Book Description
Hard cover, large format (9" x 12"), 327 pages, 27 pages of color maps and 20 plus black and white maps (most full page), 120+ photos. This is the one-volume text history of the division that was written by Karl Ullrich, a Knight's Cross recipient and commander in the division. The text is about 50% standard unit history and 50% first-person accounts. Although there are several English-language accounts of this SS division (many of dubious quality), this is the first one available that was written from the perspective of the division itself. The book covers the formation of the division in 1939 and its subsequent operations during the Second World War. With the exception of the French Campaign in 1940, the division fought entirely on the Eastern Front and earned a reputation as one of the most capable divisions of the entire Eastern Army, especially in defense.
Customer Reviews:
A Good History of one of Germany's Elite Formations in WWII.......2007-03-27
This book is the English translation of "Wie ein Fels im Meer" by Karl Ullrich and this version is published by JJ Fedorowicz. As a side note to the curious, the original "Wie ein Fels im Meer" came in two volumes, a photo book with German/English text (which I own also) and the divisional history in German text only. "Like a Cliff in the Ocean" is the English translation of the divisional history. As with all JJ Fedorowicz books, the book is physically of very high quality and is well translated.
The book is a detailed but overall general history of the division from its inception in 1939 until its demise in 1945, and the book's strength is that it was written by a man who was there. The author was part of 3. SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf" from the beginning and commanded a combat engineer company and later the combat egineer battalion. He later became commander of 5. SS Panzer Division "Wiking", earning the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves.
Also contained in the text are many personal accounts by various soldiers; and these definately give a better feeling of what an average soldier in the division experienced. The 127 photos are all very clear and well reproduced. Included throughout are 23 nice b&w maps detailing the where the division fought and an appendix of 27 very detailed colored military maps. Interspersed are numerous photos and the traslations of documents pertaining to the division; ranging from corps orders to commanding generals praise, like von Manstein, for the division's combat record. The appendices have some nice tidbits of info too: Knight's Cross and other medal recipients, divisional organizational tables, command/staff positions, etc.
As the two other reviewers have mentioned, the author does not go into the wider context of the division and its role in the Waffen-SS and National Socialist Germany. Other authors have done this if you're looking for that. As said, this book is a factual divisional history. If you are looking for more personal accounts of the "Totenkopf" division I recommend "Soldaten, Kampfer, Kameraden" by Vopersal, however it is in German.
Overall I recommend this book for those interested in the "Totenkopf" division in particular and those with a general interest in the Waffen-SS as well.
Disjointed collection of documents and PK photographs.......2006-11-01
Considering the author was an officer and probably one of the better soldiers in the SSTK division this book is a huge disapointment. Ullrich's book consists of nothing more than a collection of maps, documents, and Propaganda Kompanie photographs that do little to explain history of probably one of the most remarkable and controversial divisions of the Waffen-SS. Karl Ullrich was with the division during its most critical engagements but provides the reader with no useful information or insite into the fighting qualities, organization or personalities of the 3 SS Panzer Division.
I would recommend this book if you are only interested in pictures of SS men and SS equipment. As a historical document it leaves much to be desired.
Highly-recommended reference for military professionals and historians..........2005-10-01
A significant primary source for students of maneuver warfare. The subject division experiences a steep learning curve from 1939 to 1943. During the last two years of the war it survives under strategic doctrines misaligned with its hard-won maneuver skills. The author's insights are not to be found in any other work on the subject. The book includes many diary entries, dispatches, newpaper clippings, and photographs in parallel with the official history. Across the later chapters, the interested reader will discover one of the best montages of the Russian soldier during WWII; in this regard, the work is particularly commendable for its independence from the contemporary political biases. Interested readers should familiarize themselves with the role of the Waffen-SS and its struggle for a worthy reputation alongside the regular army before tackling this piece; a 'cold' reading from the present would be confusing. For context, v.Manstein's "Lost Victories" [English] (Presidio, 1982) is probably best.
Book Description
Normandy . . . Arnhem . . . Aachen . . . the Hürtgen Forest . . . the Ardennes Offensive . . . the Reichswald . . . the Ruhr Pocket . . . Only the men of one unit on either side fought in them all--the 116th Panzer Division!
Organized in France in March, 1944 from elements of the 16th Panzer-Grenadier Division and the 179th Reserve Panzer Division, the 116th Panzer Division was one of the relatively rare German armored formations that fought exclusively on the Western Front. As a result, its opponents included some of the most formidable and famous US Army units of World War II, including the 1st, 4th, 28th, 29th, and 30th Infantry Divisions, and the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 8th Armored Divisions, to name only some. The 116th also fought the British and Canadians, bitterly contesting the areas around Arnhem and the Reichswald against outfits like the 2d and 3d Canadian Infantry Divisions, the 43d (Wessex) and the 53d (Welsh) Divisions.
The "Greyhound" Division's history has now been meticulously chronicled in narrative form and lavishly documented by the wartime Division Chief of Staff and Operations Officer, Heinz Günther Guderian. This comprehensive history was first published in the German language in 1994, but is now being made available in the English language exclusively by The Aberjona Press, the company Military Heritage magazine pronounced "Publisher of the Year 2000" in the Small Publisher Category.
Rarely does the student of the Second World War (or any war) have the opportunity to see military operations through the eyes of the men who planned and directed the battles at the tactical level. Thanks to General Guderian's keen recollections and careful research, readers of From Normandy to the Ruhr can do exactly this.
