| Book Review: “Saving the Breakout” Saving the Breakout: The 30th Division's Heroic Stand at Mortain, August 7-12, 1944 I borrowed this book from a friend. He had made several offers to lend it to me but I am hesitant to borrow anything belonging to anyone else. I finally agreed to read it, simply because he was there when it happened. Much notoriety is given to the Allied invasion of Normandy in the summer of 1944. A number of books and movies detail the dangers and death that struck the Allied effort on the French beaches. But as many don’t know, the German command made a special attempt to cut the Allies in half by pushing a counterattack via Mortain, France. The 30th Infantry Division was the main group of GI’s who bore the brunt of the combined artillery, tank and infantry attacks that pushed into Mortain. The Germans threw the 47th Panzer Corp with one and a half SS Panzer Divisions and two Wehrmacht Panzer Divisions at the 30th. The morning of the German attacks featured a fog that would not burn off until late morning in some areas, depriving the Americans of vital air support until later that day. In small groups, some with the 5” Anti-tank gun, the GI’s valiantly fought off superior numbers of men and equipment. Later called “America’s SS Troops” by German propaganda radio, the 30th showed courage and ingenuity in stopping an advance that could have pushed the Allies back to the beaches on the coast. Written by Alwyn Featherston, this recounting of American valor is from interviews with the participants, the survivors of Hitler’s first attempt to repel the Allies in Northern France. (When discussing this with my friend, I asked him exactly where he was in the fighting. I got the answer I expected, that he didn’t know exactly where he was, the officers did but all he knew was small roadways, and farm areas, but “we lost a lot of men there”). Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Presidio Press; First edition (June 1, 1993) Other books of
military history I recommend: |