Osprey is a publishing house in the United Kingdom that should be familiar to most modelers, historians, and military history buffs. They have several ongoing series that tackle a variety of topics, including famous campaigns in military history. The 278th volume of their campaign series tackles the capture of the French port city of Cherbourg in June, 1944. The author of the volume is one of Osprey’s most prolific, Steven J. Zaloga. The illustrator of the color plates is Steve Noon. At 93 pages of text, this is a fairly standard length for this series.

As with other volumes in the campaign series, they follow an established formula in terms chapter layout and content. Each volume as several color plates, illustrating certain moments in the campaign; a variety of maps illustrating strategic and tactical views of the campaign, black and white photographs and several color layouts that provide modern views of some of the fortifications that surround Cherbourg. There are many photographs that I have not seen before, in particular of the French armor appropriated by the Germans used to defend the approaches to Cherbourg. A very welcome addition indeed. The campaign series has a standard chapter layout:

• Introduction
• Chronology
• Opposing Commanders
• Opposing Forces
• Opposing Plans
• The Campaign
• Aftermath
• The Battlefield Today

The chapters support the narrative and are helpful in building a concise narrative for an important campaign.

Anyone familiar with the overall scope of the landings in Normandy and the subsequent consolidation of the beachhead is familiar with the capture of Fortress Cherbourg. Located at the top of the Cotentin Peninsula and lying north of the American invasion beaches, it was an important objective in the opening stages of the invasion. The decision to land in Normandy meant that Cherbourg was the only substantial port within reach of the Allies. As with any operational plan, in the immediate aftermath of the landings, and the need to consolidate the bridgeheads, a quick dash to the port city was not feasible.

Hitler’s penchant for demanding German forces to hold territory and defend it to the last man was very much apparent in the Cherbourg campaign. Manned by static fortress divisions that did not have a great deal of mobility, once the Americans cut Cherbourg off from reinforcement, there was little choice but to defend the city. For myself, the most interesting part of this story were the fierce battles in the weeks after D-Day to prevent the Americans from cutting off the Peninsula. Once the city was isolated, the campaign to clear the city began.

Surrounded by older French fortifications, reinforced and enhanced by German engineers, the landward side of the fortress city was defended, but still under construction. Unable to hold the perimeter, most of the fighting occurred at various strongpoints scattered throughout the city. In spite of impressive numbers of troops, the Germans could not hold the city for any length of time and it fell to the Americans by the 27 of June. The German resistance lasted long enough for naval engineers to thoroughly demolish the port facilities, which took several weeks to reopen before cargo could be unloaded.

Steven Zalgoa’s name should be a synonym for concise and compelling works of military history. Along with his other volumes on the Normandy invasion, the campaign to capture Cherbourg is a welcome addition to the Osprey stable. My only criticism, are the individual battle maps. The print and map labels are very small print. For myself, I find them very hard to read and decipher. For a modeler, that photographs and color plates offer a wealth of ideas for dioramas; for the casual reader in military history, a concise account of important chapter in the invasion of Europe.

My thanks to IPMS, and Osprey Publishing for giving me the opportunity to review this book.