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Invasion! They're Coming!: The German Account of the D-Day Landings and the 80 Days Battle for France
On the 50th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy: a revised and updated edition of Paul Carell's great classic. June 6, 1944 - D-Day. The day when, after years of preparation, Germany's opponents in the west - the USA and England - began the second front, long demanded by Stalin to take pressure off the Red Army. What really happened on that day? Why was the German command reluctant to believe in an invasion at this hour and on this coastal sector? Where was the German counterattack? Why were the panzer divisions, which were ready for action, not allowed to strike? What was going on with the Luftwaffe? Carell answers these questions convincingly, factually and in his typically gripping style. Furthermore, in this new revised and expanded edition he has taken into account the most recent results of historical research, especially the successful allied deception effort achieved by agents, phoney radio transmissions and sophisticated disinformation operations, details of which have only recently been revealed, and which led to fateful false estimations by Hitler and the German generals. Paul Carell is also the author of the highly successful Foxes of the Desert; Hitler Moves East; Scorched Earth; Operation Barbarossa in Photography; and Stalingrad: the Defeat of the German 6th Army. He lives in Hamburg, Germany.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1960
About the author
Paul Carell
92 books17 followersPaul Carell (born Paul Karl Schmidt) was an Obersturmbannführer (lieutenant colonel) in the Allgemeine-SS (General SS) in Nazi Germany. He worked as the chief press spokesman for Joachim von Ribbentrop's Foreign Ministry, where he formulated propaganda for the foreign press. In this capacity during World War II, he maintained close ties with the Wehrmacht (German Army). After the war, he became a successful author, mostly of revisionist books that romanticized and whitewashed the Wehrmacht's role in World War II.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
January 18, 2024
I first read the earlier edition of this book while in late junior high or early high school. I was absolutely fascinated. My father and other veterans had given my friends and me conflicting information about D-Day and how the Germans waged war. Now, here I had it straight from the horse's mouth. From their side of the battlefield, victory looked impossible to many German officers and men. However they fought on, not for the Nazis but for their country and each other. On the battlefield, their enlisted soldiers and lower ranking officers were very similar to our own and to those of our allies. Generally speaking, soldiers of all wars have much in common. Often, more in common with each other than with their leaders.
This is the 50th anniversary of D-day edition with some new material not in the 1960's edition. The book is generally considered to be a pretty accurate picture of the other side of the battlefield. It is well written and often fascinating. I was never bored reading it. Covers the first 80 days of D-day and the battle for France.
This is the 50th anniversary of D-day edition with some new material not in the 1960's edition. The book is generally considered to be a pretty accurate picture of the other side of the battlefield. It is well written and often fascinating. I was never bored reading it. Covers the first 80 days of D-day and the battle for France.
May 29, 2020
Author Carrell writes in an energetic style that moves along quickly easily intertwining from the ground up, that is German soldier’s point of view to the German high command, to the Allied planning. This means plenty of engaging ‘in the foxhole’ moments as the huge Allied Invasion fleet arrives unexpectedly, and for the German High Command, unbelievably off the Normandy shore. In the short 315 pages he covers the pre-invasions jitters to the surrender of Paris, that’s a lot of ground of which hundreds of books have since been published.
The book itself is a bit of history having been published in 1962 (German 1960) there a few notable moments I found extra interesting:
— As the breaking of the German codes by Ultra wasn’t public knowledge at the time of writing, Carrell attributes a lot of intelligence to the subterfuge of Allied spies and the French resistance, such as the carpet bombing of Rommel’s HQ. At the time the Germans, and for many years historians, thought it was due to Radio Direction Finding but it was Ultra sources.
— He describes the famous US Army Rangers attack on Pt Du Hoc as a disaster for the Rangers (well it certainly wasn’t easy) and doesn’t mention that they eventually succeeded.
— The success of German strongpoint WN62 on Omaha Beach with machine gunner Hein Severloh is well covered. I found this interesting as I had not heard specifically of WN62 until Severloh published his own memoir of the situation almost 40 years later in 2000.
Cornelius Ryan’s ’The Longest Day’ was published about the same time in 1959. It appears the invasion was an era of renewed interest with it being about 15 years after the actual event.
And yes Paul Carrell is a pen name for Paul Schmidt who worked in German propaganda during the war. One should always consider the resources, abilities and goals of the author of any tale.
