During World War II, U.S. Army generals often maintained diaries
of their activities and the day-to-day operations of their command.
These diaries have proven to be invaluable historical resources for
World War II scholars and enthusiasts alike. Until now, one of the
most historically significant of these diaries, the one kept for
General Courtney H. Hodges of the First U.S. Army, has not been
widely available to the public. Maintained by two of Hodges's
aides, Major William C. Sylvan and Captain Francis G. Smith Jr.,
this unique military journal offers a vivid, firsthand account
detailing the actions, decisions, and daily activities of General
Hodges and the First Army throughout the war.
The diary opens on June 2, 1944, as Hodges and the First Army
prepare for the Allied invasion of France. In the weeks and months
that follow, the diary highlights the crucial role that Hodges's
often undervalued command -- the first to cross the German border,
the first to cross the Rhine, the first to close to the Elbe --
played in the Allied operations in northwest Europe. The diary
recounts the First Army's involvement in the fight for France, the
Siegfried Line campaign, the Battle of the Bulge, the drive to the
Roer River, and the crossing of the Rhine, following Hodges and his
men through savage European combat until the German surrender in
May 1945.
Popularly referred to as the "Sylvan Diary," after its primary
writer, the diary has previously been available only to military
historians and researchers, who were permitted to use it at only
the Dwight D. Eisenhower Library, the U.S. Army Center for Military
History, or the U.S. Army Military History Institute. Retired U.S.
Army historian John T. Greenwood has now edited this text in its
entirety and added a biography of General Hodges as well as
extensive notes that clarify the diary's historical details.
Normandy to Victory provides military history enthusiasts with
valuable insights into the thoughts and actions of a leading
American commander whose army played a crucial role in the Allied
successes of World War II.
General
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