Rarer still is the author who can lucidly and comprehensively analyze and explain the course of those battles. As the Division's First General Staff Officer throughout its training and combat, General Guderian possessed a unique point of view to do just that. Beyond the tactical decisions—and consequences of those decisions in the deadly and unforgiving arena of WWII armored combat—the author also explains the institutional and political influences on his division's leadership. General Guderian sheds stunning new light on the reasons, operational and political, behind the fateful deployment of the elements of the German armored reserve before and during the early days of OVERLORD. He details the intrigue behind his Division Commander's reliefs for cause (twice in two months!) and the impact of the accompanying turbulence on the division in combat. Perhaps most importantly of all, the author provides graphic, specific evidence of the catastrophic consequences of political correctness when it infects the chain of command and results in lost battles and squandered lives. As the son of a famous general officer who had a close but dynamic relationship with Hitler, the author was especially well placed for observing and judging this insidious phenomenon.
Most unusual of all is the combat veteran who can honestly and candidly examine what went right, what went wrong, and why . . . and present his findings for all to see and judge. Fortunately, as a life-long soldier in the Wehrmacht and later, the West German Bundeswehr, Major General Guderian is just such a man.
This hard cover book is has been expertly translated by Ulrich and Esther Abele (Ulrich Abele's previous translation credits include Five Years, Four Fronts: The War Years of Major Georg Grossjohann, proclaimed by Military Heritage magazine as the best non-US military memoir of 2000). At 648 pages, with 26 highly detailed maps and 64 photos of the unit in action and key members of the Division, From Normandy to the Ruhr is not only the definitive history of this important formation, but much more.
Customer Reviews:
THE book on Panzer Warfare.......2007-06-06
"From Normandy to the Ruhr" provides unique insights into the decision-making process of a Panzer Division. The 116th Panzer Division is of particular interest because it fought in just about all the most decisive battles of the Western Front in 1944-45.
Guderian examines both victories and failures in an interesting way.
The 26 maps will be much appreciated by armor pros and wargamers.
An extra plus for the beautiful cover and general layout. There are portraits of all Knight's Cross holders of the division. My only negative comment would be that some of the photos should have been better reproduced and larger.
If you are a professional armor officer, serious wargamer or Panzer warfare buff - this book is for you.
Unique and controversial insite on a German armored division.......2006-11-07
Guderian's history is among the best histories of the German Army in World War 2 on the western front. Being the former chief of staff of the division he was well placed to give insite into the stenghts and weakness of the German defense on D-Day. His book includes some controversial personal reflections on Fieldmarshal Erwin Rommel and General Graf v. Schwerin.
I gave this book 5-stars for the simple fact it is one of the few German army histories that gives a factual no-nonsense reflection on the performance of the German army in World War 2 but lacks the revisionst cliches'.
This book I would recommend to those that are interested in the Allies on the western front as it gives unique insite into how and why the Allies were successful and the reason the Germans failed.
Windhund Division.......2006-06-26
The real story of the 116.Panderdivision Windhund from the qualified point of view of Major Heinz Günther Guderian (later General in the new reformed Bundesheer), son of that General Guderian father of the Blitzkrieg.
Every aspect is discussed, as technical as human.
Every battle is explained in detail, with a large use of military terms, maps and original documents.
Also the difficult realtions between the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht and the subordinated units are analized, giving the exact sense of those difficult days at the end of World War Two.
This is the point of reference about the 116.Panzerdivision, only a larger number of pictures should be needed to carry out an outstanding work.
From Normandy to the Ruhr.......2005-08-01
The late General Heinz Günther Guderian wrote the best division history I have ever seen, and I have read many. Every detail of the 116th Panzer Division's operations from its organization in the spring of 1944 through the end of the war in the Ruhr Pocket is covered in this amazingly detailed study. Moreover, the reasons for each tactical decision are laid out in clear terms, whether they were made for purely doctrinal rationale, unfortunate battlefield necessity, or from political influence. It is this richness of explanation that sets Guderian's book apart from all other division histories. In a genre (division histories) dominated by books which are often little more than keepsakes or souvenirs, filled with sentimental versions of the way the authors wish the war would have gone, From Normandy to the Ruhr stands out as an unemotionally recounted day-by-day, blow-by-blow account of how, despite being constituted late in the war and despite being virtually destroyed three times (Normandy, Aachen/The Hürtgen, and the Ardennes), a German panzer division repeatedly rose to the challenges posed by mission after mission. Written by the Division's 1st General Staff Officer himself, this book provides profound insights into how the German Army was able to remain a formidable foe until the spring of 1945.
As the publisher's ad copy emphasizes, this is NOT a personal memoir by a private or sergeant, or lieutenant. There are some very fine books that fit the "memoir" category, including several by this book's publisher, The Aberjona Press, such as Black Edelweiss, Seven Days in January, The Good Soldier, and Five Years, Four Fronts. However, while exciting to the buff, educational to the student of battlefield actions and reactions, or even titillating to the "war porn" junkie, there is much more to military history than the combat recollections of those who saw action at the foxhole level. Normandy to the Ruhr is a much rarer bird: it is a brilliantly polished tactical history, written by a highly decorated staff officer, which explains the mechanics of war at the tactical level. It is supported by dozens of outstanding maps which allow the reader to follow all of the action, and a very robust photo section, which allows the reader to form a mental image of most of the characters mentioned in the book.
