The final slog

TAYLOR DOWNING salutes an account of the often overlooked last days of the Second World War in Europe, when Allied troops faced stubborn resistance from German forces

- TAYLOR DOWNING

Engineering victory

For troops to cross the Rhine into Nazi Germany, Allied engineers had to build temporary bridges, including this pontoon construction

MILITARY

1945: Victory in the West

by Peter Caddick-Adams

Hutchinson Heinemann, 652 pages, £30

February 1945. For many, the war in Europe is pretty well over. But Major Bill Deedes of the 12th King's Royal Rifle Corps (later Telegraph editor) saw it differently. Writing home, he railed against "the damned papers, which are full of propaganda and pretend the war is as good as won. By golly it's not. Lots of 16-year-olds are keen to die for Hitler."

This comment sets up military historian Dr Peter Caddick-Adams's excellent latest book. Many accounts of the war concentrate on the great set-piece actions such as D-Day or the battle of the Bulge and gloss over the final stages of combat. 1945 focuses on the last 100 days of the war in Europe, and the advance into Germany where many towns and villages were bitterly defended - and recent events in Ukraine have shown how determined and resourceful defenders can make it immensely difficult for an advancing army.