1944, Americans in Brittany - the battle for Brest (Relié)

Considered by many of the participants to have been the most intense combat in Europe, the Americans of the 2nd, 8th and 29th Infantry Divisions faced elite German paratroopers in the bitterly contested fight for the Brittany ports. The German defenders were under command of the renowned Paratroop General Ramcke, who was ordered by Hitler to hold to the last man. The cavalrymen of Task Force A and the 4th and 6th Armored Divisions played a major role in slicing through the German defenses.

The Brittany campaign became a textbook example of the value of armored units exploiting a breakthrough. For a few days in the summer of 1944, the world's attention was on the American breakout into Brittany, then the focus shifted to the encirclement of the German Army in the Falaise pocket and the fighting in Brittany was forgotten. Noted military historian Jonathan Gawne, author of Spearheading D-Day, takes a new look at this European campaign, which has been ignored for too long.

Official reports, interwoven with the memories of veterans, bring this important struggle to life. Long thought of as a sideshow, Gawne makes a case for a renewed study of the action, which may have had a far-reaching impact on the Allied supply situation.

Heavily illustrated with period photos, uniform reconstructions, maps, and tables of organization, this book provides a long sought overview of the American involvement in this bitterly contested fight.