HITLER’S PARATROOPERS IN NORMANDY The German II Parachute Corps in the Battle for France, 1944

Gilberto Villahermosa’s meticulously researched account examines Germany’s formidable II Parachute Corps, one of the toughest units opposing the Normandy landings. From D-Day to the end of August 1944, under the skilled and determined Eugen Meindl, the corps fought relentlessly in the bocage, holding their ground for three weeks before retreating. Trapped with the Seventh Army in the Falaise Pocket, Meindl’s disciplined paratroopers were chosen to spearhead the German breakout, achieving it despite heavy losses. This book details the corps’ organization, battles, and leadership, offering a vivid portrait of one of the Wehrmacht’s elite airborne formations in one of the hardest-fought campaigns of the Second World War.

In June 1944, Allied forces fighting desperately to establish a foothold in Normandy and then breakout of the confining bocage found themselves opposed by a bewildering array of formations of the German Wehrmacht. Among them were the newly formed German II Parachute Corps.This account examines the exploits of Germanys II Parachute Corps and its commander, Eugen Meindl from the Allied invasion on 6 June to the end of August 1944. Meindl was the epitome of the senior German airborne commander in the Second World War. Tough, experienced, and aggressive, he cared deeply for his troops. His Parachute Corps fought stubbornly for three weeks, before being forced to fall back.Trapped along with the bulk of the German Seventh Army in the Falaise pocket, Meindl and his paratroopers maintained their discipline and were selected by the Commander in Chief of OB West to lead the German breakout to the east. That they managed to do so, despite suffering grievous losses.