(See all my Book Reviews) – Author & historian Mark Forsdike (https://www.markforsdike.com/) published the book “Fighting Through to Hitler’s Germany” in 2020. This is Mr. Forsdike’s first book.
I received an ARC of this novel through https://www.netgalley.com in return for a fair and honest review. I categorize this novel as ‘R’ because it contains scenes of Violence. The story begins with D-Day in June 1944.
The book follows the British 1st Battalion, The Suffolk Regiment. Part of the book goes back to when the unit escaped France at Dunkirk, but the book mostly focuses on D-Day and afterwards. The book follows the 1st as it makes its way through France, Holland, and into Germany. By that time it is part of the 3rd (British) Infantry Division.
The British generals called upon this unit time after time to ‘get the job done’. As a result, the 1st suffered heavy casualties. Of the 850 who landed with the Battalion on D-Day, just 178 were still serving on VE-Day. More than 200 had died and 640 were wounded in 11 months of combat.
I enjoyed the 9+ hours I spent reading this 304-page history book. While the book was on a British unit, it reminded me a lot of Band of Brothers. Many officers are mentioned only to find that they were later killed in action. There was also a great deal about the movement of the 1st Battalion. I found it interesting to follow them on a map of Europe while I read. I like the chosen cover art. I give this book a 5 out of 5.
My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31181778-john-purvis).
Further Reading / Listening
- History Extra Podcast 5/29/14 D-Day
If you are interested in the WWII era of history, you may find these three pages of interest.
- The “World War II Sources” page is a constantly growing collection of more than 410 links to museums, memorials, websites, Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, and other sources with information on the World War II-era in history.
- The “World War II Timeline” page expands almost daily and shows events leading up to WWII, as well as during the war. Events are broken down into the Pacific and European Theaters by date.
- The About WWII page is a collection of links to posts that I have made over the years that are relevant to WWII.
John's Notes 