From Normandy to the Ruhr is also a crucially important work because, almost uniquely, it explains the terrible influence of politicos-in this case, Nazi politicians, military and civilian-on the battlefield conduct of war. The meddling, political correctness, and downright blunders foisted upon commanders at all levels by political leaders with a wide variety of agendas other than battlefield success is brilliantly documented in this book.
For readers who wish to know not just the "what" of combat which can be gained from junior soldiers' or leaders' memoirs, but the "why," From Normandy to the Ruhr is a must-read. It is critical reading not only for the student of German operations on the Western Front, but for those interested in the many American and British units which fought the 116th Panzer Division...from Normandy to the Ruhr!
Very detailed.... and boring.......2005-07-26
I suppose this book is for the very serious military scholar or student, who wants a very detailed account of one particular Panzer division formed for the defense of the Allied invasion. It is amazingly dry and dull, however. You are not going to get any sense of what the war was like for the real soldier, but rather the chess piece movement of military units and political games of commanders.
I know there was a lot of finger-pointing after the war and this book is no exception. It is filled with old woman bickering between commanders and it's fair share of Rommel bashing. If you are in military college I would recommend it, if just an enthusiast there are more enthralling books out there.
Book Description
Examines vehicles, armor quality, manpower, and leadership and oncludes a comprehensive index of individuals, units, battles, and campaigns
First guide to chronicle the history of each division from its inception to its destruction
Includes a career sketch of every panzer divisional commander
Hitler's tank divisions were his most lethal weapons during World War II. From success to failure, in victory and defeat, each division played a role in Hitler's campaign against the Allies.
Customer Reviews:
Disappointing.......2007-05-23
I found this book to be a disappointment. It does not add anything substantially new that cannot be found in a variety of other works. I personnally prefer Panzertruppen by Lannoy, though in French and English, it has more information and is vastly better illustrated. The only advantage to this book is the cost, but you get what you pay for.
Excellent source for the specialists!.......2004-04-08
Every single detail about the order of battle of the Panzer Divisions can be found in this book, written by an expert on the field. The introduction and the
details of each division's actions are very useful as well as the wealth of data regarding every German general who ever commanded a Panzer Division!
Not quite good enough.......2003-10-03
To be honest, or even blunt, a book that sells for 125$ should have 1. a better binding (it really feels like it's going to come apart) and 2. Fewer mistakes in it: I don't care that Mr Mitcham is "world renowned" in his field, some one should proof-read what he writes. I found a few technical errors and more than one typos and grammar problems.
That being said, this reference book remains excellent, great to have around when reading related works and double check the info. However, for the mistakes mentionned above, i can't go higher than 3 stars...125$ is pretty steep, but if you are a die hard fan of WWII or a panzer buff, you should get all you need in this one.
Product Description
A book dedicated to some of the seminal fighting on the Eastern Front in the latter stages of the war and featuring SS armor formations! Yes, that's right! Not the same old tired rehash of the handful of pictures that have been circulating forever. This is a treasure trove of mostly recently discovered, professionally shot photography featuring: The 1. SS-Panzer-Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler", The 2. SS-Panzer-Division "Das Reich",The 3. SS-Panzer-Division "Totenkopf", The 4. SS-Panzer-Grenadier Division "Polizei", The 5. SS-Panzer-Division "Wiking", The 9. SS-Panzer-Division "Hohenstaufen", The 10. SS-Panzer-Division "Frundsberg", The 11. SS-Freiwilligen-Panzer-Grenadier-Division "Nordland", The 12. SS Panzer Division "Hitlerjugend", and a host of other formations (including some Army) and heretofore rarely seen vehicles and equipment. The book features chapters on these operations: Zhitomir, Cherkassy, Tarnopol, Kovel, Warsaw, Budapest
Customer Reviews:
Well worth the price........2007-01-28
I recently purchased this book for $70.00 on Amazon. A steal! I was, at first, a bit dissapointed to see that it was a bit thinner than I had expected. I suppose I was expceting something on the order of "Tigers in Combat" or one of Jean Restayn's "Citadel" albums. However, any doubts were put aside as I cracked the book. This book is chock-full of the kind of photos for which we pay big $$. With all do respect to the previous, negative review(er), a negative reveiw of this book is absurd. The color plates are outstanding. I couldn't find the artist listed, but I believe they are by Restayn. Panzer artwork simply doesn't get any better than that! As far as captions go, if you're worried about the captions, why are you buying this book? I would chalk up any lacking captions to the difficulty in translation. Heck, I have five or six photo books that are entirely written in languages which I cannot read. I can look at the photos though. I know what I'm looking at and I like what I see here. The photos are all that matter, to me anyhow. They are the reason I bought this book. They are the reason I'd recommend it to you.
A must have for anyone interested in the Waffen SS.......2006-05-11
If your interested in the Waffen SS at all you need this book the pictures alone are worth it. As with most JJ Fedorowicz product the pages and covers are of good quality. As far the pictures are concerned I have read and looked at many books on the Waffen SS and have never seen 90% of these before. Without going into a lot BS talk I will reiterate if you collect books on the Waffen SS this is a MUST HAVE!!!!!!!!!!
Left Wanting and Disappointed.......2006-05-11
I'm a huge fan of Fedorowicz books and own the majority of their titles. But I have to say I don't see what all the fuss is about on this title. The captions are amateur-ish "It was simply called the "King Tiger" or Tiger II, and had an impressive weight of 70 tons and frontal armor of 180mm. Its long 88mm gun could destroy all enemy tanks." The color plates too are lacking, both in quantity and intersting subject matter (do we really need 5 views of a solid dark yellow Panther?" Some are even recycled. Finally, for a title with "SS Armor" in it, there are painfully too many photo's of grenadiers standing around next to trucks. Many of the photo's quality isn't up to the "professional" standards the books mentions, and more than a few are old rehash. I'm selling mine, truly disappointed for $95.00!!!
