The Gentle Infantryman - Softcover

Boyd, Bill

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1586190482 ISBN 13: 9781586190484

Publisher: Elton Wolf Pub, 2003

Synopsis

The ground war on the mainland of Europe began on D-Day, June 6, 1944. After the initial ferocity of the Normandy invasion came the summer's grim deadlilnes in the hedgerows. The subsequent Allied breakout and dash across France was followed by the battles at the gates of Germany that occupied the entire autumn of 1944.

Winter set in. Spring promised a new Allied asault that would sweep into Germany from the west. But the Germans did not intend to wait for spring.

In the middle of December, they struck with three Panzer armies in the Ardennes. The attack was swift and unexpected and drove a "bulge" into the American line. The bitter winter turned brutal as armies surged back and forth, leaving trails of blood in the snow.

The Germans struck again, this time in Alsace. They hit hard against a thin line. They attacked with Panzers, SS infantry, and crack paratroops. Again, the Americans fought back with a valiant desperation, throwing in all their reserves; now, in the first days of January 1945, they had emptied their infantry replacement depots from Le Havre to the Ardennes and from Marseilles to Alsace. Everything they had was on the line.

About this title

About the Author:

William Young Boyd graduated from Phillips Academy, Andover and Yale University. During World War II, he fought through the campaigns in the Alsace, the Siegfried Line, Wurzburg, Schweinfurt, Nuremburg, the Danube and Munich. In addition to being an accomplished author, he is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Boyd Steamship Corporation.

Review:

"In understated yet always vigorous metaphor and image, Boyd, himself a veteran of World War II, describes the fright, the carnage, the courage and the cowardice, and the prayers and luck of men in combat. Despite the many revisionist accounts of the last 40 years, this is a compelling book." -Publishers Weekly

About this edition

• Publisher: Elton Wolf Pub
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 1586190482
• ISBN 13: 9781586190484
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 346