minigundiplomat,
My grandfather arrived in Normandy in the early hours of 6th June 1944. Funnily enough, after the war he maintained a grudging respect for the Germans (Normal Wermacht, not the others), but couldnt stand the French.
being Greek I am out of this argument but I did find this quote interesting. I'm sure the 'others' are effectively the waffen-SS divisions that fought in Normandy. I recently finished part 1 of the book on the history of the 12th SS by Hubert Meyer who was the Adjustant then CO of the 12th Hitlerjugend SS division. You have to credit the man for a very comprehensive historical work if, therefore, a dry account of events even though he was at the forefront of events himself throughout the war in the West!! He does seem to sweep under the carpet the matter of atrocities committed by his troops however.
I wonder were these troops distasteful and hated for attrocities committed on the Brits (since I think the atrocities committed by 12th SS in Normandy were a few instance on Canadian POWs) or did the rumour of atrocities spread quickly though the allies and therefore made the SS troopers a hated sight? From the picture one gets from the book they were exceptionally determined, very well trained and very well led by veterans of 1 LSSAH who were the leadership cadre of the division which is what set back the allied plan for an advance to Paris after a couple of days by about 1.5 months.