Great Photo Album of SS Forces.......2006-02-05
This is an excellent photo album of SS units on the Eastern front 1943-45. The content relates to Zhitomir-Berdichew, Chekassy pocket, Tarnopol-Kamenenets/Podolsk, Kovel, Warsaw and Budapest. By far the majority of these photos I never seen before and they are superbly and accurately described and captioned. Also included are several maps outlining the frontlines and main thrust of SS forces and opposing Soviet forces. If any criticism can be made of this book it is that unlike another excellent J.J Fedorowicz publication 'Operation Citadel A Text & Photo Album Vol 1: The South' that offers some analysis and account of the fighting, this book contains none (other than the excellent captions). There is no overall narrative to give an account of the conflict of where photos were taken. The assumption maybe that the reader is already familiar with these battles, but an accompaning text (even if brief) would have helped portray the strategic situation, actions taken, and result.
Best WWII photo album........2006-01-01
I am not always a fan of JJ Fedorowicz Publishing's books as they can be a little too celebratory in tone of the combat achievements of the Germans in WWII, but each to their own. However, the best of their photo albums are outstanding and this volume by Velimir Vuksic is the best of the best.
It covers six operations from Zhitomir in December '43 to Budapest in early '45. For each there is a very clear and well produced map to set the context plus well thought-out texts to each picture. The pictures themselves are all of excellent quality, no doubt having been given the full PhotoShop treatment but this has clearly been done with great care and skill. It is a large format book and on a typical double page there will be one photo on one of the pages and two on the other. There must be a good few hundred photos but only half a dozen or so have I seen before, and I have other photo albums totalling some five thousand photos from the Eastern Front. This is one of the major strengths of the book, the very high quality of the photos plus their originality. Velimir Vuksic deserves to be congratulated on his research, as on much else.
All in all the photos themselves, the layout, the maps and text combine to produce the best of the Eastern Front photo albums.
Highly recommended to the both the usual suspects such as me who have a weakness for WWII photo albums but I also recommend it to those who may not have bought such books in the past. It is the best of the best and will enliven all your future Eastern Front reading by allowing you to better imagine the reality of the environment in which the combat took place. A large number of the photos show both German units plus a great vista of Soviet landscape allowing the reader to better understand the tactical implications of the land over which the war was fought.
Outstanding.
Customer Reviews:
Incredible Story.......2007-06-04
This was an intense and enjoyable read from start to finish. It made me wonder what I would have done in the same circumstances, and it made me (as always) feel very lucky to have been born in the U.S. While it must always be difficult to know how much of any personal memoir is totally factual, I find the previous reviewers who claim it is a fake simply because "it seemed to be right out of Cross of Iron" or "I don't recall any other books mentioning this" or "I can't believe all of that could have happened to one man", to be wholly unpersuasive. I can even forgive mistaking the 6th and 10th armies at Stalingrad since the author never said he was at Stalingrad, and I can't say I can remember what other units were where, except for the one I was in, and I am not trying to remember nearly that far back.
That being said, I AM a bit troubled by the idea of building a huge fire so near the front, even if you are freezing to death. The Marine Corps refers to this as an "admin bivouac", as opposed to a "tactical bivouac" when nothing that might give away your position is allowed...especially fires. But then again, if it was so cold that you were in danger of freezing to death within minutes, I have to allow for the possibility that I might have been willing to risk it.
All told, it is an incredibly good book and I found it easy reading. The frequent typos and grammar errors did not remotely make it difficult to follow. I simply caution the reader to use his/her own judgement concerning whether or not to believe every detail of this account. I think the reader would be best served by reading several of these personal accounts and assuming that the truth will come to light in terms of the commonalities found in all of them, regardless of how "believable" they might appear to be.
This is really bad.......2007-02-09
I bought this book because it was recommended by someone writing in another publication. I wish I had spent some time reading the other Amazon customer reviews before plunking down my cash.
The book is simply unbelievable. No ancient veteran could remember such details, and no one except Zelig could have been witness to such a series of events. The writing is uneven, and it doesn't look like any editor ever reviewed the text.
Buyer beware.......2006-10-23
It's definitely an unusual book. With some severe editing it could be given a 3 or 4-star rating for fiction. But non-fiction it isn't. Even allowing for memory lapses that might have caused factual errors, no infantry soldier in the German army could possibly have had all the experiences, all the luck, and all the fortuitous circumstances that Jung claims. It would be interesting to know what Jung and Nesbitt were thinking when they collaborated to write this book, but not so interesting that one would take any time to find out.
Fake memoir.......2006-04-18
This story was probably constructed from a number of real memoirs, other sources like films, and Jung's and the author's imagination. Helmut Jung may have been a soldier on the Eastern Front but what he claims to have seen there owes more to imagination - perhaps the author's - than reality. Units composed of seven foot Mongols? (p. 297). Really. In the fifty or so books I have read about the German-Russian war nobody else noticed such units. In the same chapter, a description of the capture of a group of female Russian soldiers appears to have been lifted from the film version of 'Cross of Iron'. There are numerous other elements traceable to other sources throughout ths ridiculous book. Avoid wasting money on this 'memoir'. You will learn nothing about the real experience of combatants on the Eastern Front that you haven't already read elsewhere.
