Almost all accounts of D Day are told from the Allied perspective. But what was it like to be a German soldier in the bunkers of the Nromandy coast, facing the onslaught of the mightiest invasion in history? What motivated the German defenders, what were their thought processes - and how did they fight from one strong point to another, among the dunes and fields, on that first cataclysmic day? This book sheds fascinating light on these questions, bringing together statements made by German survivors after the war, when time had allowed them to reflect on their state of mind, their actions and their choices of June 6th. We see a perspective of D Day which deserves to be added to the historical record, in which ordinary German troops struggled to make sense of what was facing them, and emerged stunned at the weaponry and sheer determination of the Allied troops. Above all, we now have the unheard human voices of the individual German soldiers - the men who are so often portrayed as a faceless mass.

Book One. Introduction to Book One -- Utah Beach: The 'Tobruk' Soldier -- Omaha Beach: The Resistance Point Gunner -- Gold Beach: The Bunker Lookout -- Juno Beach: The Goliath Engineer -- Sword Beach: The Battery Officer -- Postscript to Book One. Book Two. Introduction to Book Two. -- The Concrete Panzer -- The Luftwaffe Pilot -- The Troops in the Observation Point -- The Military Police -- The Infantry in the Houses -- The Airborne Troops -- The Stug Crew -- The Wonder Weapon -- Postscript to Book Two.