D-Day - 6 June 1944 - was the largest amphibious invasion in the history of warfare. The statistics of D-Day, codenamed Operation Overlord, are staggering. The Allies used over 5,000 ships and landing craft to land more than 150,000 troops on five beaches in Normandy. The landings marked the start of a long and costly campaign in north west Europe, which ultimately convinced the German high command that defeat was inevitable.

One can only imagine the horror that awaited the allied forces, with some soldiers shot exiting landing craft. Others were drowned in the waters of the Bay of the Seine, weighted down by their equipment. On the beach, the soldiers crossed open sand with ridges and water filled troughs, exposed to gunfire. They also had to maneuver around man-made seawalls covered in razor wire.
After years of planning, it was D-Day - the allied invasion had begun.

In the three months after the landings, the Allies who had survived were tasked with launching a series of additional offensives to try and advance further inland. Not all of these ops were successful as they faced strong and determined German resistance.

This then is the backdrop for our fictional story of three protagonists - former school mates from South Wales - one in an armoured regiment and two in an infantry battalion.

James was the school cricket captain. Now, a few short years later, he is in charge of a troop of Sherman tanks.

Mark, just nineteen, must lead a platoon of infantrymen into battle.

And Bill, always something of a loner, sees the heart of the fighting as a private soldier.

Not much more than boys really, but will these lads survive to manhood? Sadly, one thing’s for certain, in the normally beautiful and peaceful landscape of Normandy, they face the most unimaginable horrors as combatants of one of the bloodiest and most brutal parts of the Normandy campaign, sometimes for very small territorial gains. Every field, every ravaged wood and orchard, every little house of every little village had to be fought for, then fought for again as the inevitable counter attacks came in.

Though fictional, ‘Hill 112’ is based on real events and records, and reminiscences of those who were there, and is published to coincide with the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

It gives an accurate, albeit terrifying insight, into how it really felt to be part of that campaign, gets right inside hearts and minds, and the effect that it had, both physically and mentally on those involved. Despite the horrors, the banter and camaraderie are evident and provide something of a release from all the madness and mayhem, albeit momentarily, for our protagonists. Unsurprisingly, there were times when no one was in the mood for talking at all, their minds quietly trying to process the horrors that they were experiencing.
A stupendous read, that follows three characters, placed at the heart of one of the biggest battles in history. Simply Superb!

My Thoughts /

First and foremost, a huge THANK YOU to NetGalley, Publisher: Head of Zeus, and author Adrian Goldsworthy, for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review. Publication date is currently set for January 14, 2025.

Outlier Review Incoming

I started reading this book on April 24 and finished it on May 10 - 17 days later. If this was a library book, I would have returned it as a DNF. But as a courtesy to the author, I needed to see this one out to the (bitter) end.

I'm sitting here at my computer with a huge case of procrastination. I've washed the clothes, cleaned the house, been grocery shopping, checked work emails, and I'm still no closer to wanting to write this review. I've got 'First Dates, UK' on the television in the background and it's dawned on me that I can see a similarity….when the matched couple decide not to see each other again, then the two little doves fly away separately….or worse - one gets an arrow to the heart. That's me with this book. I thought I'd love it. But at the end, all I want to do is desperately fly away.

The title of this book captivated me from the get-go. I asked a friend of mine, "Don't think about it - just tell me what is the first thing that pops into your mind when I say, 'the Battle of Normandy'?" And she said "beaches". And, naively, that was me too. So, here's a quick history lesson. Here are 8 'need to know' things about D-Day and the Battle of Normandy:

🔹The 'D' in D-Day stands simply for 'day' and the term was used to describe the first day of any large military operation.
🔹Ground troops landed across five assault beaches - Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword.
🔹D-Day required detailed planning and was an international effort.
🔹This was the largest naval, air and land operation in history.
🔹German defences in Normandy varied in effectiveness.
🔹There is more to Normandy than just D-Day:-
🔹The importance of D-Day often overshadows the overall significance of the entire Normandy campaign. Establishing a bridgehead was critical, but it was just the first step. In the three months after D-Day, the Allies launched a series of additional offensives to try and advance further inland. These operations varied in success and the Allies faced strong and determined German resistance.
🔹The bocage - a peculiarity of the Normandy landscape characterised by sunken lanes bordered by high, thick hedgerows - was difficult to penetrate and placed the advantage with the German defenders. Yet the bloody and protracted Battle of Normandy was a decisive victory for the Allies and paved the way for the liberation of much of north-west Europe.

Back to the book. The author's writing style didn't work for me. It was extremely dense and very slow moving. As a result, I became disconnected from the story and had a hard time keeping myself interested.

Bookish Mixed Bags:

🙄 Part of the book title: - "Hill 112" - we didn't even reach the 'hill' until the 64% mark!

🙄 The sentence structure was unnecessarily verbose. For example: "So many animals were dead, and they had to clear a dozen or more dead cows to prepare their own camp. Dead cattle, dead horses, dead sheep, dead pigs were everywhere. There were probably dead people as well…"

🙄 The writing is repetitive. You now know from your history lesson above that the 'Battle of Normandy' was not ONLY fought on the beaches, but also in 'fields'. This was known as 'Hedgerow Fighting' - German forces used the hedgerows defensively, creating deadly killing fields which Allied troops had to cross. This difficult terrain forced Allied troops to reevaluate tactics and come up with creative solutions for clearing the Bocage of German forces. This difficult situation slowed down progress in Normandy for the invading armies. Unfortunately for this reader, the author exhausted my tolerance for the word 'field' and 'hedge'; by describing every, single, field and hedge in Normandy.

🙄 This then leads on to my next mixed bag. It's way too long. Tighter editing is required before final publishing next year, otherwise, it's going to be a prolonged and tedious account of British tanks moving from field to field. Slim it down and deal with the repetition.

Bookish Yays:

🤩 The theme was interesting, though the execution was clumsy, the author did well to provide the basis of an interesting story.

🤩 The author has obviously done his research. The proper terminology of military equipment, rank structure, and tactical and strategic contact was appreciated.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The preparations and then the first 30 days following D Day as seen through the eyes of three school friends. Now fighting in both infantry and a tank crew and of different ranks this story tells of the struggles, the suffering and the horror of warfare as the Allied forces attempt to first land on the Normandy beaches and then start to fight their way inland.
An extremely good read.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for an unbiased and honest review.

I can definitely see this book being read in a college setting. Mr. Goldsworthy clearly knowns his facts about the era and it's easy to get immersed in the time period because of that. I think this is also evident in the way the characters speak. The "chapters" are also broken up by the time and setting which I think is very cleaver. I think that will help readers understand exactly where they are in the story.

Hill 112 (A novel of 1944) is a stunning tale of ordinary young men doing extraordinary things in such circumstances and under such stress scarcely imaginable to those who weren’t there. The narrative thread of the days before and the weeks after the D-Day Landings in Normandy, France on 6 June 1944 is linked by the experiences of three former school friends from South Wales, one in an armoured regiment and two in an infantry battalion, as they faced the horrors of war as the Allies and the Germans fought savagely over small territorial gains in the Normandy countryside. The boredom of waiting to embark for France; the exhilaration of going into battle for the first time; the terrible reality of “kill or be killed”; the pressure and stress of what was literally life or death decision making; the unknowable horror of discovering what bombs and bullets do to a human body; the physical and mental fatigue of repeatedly fighting to stay alive for day after day and week after week; the humour and banter which survived the darkest of human experiences - all are captured vividly and eloquently in this outstanding book. As a bonus, there is an excellent “Historical Note” at the end of the book which provides a clear and concise explanation of the tactical and strategic context in which the Battle for Normandy was fought.

I have no hesitation in giving this highly recommended book a 5 star rating.

Great read of the battle in Normandy in the days after the Normandy landings.
seen through the eyes of three school friends it follows the action to take Hill 112 one of the minor hills across the battlefront as each side in turns assaults retreats and then re-takes it again. Reminded me of the book 'Warrior for the Working day' that I read many years ago by Peter Elstob which followed a tank crew from D Day to the end of the way.
This book follows a Tank crew and Two infantry sections during the first 30 or so days from D Day.
Brings home the sheer stress ordinary men who did extraordinary things for hours on end under extreme stress.

The author made this book a joy. The book is so well written that it really did feel I could have been there. The tone is gentle and it is very much as if I was having my hand held and walked through the sussex coast, the Normandy fields and ultimately hill 112. The key players are well rounded and the every day items that we see through their eyes make the story all the more powerful, be it the vomit flecks on trousers, the churned up earth or the charred and violated shells of men left behind. The camaraderie is shown in all its power and the ending is both beautiful shown through delicate embroidery and heart wrenching with the gore of a shell explosion. An absolute must read.