WN 62

More about the book

Heinrich Severloh's autobiographical account recounts the largest amphibious landing in history, which marked the turning point of World War II on D-Day. On June 6, 1944, the Western Allies launched their offensive against the Atlantic Wall with 7,000 ships and 13,000 aircraft at dawn on the coast of Normandy. Severloh, stationed at WN 62 (Resistance Nest 62), was the most feared German machine gunner by the Americans. For nine hours, he fired from his machine gun and carbine into the GIs on the beach, resulting in 3,000 casualties. Severloh vividly and unflinchingly describes the dramatic hours in his section, dubbed "bloody Omaha," where 34,000 GIs landed by sea and faced only 350 German soldiers who fiercely resisted. The young farmer's son from the Lüneburg Heath survived the onslaught in a harrowing yet adventurous manner, an experience that would shape the rest of his life.