Three Days in Hell: 7-9 June 1944

June 7, 1944. The Allies have landed in Normandy, where they have set a bridgehead : yet this one is narrow and fragile. The Canadians sprint on to Carpiquet, but their attack is crushed by Panzers of the Hitlerjugend Division that have just rejoined the frontline. Canadians and Germans are going to fight each other violently, and the tension is at its highest – some Canadian soldiers are murdered in Buron, and at the Ardenne Abbey.

June 8, 1944. The Winnipegs are crushed by a German counter-attack in Putot. Some German soldiers are executed on Hill 102, and some Canadian soldiers are executed in Audrieu and Le Mesnil-Patry. Who are the people responsible for those actions ? For the first time, the mystery is partially unveiled. Then, the crazy night attack on Bretteville-l’Orgueilleuse – some panzers will burn and light this terrible night.

June 9, 1944. The “Ribbentrop Company” attacks Norrey : seven Panther tanks are destroyed. The Hitlerjugend’s counterattack is stopped. In Norrey, this is “the accident” : shrapnel wipe out a lot of civilians. The acme of horror has been reached.

Thanks to a large number of testimonies given by the combatants and the Norman civilians – who also suffered a lot during the battle – this book offers a degree of precision never reached regarding the Battle of Normandy. The wartime and current pictures, the portraits of soldiers and civilians, the maps and the plans make this book a real movie of these “three days in hell” between Bayeux and Caen, while the frontline was still not stabilized, while the soldiers were trying to go from one enemy strongpoint to another, and while the civilians did not know where the danger was…