The book itself is a bit of history having been published in 1962 (German 1960) there a few notable moments I found extra interesting:
— As the breaking of the German codes by Ultra wasn’t public knowledge at the time of writing, Carrell attributes a lot of intelligence to the subterfuge of Allied spies and the French resistance, such as the carpet bombing of Rommel’s HQ. At the time the Germans, and for many years historians, thought it was due to Radio Direction Finding but it was Ultra sources.
— He describes the famous US Army Rangers attack on Pt Du Hoc as a disaster for the Rangers (well it certainly wasn’t easy) and doesn’t mention that they eventually succeeded.
— The success of German strongpoint WN62 on Omaha Beach with machine gunner Hein Severloh is well covered. I found this interesting as I had not heard specifically of WN62 until Severloh published his own memoir of the situation almost 40 years later in 2000.
Cornelius Ryan’s ’The Longest Day’ was published about the same time in 1959. It appears the invasion was an era of renewed interest with it being about 15 years after the actual event.
And yes Paul Carrell is a pen name for Paul Schmidt who worked in German propaganda during the war. One should always consider the resources, abilities and goals of the author of any tale.
January 19, 2014
This book came out in the years following the immense popularity of The Longest Day, which launched the 1960s fascination with World War II. This book, however, was originally published in German under the title Invasion! Sie kommen! (the most direct translation of a book title I’ve ever seen). This also corresponds with the timing of Albert Speer’s memoirs and other efforts by the participants in Nazi history to reclaim aspects of that history as noble or uplifting, or at least as something other than purely evil. This book takes the form of Ryan’s book to tell the story of the D-Day invasion from “the other side,” and demonstrate that the common soldiers of Germany were not so different from their enemies, a point which Ryan also made, although to a lesser extent, in light of his audience.
As such, it is very interesting that Bantam chose to publish a mass-market paperback version in English in the United States. This suggests that, at least in their estimation, the American public was not averse to tales of German soldierly heroism at the time, so long as the narrative fit their expectations and did not counter the stories of American heroism. Notably, the High Command on both sides of this book are often portrayed as ignorant of conditions on the ground and callous about their own men’s lives. The story in general is that individual soldiers are heroes or victims, while the generals and politicians are evil or stupid or both. It has to be noted, however, that this book was far less successful, at least in terms of how many later editions have been published, than Ryan’s, suggesting that there was a more limited audience for German heroism in America after all.
As far as my own reading of the book, it took place at a time when I was reading a good deal of popular history of the Third Reich and the war, and I found it to be an adequately satisfying account. Some of the details are almost precisely the same as Ryan’s, and so I didn’t necessarily learn much new, but it is well-written and clear enough, even to someone not versed in the intricacies of military history. Today, it seems to serve as a kind of reminder of the 1960s view of World War Two, and the development of the myth of the “greatest generation” in the US, along with efforts to reconcile history with popular culture in Germany.
As such, it is very interesting that Bantam chose to publish a mass-market paperback version in English in the United States. This suggests that, at least in their estimation, the American public was not averse to tales of German soldierly heroism at the time, so long as the narrative fit their expectations and did not counter the stories of American heroism. Notably, the High Command on both sides of this book are often portrayed as ignorant of conditions on the ground and callous about their own men’s lives. The story in general is that individual soldiers are heroes or victims, while the generals and politicians are evil or stupid or both. It has to be noted, however, that this book was far less successful, at least in terms of how many later editions have been published, than Ryan’s, suggesting that there was a more limited audience for German heroism in America after all.
As far as my own reading of the book, it took place at a time when I was reading a good deal of popular history of the Third Reich and the war, and I found it to be an adequately satisfying account. Some of the details are almost precisely the same as Ryan’s, and so I didn’t necessarily learn much new, but it is well-written and clear enough, even to someone not versed in the intricacies of military history. Today, it seems to serve as a kind of reminder of the 1960s view of World War Two, and the development of the myth of the “greatest generation” in the US, along with efforts to reconcile history with popular culture in Germany.
November 11, 2023
A just bottom line on Paul Carell (Obersturmbannführer Paul Karl Schmidt Allgemeine-SS) Invasion , they’re Coming! Comes from a prior reviewer Michael, who posted: “an adequately satisfying account.” The author was a propagandist for the SS is something worth taking into account, but I will grant him credit as a fair reporter.
