Battlefield Visits — German War Cemeteries
An earlier blog posting addressed the mission of the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC), which manages and operates American overseas military cemeteries, including the ten in what was the European Theater of Operations and the three in the what was the...
Miniature Wargaming and the Operational Art
This will be the first in a lengthy series of blogs on adding the Operational Art into 1944/45 miniature wargaming in Western Europe. The following terms and a simple definition of their meaning will be used throughout these blogs. Please note that these...
Battlefields — WWII US Military Cemeteries in the ETO
On all of our visits to Europe we always make a point of visiting US military cemeteries, as well as those of Britain, Canada, France, Poland, Belgium, and Germany. We have never made a trip to Normandy without spending half a day or so at the Normandy American...
Miniature Wargame Scenario: Sainte-Mère-Église
In the immediate aftermath of D-Day, both sides fought hard for possession of Sainte-Mère-Église, which would give the victor control of hard-surfaced roads leading north to the port of Cherbourg (an Operation Overlord primary objective), west to the sea and isolation...
Normandy Case Study: The Hedgerows
The terrain feature of Normandy that had the greatest impact on military operations was the dense area of hedgerows that dominated the American sector and the western part of the British Sector, an area known as the Bocage. The hedgerows of the Bocage were lines...
Normandy Case Study: Planning Your Visit to the Normandy Battlefields
Earlier blogs have addressed important considerations in planning a visit to the Normandy battlefields. Here are some suggestions and ideas specifically regarding Normandy. How to See It There are several options: as part of a group tour with lodging,...
Visit Normandy – The Importance of Battlefield Guidebooks
So after years of reading about Normandy, and maybe some wargaming, you’re looking forward to your first or a repeat trip to visit Normandy and its battlefields. After nine trips there, we feel at home in Normandy and remain in contact with friends made there. ...
Normandy Case Study: Map Reading
Blog 7 Theme — Normandy Case Study: Map Reading Maps are an essential aid to good reading, miniature gaming, and battlefield visits. It’s simply is impossible to study a battle without having a good map. Unfortunately, many authors and publishers of...
Normandy Case Study: Reading
If you are reading this blog, you’ve probably read quite a bit on the Normandy Campaign and may have an impressive library on the subject. I continue to find new books that I somehow missed earlier when they were published. A recent discovery is Robert...
Normandy: A Case Study
The campaigns of greatest interest to me in the European Theater of Operations are Normandy, Lorraine, the West Wall, and the Ardennes. This reveals my partiality toward the US Army and how its operational proficiency improved over time. Aficienados...