C'est une magnifique publication, riche en prose et en photographie. Présentée en français, mon manque de maîtrise du français me fait passer à côté de la qualité de la prose, mais la photographie ne nécessite pas de traduction précise.

In English - This is a magnificent publication, rich in prose and photography. Presented in the French language, my lack of command of French means that I am missing out on the quality of the prose, but the photography and the captions for the images does not require precise translation.

While the book is in the French language, some ability to read and understand French would be extremely helpful. My command of French is, at best, that of a six-year old. But even with a remarkably disappointing ability to speak and write in French, I found that the captions of the photographs were not at all difficult to roughly translate and to understand. When all else fails, one can seek an online translation tool.

This publication is the second of three publications that are currently available on the Hiemdal website. Volume 1 covers the story of the 2nd Panzer Division in 1935 through the fighting at Rauray and in the Cheux area in June of 1944. That first Tome was reviewed by IPMS.

For those who have a limited French vocabulary, it is possible to follow the text to varying degrees by simply reading the text slowly and using accompanying images to provide helpful guidance as to the meaning of the text. This being the case for this reviewer, the organization of information was presented mostly in chronological fashion, with support from the images, maps, and documents the author had uncovered during the research phase of his preparation for publication. The book goes into remarkable detail about the personalities of those in command. Also covered in detail are descriptions of the vehicles being used by the 2nd Panzer Division and the positive or negative attributes of these weapons.

For those who model armor and for those who model figures of German soldiers of W.W.II, this book is rich in reference material.

“Tome II” (Volume II) covers the 2nd Panzer Division from July 1 (1er juillet) through August 12, 1944 (12 aout 1944).

Table of Contents

Sommarie (Summary, aka Table of Contents)

Transition - Page 4

• Apres 20 jours de combat (After 20 days of fighting) - Page 16

Westlich Caen

Panzer en detachement. ( Panzer on detachment)

• Panther a Noyers - Page 32
• Jagdpanzer IV – cote 112 (Hill 112) - Page 64
• Defense Ectot/Hottot - Page 70

Stellungskrieg face a face a Caumont (face to face in Caumont)

• H.K.L Caumont - Page 84
• La Vacquerie - Page 100
• Lignes arriere (Rear Lines) - Page 116

Kampfgruppe Kohn et Koch

• Saint-Andre/Saint Martin - Page 132

Kampfgruppe Sterz

• May-sur-Orne - Page 150

Front De Vire

• Vers la Manche (Toward the Channel) - Page 168
• Moyon- la Denisiere - Page 186
• Le Mesnil-Opac et Troisgots - Page 204
• Tessy-sur-Vire - Page 212
• Le couloir des Pz.Kpfw.IV - Page 230

Panzer Objectif Avranches Kampfgruppen Schake et von Meyer

• Zur Avranches - Page 252
• Le Mesnil-Adelee - Page 266
• Le Mesnil-Tove - Page 280

De Moyon a Tessy-sur-Vire

• Vers Falaise - Page 302

Annexes

• Feld-Ersatz-Bataillon 82 - Page 304

Regardless of one’s ability to speak French, this publication has hundreds of images of the men and equipment that were involved in the combat covered between July 1 and August 12th. Along with these stunning images, there are maps which are of great assistance in gaining a bird’s eye view of the fighting. The book also contains a large number of color illustrations of some of the vehicles that are seen in the B&W images.

This book is recommended for several reasons. The photographs are stunning. Those who model armor and those who are “figure” fans have a treasure chest of sharply focused, clear, and detailed images available to them. I am of the opinion that it is not necessary to be fluent in French to find this book worthwhile and very enjoyable.

Merci à Casemate et Heimdal d'avoir fourni cette excellente publication à IPMS / USA pour examen.

(Thanks to Casemate and Heimdal for providing this excellent publication to IPMS/USA for review.)