Description
Book SynopsisErnest ‘Andy’ Andrews began his training as a machine gunner at Fort McClellan in Alabama in July 1943. In early 1944, he arrived in the UK for further training before D-Day, ahead of the 1st Infantry Division deploying on the evening of June 5th on the USS Henrico. Due to a problem with his landing craft, Andrews only reached Omaha Beach on the early evening of June 6th, but his experience was still a harrowing one. Fighting in Normandy, he was nicked by a bullet and evacuated to England in late July when the wound became infected, before returning to participate in the Normandy breakout. Following the race across France in late August, he participated in the rout of several retreating German units near Mons, Belgium, and his outfit approached Aachen in mid-September. For a month, Andrews’ squad defended a bunker position in the Siegfried Line against repeated German attacks, then after Aachen surrendered, the unit fought its way through the Hurtgen Forest to take Hill 232. Early on the morning of November 19th, he engaged in his toughest battle of the war as the Germans attempted to retake Hill 232, where he was again wounded.
After surgery and a month’s convalescence he rejoined H Company in time to fight in the Battle of the Bulge. His unit then participated in the fast-moving Roer to the Rhine campaign, then the battle to expand the Remagen bridgehead. Breaking out from the Remagen bridgehead, Andrews’ squad stumbled on a German tank unit and this time he narrowly escaped death. Following a rapid advance up to the Paderborn area, the unit raced to Germany’s Harz Mountains, where the Wehrmacht was trying to organize a last stand. They ended the war fighting in Czechoslovakia, where Andrews witnesses the German surrender in early May. Following occupation duty, he returned to the States in October 1945.
This vivid first-hand account takes the reader along from Normandy to victory with Andy Andrews and his machine-gun crew. The war shaped the author’s postwar life in countless ways, and in 1994, he made the first of three return visits to the European battlefields where he had fought.
Trade Review[O]ffers a treasure trove of the daily experiences of soldiers in the field. The book is accessible to a broad audience, but its level of detail will make it useful to specialists as well. * Michigan War Studies Review 11/01/2023 *
[Andrews'] narrative is clear and engaging and his descriptions detailed and interesting. This work presents an unobstructed view of the war from an infantryman's point of view. * WWII History 11/11/2022 *
Table of ContentsTABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE FOREWORD INTRODUCTION PROLOGUE: PRELUDE TO INVASION (Dawn, June 1 - 8:30 a.m., June 6, 1944) CHAPTER ONE: EASY RED BEACH (8:30 a.m., June 6 - Night, June 6-7) CHAPTER TWO: HEADING TOWARD WAR (July 1923 - July 12, 1943) CHAPTER THREE: FORT McCLELLAN (July 12 - Early August, 1943) CHAPTER FOUR: TRAINING AS MACHINE GUNNERS (Early August, 1943 - January 17, 1944) CHAPTER FIVE: ENGLAND (January 17, 1944 - June 1, 1944) CHAPTER SIX: THE BATTLE FOR NORMANDY (June 7 - July 27, 1944) CHAPTER SEVEN: VICTORY IN NORMANDY (July 27 - August 25, 1944) CHAPTER EIGHT: THE RACE ACROSS FRANCE (August 25 - September 7, 1944) CHAPTER NINE: TO THE GERMAN FRONTIER (September 7 - 14, 1944) CHAPTER TEN: THE STOLBERG CORRIDOR (September 14 - 23, 1944) CHAPTER ELEVEN: ON THE SIEGFRIED LINE (September 23 - October 22, 1944) CHAPTER TWELVE: THE HÜRTGEN FOREST (October 22 - November 18, 1944) CHAPTER THIRTEEN: HILL 232 (November 18 - 19, 1944) CHAPTER FOURTEEN: A BREAK FROM WAR (November 19 - December 22, 1944) CHAPTER FIFTEEN: THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE (Dec. 22, 1944 - Jan. 15, 1945) CHAPTER SIXTEEN: WINTER WAR (January 15 - February 6, 1945) CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: THE ROER TO THE RHINE (February 6 - March 18, 1945) CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: BREAKOUT FROM REMAGEN (March 18 - April 6, 1945) CHAPTER NINETEEN: THE HARZ TO CZECHOSLOVAKIA (April 6 - May 9, 1945) CHAPTER TWENTY: PEACE (May 9 - October 19, 1945) EPILOGUE: THE POSTWAR YEARS (October 19, 1945 - Present) A Word to the Hürtgen Forest FINAL NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
