audiobook Siegfried Line 1944–45: Battles on the German frontier (Campaign) by Steven J. Zaloga in History

Review

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Great Quick Notes for the U.S. Army CampaignBy George T. MacknightAs the U.S. Army defines the Siegfried Line; Zaloga and Osprey have done an excellent job of boiling down the essence into less than 100 pages. I consider it a good addition to the Osprey Library and to my own.Certainly the 600+ page official Army history of this campaign; "United States Army in World War II: The European Theater of Operations - The Siegfried Line Campaign" by Charles B. MacDonald; is a more in-depth and definitive study (available used and new from the U.S. Government Printing Office). However; that said; Zaloga has produced an excellent Cliff Notes version of the official history. In typical Osprey Fashion; the book has excellent illustrations; maps; and photographs. There is even a photo of Kesternich that others and I have tried to pry from the hands of NARA and have failed ...so; once again; many kudos on the photos!I take exception to the comment that the book is all about Aachen. It is not. I covers the "official" designation of the campaign quite well. Perhaps others will be disappointed that it does not spend more time of the German Westwall fortifications. (See Osprey's "Germany's West Wall - The Siegfried Line for details on the construction of the fortifications themselves.) Or; perhaps it is felt by some that all the combat along the Siegfried Line; which stretched from Nijmegen in the Netherlands to Basil in Switzerland; was not portrayed. However; Zaloga has stayed within the bounds of the "official" U.S. Army History and has written a very creditable account.Perhaps Osprey's "The Rhineland" by Ken Ford would satisfy those with a desire for a greater scope of the fighting along the German Western Frontier. Or; Osprey's "Arnhem 1944" by Badsey in the north or "Lorrraine 1944" by Zaloga in the south would fulfill those wishing a broader scope. Maybe I'm sounding like an Osprey salesman; I'm not; but I do have to admit that what they have done with military history is one of the great publishing feats of our time.My one wish is that this book would have one of those Great Osprey illustrated aerial perspective maps of the Huertgen like the one in "The Rhineland."1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Excellent Summary of a Costly; Hard Fought CampaignBy Dave SchranckThe book begins with a one page introduction that will suffice for most people. Additional information is given in the "Strategic Situation" that could be considered an introduction as well. The following Chronology is good with coverage starting Sept 11th when the recon patrol of 5th AD crossed into Germany and ends on Dec 16th when the Ardennes Offensive begins. In the Strategic section; the author describes the setbacks starting in late July that helped caused the poor condition the German 7th; 15th and 19th Armies was currently in. The setbacks include the Roncey pocket; Falaise pocket; the Seine crossing and the Mons pocket. The Allies thought the Germans were finished and Eisenhower permitted Montgomery to launch Market-Garden. The operation failed misably; costing thousands of lives but it also impacted supplies to US 1st Army at a time when it was trying to breach the West Wall.Opposing Commanders was very good; the coverage of General Schwerin on the German side and General Corlett on the American side was particularly welcomed. In Opposing Armies; the author explains how the German 7th Army was rebuilt and includes a list of divisions now included in the 7th Army. On the US side; the US 1st Army made up by V; VII and XIX Corps. In Opposing Plans; the major Allied objective was to capture the Ruhr industrial area but first had to capture Aachen and its corridor to the Roer River. On the German side the only plan was to keep the enemy out of Germany but that became doubly important with the upcoming Ardennes Offensive.Aachen was fiercely defended and the author does a good job of covering the two step process in encircling and then capturing the historical city. The city was captured on Oct 21st and the Allies will then launch their next operation to reach the Roer River and its important dams. Operation Queen is a multi Corps advance through the Hurtgen Forest in order to capture several important towns and to build bridgeheads on the east bank of the river.Even with limited space; Mr Zaloga covers Operation Queen very well; showing the different divisions advancing on Hurtgen; Grosshau and Schmidt in the south; Duren in the center and Julich and Brachelen in the north. The fighting in the dense forest that the Germans had years to fortify was horrific. The Americans had 48000 casualties and by mid December still hadn't captured the Roer River. The author clearly shows the US command structure was aware of the high casualties but did little to change tactics and reduce casualties. Both Hodges and Collins were veterans of the Argonne Forest debacle of 1918; you would think avoidance of that happening again would be high on their list but it wasn't. Once again; Hodges employs a wide front assault throughout the huge forest and the thin line was not enough to quickly turn the enemy. Its been suggested that a narrow overwhelming force would have done much better.There are five 2-D maps and my initial impression was very good. Upon further study; most of the maps could be improved a little by showing troop movements in greater detail. I also consider a map is missing; it could have replaced the first map showing the entire front. The map would cover the West Wall east to the Roer River and from just south of Schmidt to Brachelen in the north. Showing the entire battle field on one map would ease the learning process of the many different engagements that occurred and prevent the reader from flipping from one map to another. The coordination of all eight maps could have been a little better. The three 3-D maps were OK. This criticism is really trivial; just wishful thinking for these 2-D maps are also used as a guideline when reading other books of the campaign. The three battle scenes were excellent.In "Retrospect"; the author quotes the German; General Gersdorf; as saying the battle for the Hurtgen Forest was the primary reason why they lost the Ardennes Offensive. If this is true; it lessens to a small extent; the guilt and pain of losing so many men in Hurtgen.The author provides and excellent reading list. The books by MacDonald; Rush and Yeide are especially relevant. This summary is highly recommended.8 of 9 people found the following review helpful. Where's the Siegfried Line in here?By N. TrachtaI picked up this book because I have a great interest in the battles that took place in the Hurtgenwald and along the Siegfried Line. This time though I was a little disappointed in the work. Why you ask. Well; Mr. Zaloga did a little deception on us. Rather than telling us about the battles for the Siegfried Line (I was hoping for the battles all along the front honestly); Mr. Zaloga focused on the battles for Aachen and the towns surrounding Aachen. The chapters follow the traditional Osprey Campaign format. What I should have looked at though was the section titled The Campaign. In there; Mr. Zaloga tells us what his focus was; The First Battle of Aachen; North of Aachen; Encircling Aachen; the Second Battle of Aachen; Prelude to Operation Queen (really this was the 28th ID's battle for Schmidt; covered very nicely in Follow Me And Die); Operation Queen; Operation Clipper; and Operation Queen: the December Cleanup. Incase you couldn't tell; focus was on the taking of Aachen rather than on the Siegfried Line.Ok; I've complained enough about how this book should have been labeled the Aachen Campaign. As always; Osprey has great photographs and drawings. I've questioned several of the labels on the pictures (I've seen then labeled differently in other books); specifically the tank destroyers on page 68; but who knows; I can't make out the markings and I wasn't there. For the different sections; Mr. Zagola's strongest were dealing with Operations Queen and Clipper. I was highly disappointed in his section on the 28th ID. He failed to mention Lt. Fleig; the conditions labored under; or how 5th Corp directed the attack to occur. I also found his description on the battles for Aachen to be weak. Sorry.Rating wise; this book is a 3 star book. My reasons for this includes; limited mentioning of how units breached the Siegfried Line (I wanted to read about the change in tactics); not identifying that the book focused on operations around Aachen; and minor inaccuracies.