This history of the 3rd Battalion, 506th PIR at Normandy was published by Osprey in 2009. I bought it second hand this year, and I just finished reading it. I have been going a bit easy on the unit histories lately. I had had a bit too much of them, and the stories started to look alike. But I couldn’t pass up on this bargain. It turned out to be quite good, especially the beginning. That’s the part where the paratroopers are at their training camps and staging areas in Britain. The authors have done very painstaking research, and that shows. They talked to veterans, and everything was cross-checked right where things happened in Normandy. This is how the authors were able to determine the correct location of a wooden footbridge that plays an important role, and which was misidentified for decades in older books. It is generally well written, and the part on Britain is even entertaining. Although I must confess that the whole narrative on Carantan is a rather dull. Of course the authors have to be detailed, but the chain of events is lacking some narrative. I leafed through the last chapters a bit more quickly because of that. The book also has a lot of photos and a few situation maps. I often find myself referring to them while reading, as it is easy to lose track of all the names of roads and farmhouses.

Let’s hope the authors find the courage to follow the 3rd Battalion’s history further up to Holland, Belgium and Germany.

Have a look at my other unit history book reviews