Assault division - Norman Scarfe

This book, first published in 1947 and therefore not reliant on secondhand sources, details the full story of one Division, the 3rd, from its preparations for the Normandy landings through to the reduction of the city of Bremen and the surrender of Germany. The author, who served in the Division, is able to describe events from the point of view of the fighting man. This is a true classic of military writing and a book of major importance. It is the story of their training for the amphibious assault on Hitler's 'Atlantic Wall', very thoroughly planned and rehearsed in the months before D-Day. The Division's commander at the outset of the war was 'Monty' Maj-General B L Montgomery, who was succeeded by Maj-General T G Rennie, and Bolo Whistler, a distinguished armoured brigade commander from the North African campaign. The Division's assault on Sword Beach on D-Day was remarkably successful, though the follow through to take the city of Caen that day proved altogether too 'aspirational' for one division. Later in the campaign, the 3rd Division was particularly proud of its conduct in the battles for Overloon and Venraij, and in the even more intense fighting between the Maas and the Rhine.