The U.S. invasion of Southern France in August of 1944 has always been overshadowed by the Normandy invasion and even the slow advance up the Italian penisula.
Jeff Danby remedies that lack of attention, somewhat, in his book, “The Day of the Panzer.”
Danby, whose grandfather commanded a tank crew in the campaign, writes about the invasion from the beaches on Day One, but spotlights a later, nasty firefight at the French village of Allan.
Danby has a good overall grasp of the campaign, from its relatively easy beach landings to the lightning advance as rapidly retreating German units, many of lesser quality, desperately tried to escape encirclement.
Many made it out of southern France to fight again in the north, in part because of the determined German delaying action at Allan.
Danby personalizes his story,taking you into the personal lives of many of the American GIs. He also interviews French civilians in the area and points out some of the contributions of the local Free French forces.
Noticeably absent is the German perspective, both strategic and personal. That weakens the book’s impact.
“The Day of the Panzer” is a solid read about an often ignored “side theater” of the war.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Politics
Daschle's tax problems. Explain to me how the Democrats and the new administration are going to clean the stables.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Down South
Notorious moonshiner sentenced to hard time. Why would anyone ingest anything made by that dude?
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
The monster state never sleeps
Who thinks this stuff up for Bloomberg and how long before our local pols jump on the bandwagon ... for our benefit, of course?
RIP
A Billy Powell fan wasted no time. He was a driving force in one of the great bands of all time.
Stuff
Whitfield County is a hotspot for coyotes now. Maybe we can bring this fellow in to take care of business. like Eastwood in "High Plains Drifter."
Movies
Del Toro, Soderberg give Che a spitited defense, which is more than many of his victims received.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Politics
Maureen Dowd blames the Clintons for destroying the Caroline Kennedy Senate gift. Dowd doesn't spend much time on Kennedy's qualifications -- they are scant -- but she's hopping mad at Bill and Hill and the current governor of NY. Dowd is furious, among other things, that the new senator agrees with the Supreme Court, and our Founding Fathers, that law abiding citizens can pack heat. Mostly though I suspect she's just pals with the spurned Ms. Kennedy.
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