Category: Northern Europe to VE Day

WINSER, John de S. Coasters Go to War: Military Sailings to the Continent, 1939-1945. 144p., illus., index. Preston: Ships in Focus, 2009. ISBN: 9781901703566.

The book details the convoys, cargoes and challenges faced by almost 500 coasters of ten nationalities which supplied the Army in France and Norway in 1939-40 and again in Northern Europe from D-Day onwards.

HASTINGS, Max. Sword: D-Day Trial by Battle. xxvii, 372p., bibliog., illus., index. London: William Collins, 2025. ISBN: 9780008699758.
A grand work by a veteran chronicler of the war. Although focussed on the 6th of June landings and the battle for the beaches and beyond and on the army forces there are strong accounts of commando and Royal Marine involvement as well as some RN related material.
 

BOROWIAK, Mariusz & WYTYKOWSKI, Peter. U-Boot’s Escape to South America: Secret of the Gray Wolves. 168p., bibliog., illus. Lublin: Kagero, 2019. ISBN: 9788366148239.

A revisionist history which examines the many myths surrounding German submarines transporting goods, treasure and senior Nazis to Argentina at the end of the war. Based on numerous unpublished documents and focused on the sagas of U-530 and U-977, this is a useful antidote to the tales of conspiracy theorists. Very poorly edited which makes some of the text difficult to follow.

HAWKINS, Desmond. War Report: A Record of Dispatches Broadcast by the BBC's War Correspondents with the Allied Expeditionary Force 6 June 1944 - 5 May 1945. 452p., illus. London: Oxford University Press, 1946.

The reports were broadcast live from the front by a group of now legendary reporters. Transcripts of some two dozen reports are included with much background information and some relevant naval material. Reprinted in paperback by Ariel Books in 1985 (ISBN: 0563204214). A revised edition was published by BBC Books in 1994 (ISBN: 0563370998) with the new sub-title Radio Reports from the Western Front 1944-45. A revised and expanded edition was then published in 2014 by BBC Books (ISBN: 9781849907767), with an introduction by John Simpson and the new sub-title BBC Dispatches From the Front Line, 1944-45.

CARRUTHERS, Bob. Hitler’s Forgotten Armies: Combat in Norway and Finland. 382p., illus., index. Slough: Archive Media Publishing, 2012. ISBN: 9781781580998.

An official study of German operations in Norway and Finland, seeking lessons from their experience of an amphibious attack and of Arctic warfare. Based in large part on captured German military and naval records it covers firstly the campaign in Denmark and Norway in 1940 and secondly the campaign in Finland against the Russians in 1941-45. Originally published by the US Department of the Army in 1960 and entitled The German Northern Theater of Operations 1940-1945, with Earl F. Ziemke as author, q.v.

ZIEMKE, Earl F. The German Northern Theater of Operations, 1940–1945. (Department of the Army Pamphlet, No. 20-271). xi, 342p., illus., index. Washington: Department of the Army, 1960

An official study of operations in Norway and Finland, seeking lessons from the German experience of an amphibious attack and of Arctic warfare. Based in large part on captured German military and naval records it covers firstly the campaign in Denmark and Norway in 1940 and secondly the campaign in Finland against the Russians in 1941-45. Reprinted in 2009 by the Naval and Military Press, ISBN: 9781843425038. It was then republished in 2012  as Hitler’s Forgotten Armies: Combat in Norway and Finland, edited by Bob Carruthers, q.v., ISBN:  9781781580998.     

MACE, Martin & GREHAN, John. Liberating Europe: D-Day to Victory 1944-1945. xiv, 226p., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2014. ISBN: 9781783462155.

Reprints six despatches from the London Gazette with a brief introduction, namely 38045, the Dieppe Raid; 38110, the Assault Phase of the Normandy Landings; 38111, the Liberation of Europe (Operation Overlord), Operations of Coastal Command; 38204, Air Operations by the Allied Expeditionary Air Force in North West Europe 1943-44; 38171, the Final Stages of the Naval War in North West Europe; 37711, Operations in North West Europe from 6 June 1944, to 5 May 1945.

IVESON, Tony & MILTON, Brian. The Lancaster and the Tirpitz 256p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Andre Deutsch, 2014. ISBN: 9780233004303

Written by a former Squadron Leader of the 617 'Dam Busters' Squadron, who took part in the Lancaster-bomber raid that finally sank the Tirpitz in November 1944, this was published to commemorate the raid's 70th anniversary. Full of first-hand memories that make this a very vivid account of the action.

NEILLANDS, Robin. The Battle of Normandy 1944. 456p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Cassell, 2002. ISBN: 034358371.

Looks at the battles after the landings and so is of marginal naval interest.

THOMAS, Graham A. Attack on the Scheldt: Allied Operations in Northern Europe 1944. viii, 212 pages, bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2017. ISBN: 9781473850675.

Based on operational reports and eyewitness accounts this reviews the battles to gain access to the key port of Antwerp.

DELAFORCE, Patrick. Smashing the Atlantic Wall: The Destruction of Hitler’ Coastal Fortresses 240p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Cassell, 2001. ISBN: 0304361631.

A little remarked area was the progressive capture of the ports which allowed the Allies to push north.

The fall of Cherbourg was in part due to naval bombardment.

PREISLER, Jerome & SEWELL, Kenneth. Code Name Caesar: The Secret Hunt for U-Boat 864 During World War II. 304p., bibliog., illus. London: Souvenir Press, 2013: New York: Berkley, 2012. ISBN: 9780285642027.

Describes the undersea battle between U 864 and HMS Venturer off the Norwegian coast in February 1945, shortly after the Enigma code was uncovered, resulting in the only sinking of one submarine by another in underwater combat.

EDWARDS, Kenneth. Operation Neptune. 319p., illus., index. London: Collins, 1946.

Excellent coverage of the naval side of Overlord. Also covers the clearing of the Channel ports and the Walcheren landings. A basic secondary source. A revised edition was published by Fonthill in 2012 as Operation Neptune: The Logistics and Support for the Normandy Landings (ISBN: 1781551278).     

ATKINSON, Rick. The Guns at Last Light: the War in Western Europe, 1944-1945 (The Liberation Trilogy, 3). xi, 877p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Little Brown; New York: Holt, 2013. ISBN: 0316725595.

The last volume in this excellent trilogy covers the land war in north west Europe in 1944-45 with due recognition of the relevant naval components.

The first account of this neglected campaign.

The land battle to open the Scheldt and the port of Antwerp, including the Walcheren landing.

A good solid operational history from an unusual perspective.

HMCS St John and EG9 sank U 309 in the Moray Firth in February 1945. This tells the story of the ships, the action and the wreck as it lies today.

A lively general account based principally on secondary sources.

One of the last but most dramatic acts of the naval war, the story of how the surrender was handled has never been treated at length before. This book uncovers much new material about the process itself and the ruthless aftermath for both the crews and their boats.

The liberation of the city and the opening of the Scheldt in 1944. Also contains a comparative review of the 1915 landings at Gallipoli.