WN62 by Heinrich Severloh

I found his book in my travels last month and purchased it.

http://www.amazon.com/WN-62-Erinnerungen-Omaha-Normandie/dp/3932922115

I am about halfway through it. It is a good read and am enjoying it.

 

I hope you have it in English, the only one I see is in German, which I cannot read.

 

'Tis in English. I only know war movie German.

 

Well, I finished the book early this morning.

I recommend those who wish to know the German side of the landings at Omaha Beach read it. It is a good book, written in a conversational style and moves rather quickly.

I took from the book that Hein Severloh was an honorable man who did what he was called upon to do. He was a soldier who manned his post until it was untenable. He presents a good case that he helped hold WN62 but makes no real claims at the numbers of casualties he inflicted. In an interview mentioned in the book, he presented a story that he was more or less blind-sided by repeated questions from a reporter and that Severloh gave the number 2000 to hush him up and move on. In the book, he made sure to disavow that statement and truly seemed troubled that he had nonetheless caused the deaths of so many US troops. He described one that he shot with his rifle that continued to appear in his dreams until he was well into his old age.

He disliked the sobriquet "Beast of Omaha" as he hated the fact that he had killed others.

Herr Severloh met with one US soldier that survived being wounded and they became fast friends. Interestingly, both men remembered each others' faces from that day and both recalled the others' actions during the event.

I unknowingly stood at the site of WN62 while in Normandy last month. I am still going through my photos, so I am not sure if I made pictures there. We had been to Normandy American Cemetery and our driver had turned to go to the beach. I was sitting in the back seat and could not really tell where I was and did not have a map with me. He stopped when we got near the beach after turning off of the main road and told me that there was a pillbox "up there". I found the pillbox but chose not go inside. There were ditches of sorts radiating from the concrete structure that I now understand were probably the communication trenches. When I got back to the apartment in Ste-Mere-Eglise, I looked at the map and determined that it probably was the promontory where WN62 was located. The view of the beach was especially good to the right, but the left was obscured somewhat.

 

We did not have a tour guide and were traveling by car. I could not have gotten a 93 yo man in a wheelchair down there (or up from below).

The operative word is "unknowingly." At the time, I did not know it was nearby, I just read later that I was in the general area. Severloh mentioned some concrete structures further down the the hill. I guessing that it what I may have seen. Regardless, I was not looking for them specifically, just quickly walking an area mainly to get an elevated photo of of the beach.

We came there to see the beaches, but were more focused on the actions of the 30th ID inland.