In his close to the front reporting on the German Soldier; the ones at the point of the German spear, he make a solid case that these were professional soldiers, trained, and experienced. Reading Invasion makes it clear that the typical story, as told by the winners, tends to gloss over and make little of what was a much more closely fought 80 days from Normandy to Paris. Many of the allies were new to the battlefield and German soldiers where disinclined to overlook mistakes. Carell seems to believe that German battles were always decided by German tanks, and German grenadiers, either being on the scene or arriving on the scene and the rest a matter of Allied air and shear weight of material.
Evan allowing that the author had been in the propaganda business, only an armchair warrior can sound credible by disrespected the German fighting man. For that matter, one disrespects German Amour only from a distance.
Among the things that bothered most were items not in this book. Clearly the author’s intent was to avoid many larger questions, and more to the point to play out the old song, The German Army was betrayed. This was first sung at the end of WWI and was a part of creating the German myth that a continental war was winnable, if only someone not on the battle field did a better job. My short answer, with details to follow is that German started far more than any sane people could have believed could be winnable. Given that the German original of Invasion, was not well received in Germany, perhaps that old song had lost its listeners.
Among the casual things the author wrote that cost him my sympathies, he complained that much needed German tanks were being held in the Netherlands. By what right was the German army in Netherlands? He was very proud of the experienced leadership and soldiery that had proved themselves in Russia. Why were they in Russia? Side note, how is it that Germany had not learned about the possible costs of a two-front war? For that matter they had been in a 3-front war, until the allies kicked them out or Africa. Carell has no problem listing the allied destruction of French villages, but never a word about French force labor. Being an occupied country is never a good thing and that much worse when the occupiers were German.
There is a lot of whining that the allies had so much material. German super abundance is not an issue when the invasion is German on, say Poland, or Greece. But it is somehow unfair when it is Allied air in a near monopoly of the skies over France.
Hardly least, is his pride over the presence of elderly and very young German reinforcements. A simpler statement was that he was seeing, and not seeing the proof that the war was over, and the brave holding action of good soldiers, was pointless.
Invasion, They’re Coming! achieves what its author intends. Overall, he is a fair reporter. Those first 80 days from D Day is the story of more than the landing and allies marching to Berlin. There were hard fighting German soldiers not eager to give way. But those hard fighting men were being wasted on a war that was a disgrace to their valor.
In his close to the front reporting on the German Soldier; the ones at the point of the German spear, he make a solid case that these were professional soldiers, trained, and experienced. Reading Invasion makes it clear that the typical story, as told by the winners, tends to gloss over and make little of what was a much more closely fought 80 days from Normandy to Paris. Many of the allies were new to the battlefield and German soldiers where disinclined to overlook mistakes. Carell seems to believe that German battles were always decided by German tanks, and German grenadiers, either being on the scene or arriving on the scene and the rest a matter of Allied air and shear weight of material.
Evan allowing that the author had been in the propaganda business, only an armchair warrior can sound credible by disrespected the German fighting man. For that matter, one disrespects German Amour only from a distance.
Among the things that bothered most were items not in this book. Clearly the author’s intent was to avoid many larger questions, and more to the point to play out the old song, The German Army was betrayed. This was first sung at the end of WWI and was a part of creating the German myth that a continental war was winnable, if only someone not on the battle field did a better job. My short answer, with details to follow is that German started far more than any sane people could have believed could be winnable. Given that the German original of Invasion, was not well received in Germany, perhaps that old song had lost its listeners.
Among the casual things the author wrote that cost him my sympathies, he complained that much needed German tanks were being held in the Netherlands. By what right was the German army in Netherlands? He was very proud of the experienced leadership and soldiery that had proved themselves in Russia. Why were they in Russia? Side note, how is it that Germany had not learned about the possible costs of a two-front war? For that matter they had been in a 3-front war, until the allies kicked them out or Africa. Carell has no problem listing the allied destruction of French villages, but never a word about French force labor. Being an occupied country is never a good thing and that much worse when the occupiers were German.
There is a lot of whining that the allies had so much material. German super abundance is not an issue when the invasion is German on, say Poland, or Greece. But it is somehow unfair when it is Allied air in a near monopoly of the skies over France.