A Work of Fiction.......2006-01-13
I agree with some of the other reviewers that this is most likely a work of fiction. There is no real information given about the supposed author, Helmut Jung, other than his "incredible" wartime exploits. There are too many mistakes in the book about Jung's training and service to believe this is anything more than a piece of fiction put together by the American writer...it doesn't read or feel right. Save your money and buy "Black Edelweiss" for a real biography of a German soldier.
Book Description
Illustrated with detailed artworks of German tanks and their markings with exhaustive captions and specifications, The Essential Tank Identification Guide: Wehrmacht Panzer Divisions 1939-45 is the definitive study of the equipment and organization of the Wehrmacht's armored divisions. Organized by division, the book describes in depth the various models of tank in German service during the war with each individual armored division, with listing of the unit commanders and any famous tank aces. Each divisional section is further broken down by campaign, accompanied by orders of battle, a brief divisional history of the campaign and any specific unit markings.
With information boxes accompanying the full-color artworks, all drawn to the same scale, The Essential Tank Identification Guide: Wehrmacht Panzer Divisions 1939-45 is an essential reference guide for modelers and any enthusiast with an interest in the armored divisions of the German Wehrmacht.
Customer Reviews:
Great, for the correct audience.......2006-11-14
This book will greatly please modelers, and will frustrate history buffs. The art is great, and there are many details which will allow detailing a model Panzer, but the history of each division is fragmented, and many of the campaign details are repeated. The use of small drawings of multiple AFVs to show unit strengths seems contrived. The art work is what you will buy this book for and it is very pretty indeed.
An excellent guide to the panzer divisions of WWII.......2006-09-19
This is a great book if you want a basic summary of the actions of each panzer division throughout the war (with the exception of SS panzer divisions). For example, you can find out the exact tank strength (divided by type, such as 34 Panzer Is, 68 Panzer IIs, etc.) of the 7th Panzer Division as it invaded France in May of 1940, as well as the different types of tanks in its inventory, and the type of combat it was involved in. Nearly each page is complete with full color illustrations (profile views of tanks). Each tank pictured is accompanied by a chart which includes the number of crew, weight, length, speed, and other specifications.
The book also discusses and features pictures of various types of assault guns, tank destroyers, and armored cars employed by the panzer divisions. This publication is, much as the title of the book states, essential for anyone who wants a quick guide to the panzer divisions of WWII.
By the way, reviewer mcl173 "Mike" was wrong when he said the book made an error on page 12. The tank pictured IS a panzer III. If he had bothered to read to page 44 of the book, he would have discovered that the tank is a Panzer III Ausf D1, which had eight road wheels.
great illistrations.......2006-08-03
love this book. i am not a modeler but i love the illistrations. a must for any ww2 history buff.
Good Idea - Wrong Title.......2006-07-31
Wehrmacht DOES NOT equal the German Army. Literally translated it means: "defend/defense make." For native English speakers it means: "Armed Forces."
Heer equals German ARMY and is a BRANCH of the Wehrmacht. The Waffen SS was also a branch (de facto) of the Wehrmacht, along with the Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe.
Granted, the book does have nice eye candy and useful basic information. Then again, some of that information is outdated or simply wrong. Example: The introduction claims that "Panzer Division Organization" for "1944" contained 17-22 tanks per company (Kompanie), with four companies per battalion/detachment (Abteilung).
What is not pointed out, is that this was THEORETICAL for ELITE units (i.e. Grossdeutschland, Panzer Lehr, several SS, etc.). It does NOT apply to the units covered in this title.
Another example is the caption on page 12. It identifies the tank as a Pz.III, it's actually a Pz.IV. Look at the road wheels; a Pz.III has six, a Pz.IV has eight...
The complete list of errors are too numerous to detail here. The shoddy research brings into question how accurate the book really is. Thus, my low review rating. There are better books, booklets, and web sites out there (e.g. see W.J.K. Davies, "German Army Handbook 1939-45").
As always though, the choice to make mistakes are yours...
Great Reference for Wehrmacht Panzers.......2006-05-08
This was a great book for modelers, like myself. Most of the pictures in the book are wonderfully drawn color pictures of the various AFV of the Wehrmacht. They give brief write ups of the major actions that each division participated in. The books give basic characteristics for each AFV (length, hieght, weight, etc). This is a great source for those looking to find a color scheme for their model panzers (or other AFVs). This is a must have for any German AFV modeler.
Book Description
Hard cover, small format (6" x 9"), 436 pages with 40 pages of black and white photographs, 34 mostly full-page maps and 78 pages of appendices.
The Polizei-Division (Police Division), as it was originally called, was one of the lesser-known combat formations of the Waffen-SS. It was formed in October 1939 and was composed primarily of police officers, who volunteered to join the division, and it served almost exclusively on the Eastern Front until the end of the war, where it eventually was equipped as a Panzergrenadier-Division (mechanized division). This volume of the two-part history covers the formation of the division in 1939, its employment during the so-called "Phony War" prior to the campaign in France in 1940, its participation in the later stages of that campaign and, finally, its commitment in the East in the northern theater of operations. It was in the East that the division earned its reputation as a tough and able combatant force, where it was especially steadfast in the defense.
