944. Any delay thereafter would risk delaying
the operation until the next full moon in July.
An essential ingredient of the operation was a
comprehensive deception plan—embellished by a
network of British double agents—that persuaded
German intelligence the main invasion would occur
across the Pas de Calais. The clever deception
worked, as Atkinson observes, diverting the German
15th Army—which could have acted decisively in
Normandy against Allied forces. Although Operation Overlord helped set the foundations for Allied
victory in Europe and was the major turning point in
World War II, it came at an enormous cost to men and
material. German shells and machinegun fire took
their toll on the invading forces, and battles raged.
Even so, the all-important conditions were set for
the subsequent breakout.
Following his narrative of the Allied landings on
the Normandy beaches, Atkinson expertly chronicles the major battles and activities as the Allies
advanced east through Europe. He looks critically
at the fighting to consolidate the beachhead before
the attempted breakout by rapid armored assault,
known as Operation Cobra. A description of the
Falaise Pocket, the decisive engagement of the
Battle of Normandy, is followed by an account
of the liberation of Paris in August 1944. Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France in
August 1944, is next to receive Atkinson’s critical
gaze. Operation Market Garden, the disastrous
attempt to outflank German defenses in September
1944 through Holland, is then chronicled sympathetically (Bernard Montgomery, commander of
MILITARY REVIEW

May-June 2014

the 21st Army Group, was held responsible for the
failure). Then comes an account of the complex
and exhausting fight for the Hürtgen Forest on the
Belgium-Germany border in November 1944. The
Siegfried Line campaign follows, before Atkinson tackles the horrific Battle of the Bulge in the
Ardennes Forest—an epic of American heroism.
Here, Adolf Hitler, in an all-out gamble, launched
a largely fruitless counteroffensive. Hitler skillfully
massed significant combat power for what Atkinson
calls the “last great grapple of the Western Front.”
His objective was to regain the initiative by splitting the Allied armies with a devastating armored
thrust. American units were caught flat-footed, and
the ensuing battle, which lasted from 16 December
1944 to 25 January 1945, was the costliest engagement ever fought by the U.S. Army. The Colmar
Pocket is next to be considered, before Operations
Veritable and Grenade—the crossing of the Roer
in February-March 1945—are scrutinized. The
last battle described is the crossing of the Rhine

brilliance of The Guns
at Last Light is that it goes
well beyond simply recording
renowned battles and events.
…the

in March 1945. The German surrender and VE
Day—Victory in Europe—conclude the historical
narrative.
In many ways, the brilliance of The Guns at Last
Light is that it goes well beyond simply recording
renowned battles and events. Atkinson introduces a
cast of well-known characters—and some not-sowell-known—throughout the book, ranging from celebrated military commanders to unnamed soldiers,
sailors, and aviators. The reader relives the courage,
fear, and determination of those who prosecuted
the battle for Europe. Through these characters, the
author presents interesting anecdotes and thoughtprovoking analyses that cause the reader to pause
and reflect. Moreover, topics such as leadership,
technological sophistication, and logistics catch the
reader’s imagination and add real depth and quality
to the explication of the major battles.
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