Hardly least, is his pride over the presence of elderly and very young German reinforcements. A simpler statement was that he was seeing, and not seeing the proof that the war was over, and the brave holding action of good soldiers, was pointless.
Invasion, They’re Coming! achieves what its author intends. Overall, he is a fair reporter. Those first 80 days from D Day is the story of more than the landing and allies marching to Berlin. There were hard fighting German soldiers not eager to give way. But those hard fighting men were being wasted on a war that was a disgrace to their valor.
March 9, 2024
Carell is always a page-turner. Enjoyed this but it could have used more proof-reading.
March 21, 2023
Invasion! is a German account of the D-Day landings and the battles that followed as the Allies worked to unite their separate beachheads and secure a foothold in Northern France. Given the perspective shift, readers find accounts of dogged defenders holding out an overwhelming attack force, rather than valiant attackers dropping into darkness behind enemy lines, or hitting the beaches with visible Death there waiting for them. Oddly, Carell doesn't mention the use of foreign nationals (including Russians) serving in the defensive line: his men are all good German boys, doing their duty and proving themselves superior soldiers on the tactical level despite mistakes made from the politicians up top and Germany's supply problems at the time, including the complete lack of any Luftwaffe support. I dislike the term 'whitewashed', but Carrel does clean the defenders up. Interestingly, he argues that Eisenhower was interested in striking a deal with the German military in the west: if they cooperated with the invasion and allowed the Allies to retake France, the Netherlands, etc. then a peace could be struck to protect Germany from the future threat of Bolshie domination. According to Carell, Churchill was mildly interested but deferred to the patrician Roosevelt, who was staunchly against it. This is not an aspect of the late war I've heard about, and I'm curious as to whether there's any validity to it or just Carell (writing during Eisenhower's last term in office, and amid the same Cold War mentality that led to the coup in Iran) attempting to argue that the West and Germany should present one front against Russia and the reds. In all, this was an interesting read for the student of World War 2, but one to be read alert to biases and spin.
May 24, 2023
It has been said that the victors write history. This book is from the viewpoint of the vanquished, the German Army. It is far too easy for people to read one or two books about D-Day or watch a popular movie about one fighting unit, and then make the assumption that the Allied victory in France was a foredrawn conclusion.
Paul Carell's work tells the story of the German side. He describes poor decision making on the part of Hitler and the German General Staff and their refusal to believe that Normandy was the site of the invasion. Carell also details the impact of the Allied naval and aerial bombardment, and the fighter attacks that simply annihilated anyone and anything in the path of destruction.
Since World War II, books, magazine articles, documentaries, and movies have portrayed fanatical, to the death German resistance when fighting the Allies. Although that was true in certain circumstances, Carell tells of the German officers who had the courage to defy insane orders issued by Hitler and out of touch generals when they ordered their officers and troops to fight to the death and hold at all costs. The officers who displayed the moral courage to defy those orders considered the suffering their soldiers experienced, the futility of continuing to fight, and they ultimately surrendered.
Invasion is a good companion to the history books written about the Allied side of the fighting from June to July, 1944.
Paul Carell's work tells the story of the German side. He describes poor decision making on the part of Hitler and the German General Staff and their refusal to believe that Normandy was the site of the invasion. Carell also details the impact of the Allied naval and aerial bombardment, and the fighter attacks that simply annihilated anyone and anything in the path of destruction.
Since World War II, books, magazine articles, documentaries, and movies have portrayed fanatical, to the death German resistance when fighting the Allies. Although that was true in certain circumstances, Carell tells of the German officers who had the courage to defy insane orders issued by Hitler and out of touch generals when they ordered their officers and troops to fight to the death and hold at all costs. The officers who displayed the moral courage to defy those orders considered the suffering their soldiers experienced, the futility of continuing to fight, and they ultimately surrendered.
Invasion is a good companion to the history books written about the Allied side of the fighting from June to July, 1944.
February 28, 2024
Carell spins history of the campaign from the German perspective. I've enjoyed other books by him but this was just average. He often tells the story from the eyes of the common soldier. But they are so interchangeable the names might as well be made up. Then he will occasionally return to the same officer again or switch to a more general perspective. The result is a rather choppy narrative.
February 16, 2024
Very biased towards Germany, inaccurate in places, was written by an ex SS officer. Paul Carrell is a pseudonym. For a better picture of the Germans in Normandy read the Germans in Normandy by Richard Hargreaves.