The division fought its way through the Russian Luga position and all the way to the gates of Leningrad (Saint Petersburg). Its shining hour was in the defense along the Wolchow River, where the Russians attempted to provide relief to the beleaguered city of Leningrad and trap a large portion of Heeresgruppe Nord (Army Group North) in a pocket of their own. The Polizei-Division, later renamed the SS-Polizei-Division during this stage of its history, was the lynch pin in the myriad of operations launched to both eliminate the Russian breakthrough and then trap the cut-off and encircled Russian forces. The volume finishes with the fighting in late 1942 and early 1943 east of Kolpino and along the Narwa River bend.
Friedrich Husemann, himself a former member of the divisional artillery, provides an in-depth look at his former division. The account relies heavily on first-hand sources. Besides formation war diaries and period after-action reports, Husemann has gleaned accounts from a number of surviving members of the division. Although many divisional histories are "dry" reading, this one offers the reader not only a view from the foxhole, it also places the role of the division in the larger operational picture.
Customer Reviews:
Exhaustivo trabajo........2006-11-10
Este libro es una autentica recopilacion sobre la Division SS Polizei, muy interesante para todos aquellos que quieran conocer de primera mano los combates en que estuvo implicada y, sobre todo, su relacion tan directa con la Division Azul espanola. Una lastima que, segun la editora, la segunda parte del libro vaya a tardar anos en ver la luz...
Book Description
In the first months of 1943, the SS-Panzer-Grenadier-Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" was involved in all phases of the series of operations in the complex Kharkov campaign. During the initial defensive fighting, the division held its sector for two weeks against the full weight of the Soviet 3rd Tank Army, a remarkable feat in itself. After the city fell, "Leibstandarte" withdrew to a new defensive position and protected the important supply rail center at Krasnograd while the "Das Reich" and "Totenkopf" divisions executed the first phase of the counterattack. When the 3rd Tank Army began its move south to block the advance of these two SS divisions "Leibstandarte" carried out raids and interdictory strikes that disrupted the Soviet realignment and weakened the army¹s fighting power.
Once having rejoined the SS-Panzerkorps, after taking part in the destruction of the Kegitschevka pocket, "Leibstandarte" led the way back to the city of Kharkov. Dynamic young officers such as Kurt Meyer, Max Wunsche and Jochen Peiper personally led attack columns that struck deep into the city, eventually forcing the Russian troops to abandon Kharkov.
When "Leibstandarte's" role in each phase of Manstein¹s Kharkov counterattack is taken into consideration it is clear why its men, after enduring the losses necessary to retake the city¹s blood stained streets and ruined buildings, renamed the enormous Red Square as "Platz der Leibstandarte." Beautifully reproduced wartime photos, and compelling captions by author George Nipe illustrate in incredible detail the men, equipment, weapons, and vehicles used in this decisive Eastern Front battle.
Customer Reviews:
No regrets here, must have history for students of the Waffen SS........2007-06-20
This is an outstanding volume and the quality of the book is top drawer. This is a photo history of the Kharkov battle, not a text-filled boring analysis. All of the photos used come from SS war correspondents, so some of them have been seen before in other books, but as someone already stated, here they are laid out in sequence, in the order in which the photographers took them - something I've not seen before.
The photos and the events they portray are well captioned, and each aspect of the battle, start to finish, is laid out quite well through these invaluable photos.
There are also very good short biographies of the commanders of the LSSAH, and while I didn't really care for the artwork of these commanders (a bit too "modern" looking for me), overall, it is a superb book.
If you are a student of the tactics or personalities of the Waffen SS, this is a must-have book. Well worth the price.
An amazing photographic archive .......2007-01-10
This book was one of my favorites - an incredible photographic archive of the 1st SS "Liebstandarte" division in action during the pivotal Kharkov battles in 1943. Many of the photos have not been previously published and are of a very high quality. I strongly recommend this book for anyone interested in the Eastern Front!
couldn`t be better.......2006-11-04
superb pix of AFV`s & frontschwine, good maps which show the battles rolling back & forth, the captions are paragraph length with useful info. If you know nothing about this battle , you`ll get a lot from the book. If you`re East-Front-Avid, you may have seen some[10%] of the pix elsewhere, but you`ll still get a lot of detail from the captions.
Outstanding Photo History.......2006-01-07
Rare is the book that provides pictures that are actually related to the text provided. Even rarer still are pictures that capture in sequence the entire event. Such is the case with this volume. From start to finish the reader is presented with a sequence of photographs that literally document aspects of the complete campaign for Kharkov in the winter of 1943.
The pictures are also notable for depictions of many well-known and other lesser known figures of the Leibstandarte, Das Reich, and Totenkopf divisions. Of particular interest are those photos showing a young Jochen Peiper in action. This photographic volume also has a remarkable series of photos showing the fate of a Soviet horse drawn column as it is overtaken by Peiper's Kampfgruppe. Not a happy ending to be certain, but a very real glimpse into the realities of combat on the Eastern Front. In fact, one must wonder how similar the context of the events that would occur at Malmedy over a year later, when an American column would be overtaken by another of Peiper's Kampfgruppes. Certainly, the pictures in this book show a no quarter given attitude for the advancing German kampfgruppe.
For the generalist, this volume will be an interesting look at German formations in action. However, for the serious historian, the pictures clearly show the players, weather, terrain, and operational activities of the Waffen SS all at a given place and point in time.
This book is a must for any serious library on German arms or the Waffen SS in particular.
Great Photo Book.......2003-02-20
Fabulous photos for students of the Eastern Front, Waffen-SS and modelers. What I found most interesting were the amounts of obsolete equipment (ie: Mk III tanks) used by this elite division. This certainly puts into question the accepted theory that the Waffen-SS received the latest equipment in quanity at the expense of the Heer (army). If this is the case, then it supports the notion that the men of the Waffen-SS were indeed superior soldiers.
Book Description
Alfred Novotny was born in Vienna on 1 April 1924, and was perfectly placed to suffer the ancient Chinese curse: "May you live in interesting times." His times were interesting and deadly, but that he survived them is not the greatest surprise. Rather, what stands out is that Fred never lost his compassion, nor his humanity, nor his mind.
Growing up in 1930s Vienna, the former home of a young, frustrated, and fuming artist named Adolf Hitler, Fred was the stepson of an ardent Social Democrat. As such, he grew up with a visceral and deep dislike and distrust of their rival parties, including the National Socialists, or "Nazis." Although the political situation in Austria throughout the 1930s was stormy, the German annexation of Austria absolutely ended effective opposition to the "New Order."
Attracted by the superficial benefits of unity with Germany and the evident achievements of the Nazis, young Alfred gradually parted ways with his stepfather. He performed his duty to the Reich when called up for service in the Labor Corps, and later proudly served in the most elite division of the German Army in World War II, Panzer-Grenadier Division "Grossdeutschland" ("Greater Germany").
From 1942 forward, Fred saw more than his share of combat. Starting with action as a member of a hurriedly-armed labor detachment in the famous British naval and commando raid at St. Nazaire, France, in March 1942, Fred later joined the Grossdeutschland Division in time to participate in some of the most well-known—and most bloody—battles of the war on the Eastern Front. During the Germans' last great offensive in the Soviet Union in 1943, Fred fought at Poltava and in the titanic clash of thousands of tanks at Kursk. Wounded there, he later returned to his unit and fought in the long series of fiercely-contested defensive battles that ended only when the Soviets occupied much of eastern and central Germany and Austria. . . and when Hitler and the Thousand Year Reich were finally destroyed.
Like so many members of German units, Fred was happy to surrender to the US Army at the end of the war, but under the terms of inter-Allied agreements reached months before, units which had fought only against the Soviets were turned over to the Red Army, en masse. Thus began the ordeal after the ordeal—2½ years in Soviet prison camps.
After being freed from Soviet captivity, Fred eventually escaped the old world and the old conflicts . . . and started a new life in the United States, free of the competing "isms" of Europe that had wreaked misery on millions.
Supported by detailed commentary by author/historian Marc Rikmenspoel, The Good Soldier contains 62 illustrations, including original diagrams and sketches drawn before the war and during the author's captivity; comprehensive documentary authentication of the author's military service; and extensive wartime photography.
Customer Reviews:
Powerful book.......2007-04-16
I just finished listening to the audio version of this book. The author himself, is the narrator which in itself is powerful. He speaks in a very slow, sincere, sometimes emotionally strained voice through which you can hear his struggling memories being conveyed. He tells of happy times, of funny boyhood pranks, of his daily life, of his participation in times and events that only hindsight fully showed him the magnitude of. No this is not a book for historians looking for detailed information full of dates and strategic manuevers and military actions. This is not a book for people wanting a documentary of factual processes by which Germany very nearly took over the entire of Europe. This is a story of Alfred Novatny... written solely for his daughter and her children so they would know him, and know where they came from. It can be overwhelmingly touching. By the end of the book, you feel you know this man. My husband, who is from Germany, listened to the most of it with me and when the book was finished, he turned to me and said "I want to find this man". We had no idea how old the book was and I warned that he was likely no longer living. But we did look him up and found him. My husband talked to him on the phone for quite some time. And he is a very kind man with such a good heart. He said there is so very much more that is not in the book... that couldn't be.. because it was just too harsh. It is a very good book that "connects" a modern world with a life and time that is now long gone and dying with the generation of those who lived it. It is a precious thing for him to have given to his children... and to the rest of us.
Too short but still Excellent.......2007-02-02
This book is an outstanding recollection of an Austrian soldier's experiences as a member of the German Army's renowned Grossdeutschland division in World War II. It is a rewrite of this soldier's originally privately published memoirs and is replete with interesting vignettes on the author's life, from his growing up in a family of Social Democrats in pre-war Austria, to his induction into the elite Grossdeutchland division, to his many and varied battlefield experiences, to his life as a post-war prisoner of the Soviets, to his coming to America.
The combat experiences he describes are mischeviously short (as is the book itself). Unfortunately, this sometimes leaves the impression that the author is holding back information, i.e., information that would not make him look good. Nonetheless, it contains many fascinating anecdotes about life under German control and in the German army during this period. For example, while undergoing his mandatory labor service ("Reichsarbeitsdienst") in late 1941 he is shipped with his unit to build runways near some German U-boat pens on the North Atlantic coast. They are all awakened one morning, provided steel helmets, given rifles and hand grenades with five minutes of instruction on their use, and sent out to fight some British commandos who were attacking the facility because they knew the regular military garrison was 25 miles away on manuevers. Somehow, these teenage conscripts held off the commandos, who were taken by surprise, believing that the facility would be undefended.
Especially interesting are the author's several near experiences with death, including, a bullet going through one side of his helmet but then traveling around the rim, leaving him without a scratch; a comrade entering the author's foxhole and moments later being blown up by an artillery shell, again leaving the author without a scratch; and hitting a heavy Stalin tank at close range with a "Panzerfaust" at the same time it fired its main gun at him, knocking the author unconscious, as the round hit a wall right above him, but otherwise laving him unharmed.
The entire book is strengthened by excellent introductory and transitional comments by Marc Rikmenspoel. Also making the book a very worthwhile purchase are the inclusion of a dozen or so wartime photographs of the author (some posed, some more candid in the field) as well as pictures of his two wound tags and the certificate awarding him the Iron Cross.
Beware, however, that there are grammatical and typographical errors on about every other page of the book. (Only in the parts written by Mr. Novotny and not, however, by Mr. Rikmenspoel.) These mistakes disrupt the flow and makes one wonder if there really was any editing done at all from the original edition. This otherwise superb book gets 4 stars instead of 5 due to this easily remedied flaw.
A very excellent personal WWII story.......2006-03-02
5 Stars
First, this book is published by Aberjona Press. I will be totally honest with you. I've never read a bad WWII book published by this business. I highly encourage amazon.com readers to read other books published by this firm. WWII is their bread and butter in the publishing business. So, I had high hopes for this book and it delivers.
The Good Soldier" is about memoirs of Germany Army WWII soldier Fred Novotny. The book's introduction starts off with the proverbial Chinese curse "May you live in interesting times!" (this reviewer hopes this does not happen to himself) Novotny certainly had his share of "interesting times". This is a story of overcoming great adversary with a happy ending.
Unlike most WWII stories, which begin in 1939 and end in 1945, "The Good Soldier" is across Novotny's entire lifetime. It begins with his childhood in Vienna, and continues without respite through the Anschluss, his service in the German Labor Service (RAD) and as a machine gunner with the elite "GrossDeutschland" armored infantry division, his postwar years in a Soviet prison camp, his return to freedom and eventual emigration to the USA, where he finds peace and success.
The book isn't full of "combat stories" but there are enough anecdotes to get a good sense of what life in the Third Reich was like and how terrible war and the postwar peace could be. The RAD experiences in particular are very interesting, since there is little information published in English about this German paramilitary organization.
Novotny's descriptions of life as a "GrossDeutschland" soldier and the Soviet penal system are fascinating as well. The reader will doubtless be amazed at Novotny's good fortune through some pretty grim situations - as he was himself!
When you read about any German soldier who survived the war they all credited their military training but cursed it a the same time. The German military training made their average soldier equal to US Marines or Army Rangers.
After the war Novoty's sent to work in a Soviet mine. He meets a woman and they have a brief encounter. The conditions in the mine are just as terrible as an prison. Novoty is released because the Soviets are trying to influence Austria political elections in the early cold war period.
The book is about 150-odd pages but is full of photos, drawings and notes that help the reader get a sense of the writer's experiences in the general sweep of WWII history.
I really enjoyed "The Good Soldier" and would recommend it to anyone interested in personal accounts of German soldiers in the Second World War. Indeed, I shall be re-reading it this week.
Enjoy.
Are you being served, in Russia?.......2005-04-18
Alfred Novotny is a former German solider from WWII who decided to write down some of his experiences from before, during, and after WWII. Like Guy Sajer, Alfred served in Gross Deutschland. Also like Guy, he served as a grenadier on a machine gun team.
Alfred starts his story by telling us about pre-war Austria, the environment, and the events leading up to Germanys taking over of Austria. This was interesting because I didn't know that much about Austria between the wars. The political environment was interesting to say the least.
During the early part of WWII, Alfred was a member of the RAD (Reichsarbeitsdienst). Interestingly, he was working around St. Nazaire when the commando raid happened (yes, he did gain some combat experience there). Upon completing his duty in the RAD, Alfred was brought into the German army, rather unusually for an Austrian, into Gross Deutschland (Alfred states that most Austrians were brought into the Mountain Infantry Regiments, the 44th ID, the 2nd PzD, or the 9th PzD).
Alfred gives a basic description of his time serving in Gross Deutschland. Throughout his chapters, Alfred has a little lead in paragraph that describes the situation he's going to describe in the following paragraphs. In his military service part, Alfred describes his training, his time on the front, Gross Deutschland, and the end of the war.
Like most German veterans who served on the eastern front, Alfred has section on the being a Russian prisoner of war. There's some interesting things, however, most of it has been covered by other Germans as well or better.
Alfred closes the book out with his post war activities. This includes his coming to America.
The Good Soldier is a good basic book. Not nearly as strong as most other personal histories. For this reason, I can only give it 3 stars. There are some very good pieces in here, but unfortnetly, Alfred doesn't deliver the goods nearly as well as Guy Sager, Hans von Luck, and others. Read it, but remember, this was written so his family would know wat he did and why.
Terrific.......2004-07-25
A very brief bio, but some amazing insights, and even a rare photo or two of a Knight's Cross winner whom the author served with. Does much to flesh out the divisional history with a "real" face. Better than Guy Sajer. Leaves the reader wanting more.
It is amazing how many good biographies of all the WW II armies have come out so long after the war; what a shame it was not possible to write books like this immediately after the war.
Book Description
, over 460 b/w photographs, 30 maps, 9" x 12"
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General
| Germany
| Europe
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| Books
The Tragedy of the Faithful: 3rd SS Panzer Corps
The Battle for Kharkov, Winter 1942/1943
In the Firestorm of the Last Years of the War, II. SS-Panzerkorps with the 9. and 10. SS-Divisions "Hohenstaufen" and "Frundsberg"
Das Reich III 1941-1943
Bridgehead Kurland: The Six Epic Battles of Heeresgruppe Kurland
