Written by Swords to the Knights Cross holder and last regimental commander Otto Weidinger, Comrades to the End is the complete history of SS-Regiment Der Führer. One of the original infantry regiments of the pre-war SS-Verfügungstruppe (Special Purpos

Comrades to the End: The 4th SS Panzer-Grenadier Regiment "Der Führer" 1938-1945: The History of a German-Austrian Fighting Unit (Schiffer Military History)

History

Weidinger, Otto.

Europe

Schiffer Military History

Das Reich I (Otto Weidinger). Hard cover, small format (9"x6"), 304 pages, 115 photographs 13 maps, charts and tables. The first of a 5-volume set, this volume covers the 2. SS-Panzer-Division "Das Reich" from its formation in 1934 to the conclusion of the Polish Campaign in 1939. A lot of detail on the initial formation of the Waffen-SS.

Das Reich 1, 1934-1939: 2 SS Panzer Division Das Reich

Military

J.J. Fedorowicz

Das Reich II Hard cover, small format (9"x6"), 400 pages, 108 photographs 20 maps, charts and tables. This second volume of an eventual five volume set covers actions in the West - Holland, France; the Balkans - Yugoslavia and the early days of the monumental invasion of Russia (until August 1941) in great detail. An excellent fighting record of this elite Waffen SS unit.

Das Reich II

J J Fedorowicz Canada, 1995

Das Reich (Volume III), 1941-1943: The History of the 2. SS-Panzer-Division "Das Reich" by Knight’s Cross recipient Otto Weidinger. Hard cover, small format (6"x9"), 496 pages with 85 photos and 19 maps. This is the third volume of the five-volume series of one of the most famous Waffen-SS divisions of World War II. This volume traces the path of the division from the late summer of 1942 until the beginning of 1943 and its evolution from a motorized rifle division to a SS-Panzergrenadier-Division. Follow the division through the initial stages of the campaign in Russia: Withdrawal from the Jelnja salient to the gates of Moscow to the brutal winter battles of the winter of 1941/1942. Continue on through its withdrawal from the front and its refitting in Germany and France, only to take part in the coup de main mounted against the attempted scuttling of the French fleet at Toulon. Finally, witness the division be rushed to the Eastern Front as part of the newly formed SS-Panzer-Korps, where it would participate in the epic fighting for Kharkov and the initial evacuation of the city. Making use of numerous primary sources — to include the war diaries of higher headquarters, the division itself and its organic subordinate formations and units — this is a first-class divisional history. In addition to a number of period sources, the book makes use of an abundance of first-hand accounts that make this unit history come alive. The reader is treated to a practically day-by-day account of this elite formation and is assisted in his efforts through many maps.

Das Reich III 1941-1943

This book is the classic official unit photo history of the premier division of the Waffen-SS in World War Two; which by wars end evolved into a Panzer Division that had fought from the first to the last day of the war on almost every front. This is their story in photos with captions in English and German. Originally formed as the SS-V.T. Division, it was composed of three of the original four regiments: Deutschland; Germania; and Der Fuhrer. In this capacity it participated in the French Campaign as a swift motorized division in the main drive on Rotterdam, after which it breached a strongly defended canal line in France; from which it attacked all the way to the Spanish border. After the blitzkrieg of France, the division was renamed Reich and transferred to Roumania. In the invasion of Yugoslavia in April of 1941, swift advanced units of the division captured the capital Belgrade, effectively knocking that country out of the war. 
In the pre-emptive strike against the Stalinst Soviet Union, the unit was assigned to the Panzers of Army Group Center for the main effort, and participated in the massive battles of encirclement that characterized that campaign, coming to within a few miles of the Kremlin in the final bid to take the Red Capital. Exhausted from continuous action, the division now faced the Soviet Counter-Offesive in some of the bitterest winter weather it would ever face. Fighting for its very life, Reich staved off assault after assault amidst staggering losses on both sides; but Reich endured. 
Pulled out of the line once the front stabilized, it was reformed into Panzer-Grenadier Division Das Reich and sent back to the front just as it was collapsing after the debacle of Stalingrad. Arriving in the nick of time with other Waffen-SS Panzer formations, it spearheaded the counter-attack at Kharkov that re-captured the city and re-formed the front. In the battle of Kursk, it thrust some forty miles into the Soviet lines, before that offensive was called off; after which it was re-formed again, this time to a full Panzer Division. 
D-Day found the Division in Normandy, where it participated in all of the hardest fighting. Fighting in the Ardennes, the unit was finally transferred to the East again where it fought against it's old enemy the Communists with diminishing capacity to the very bitter end. This is their heroic story in photos, taken for the most part by the front line fighters themselves in the smoke, noise, fire, fear, fury, and death, of combat action; providing a colossal monument to one of the most potent and elite combat formations in military history.

Division Das Reich In Photos (Division Das Reich Im Bild)

Nation Europa

Division Das Reich: 1934-1943 (3 Vols.)

Osnabruck Munin, 1977

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Weidinger, Otto.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.