October 4, 2022
It was an interesting read about D-day from the German perspective,
October 10, 2023
Avvincente. Punto
October 25, 2020
This book offers a German point of view of the invasion of Normandy. This is not the same as pro-Nazi. The author obviously thinks his country managed their response to the invasion poorly. Although I have read about a dozen books, this book describes what the others mention only sparingly - what was in the minds of the defenders, not the attackers. The German High Command out-thought itself, being absolutely convinced that the "real" invasion was yet to come, at Calais. Thousands of their best troops were held in anticipation of that invading force, one which didn't exist.
I have two complaints, one minor and one major. First, a glossary is needed. There are many untranslated words. Some have English equivalents, e.g. kubelwagen, unteroffizier, etc. Others don't translate directly, e.g. Generaloberst, . The many German military ranks could have been listed and ordered in a simple glossary to help understand the organization. Second - the maps are terrible. They are not translated. There is often no scale. The maps are so unclearly labeled that I had to pull out other atlases and maps to figure out what the map was trying to illustrate.
I have two complaints, one minor and one major. First, a glossary is needed. There are many untranslated words. Some have English equivalents, e.g. kubelwagen, unteroffizier, etc. Others don't translate directly, e.g. Generaloberst, . The many German military ranks could have been listed and ordered in a simple glossary to help understand the organization. Second - the maps are terrible. They are not translated. There is often no scale. The maps are so unclearly labeled that I had to pull out other atlases and maps to figure out what the map was trying to illustrate.
April 28, 2015
Die Invasion der Alliierten aus der Perspektive der permanent von Jabos zusammengeschossenen Panzerfahrer, die, wenn überhaupt, nur dann eine Chance gehabt hätten, die Angreifer ins Meer zurückzuwerfen, wenn die Panzer von Anfang an am rechten Fleck gewesen wären.
Das Ganze steht natürlich in komplettem Widerspruch zu den Darstellung von Mosier, der eine lange Verteidigungsschlacht für möglich hält, wäre da nicht der fatale Kessel von Falaise gewesen.
Die Schrecken dieses „Stalingrad des Westens“ geraten bei Carell ziemlich unterdimensioniert,
sowohl was die Betroffenen angeht wie auch in strategischer Hinsicht.
Unterdimensioniert, dieses Adjektiv betrifft dieses ganze Büchlein, Carells Methode hat beim kleinen Afrikacorps und Rommels „Seeschlachten in der Wüste“ mit den zahlreichen Scharmützeln wirklich gut funktioniert, bei D-Day und die Folgen reicht dieses Verfahren nicht ganz aus.
Insofern gerade noch so drei Sterne oder 53 von 100 Punkten.
Das Ganze steht natürlich in komplettem Widerspruch zu den Darstellung von Mosier, der eine lange Verteidigungsschlacht für möglich hält, wäre da nicht der fatale Kessel von Falaise gewesen.
Die Schrecken dieses „Stalingrad des Westens“ geraten bei Carell ziemlich unterdimensioniert,
sowohl was die Betroffenen angeht wie auch in strategischer Hinsicht.
Unterdimensioniert, dieses Adjektiv betrifft dieses ganze Büchlein, Carells Methode hat beim kleinen Afrikacorps und Rommels „Seeschlachten in der Wüste“ mit den zahlreichen Scharmützeln wirklich gut funktioniert, bei D-Day und die Folgen reicht dieses Verfahren nicht ganz aus.
Insofern gerade noch so drei Sterne oder 53 von 100 Punkten.
February 16, 2013
Definitely written from the German perspective, I thought that this was a very good account. Just for the accounts of how the German war effort on the Western front in the summer of 1944 was so impacted by roving bands of Allied fighter-bombers was really illuminating. The amount of night-marching and day fighting, the difficulty of supply, the amount of officers gunned down on the roads trying to relay orders and lead their troops, was really very illuminating. Worth the time to read, in my opinion.
Want to read
March 26, 2012Circulo de Leitores - 1976
June 30, 2013
A side of the D-Day invasion that you rarely see.
Read
August 17, 2016Very good! An interesting view from the other side
April 18, 2023
Paul Carroll was the pen name for Nazi propagandist Paul Karl Schmidt chief press spokesman for von Ribbentrop. None the less a different perspective.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews