Red Eagle: The Deadliest Killer Hunts Alone

History

LUCAS, James

Military

Shelf Books

BAREAKING THE CHAINS is a full account of the 14th Waffem-SS Division, formed by Ukranians, initially from the province of Galacia but later encompassing the whole of the Ukraine. The history of this unit is set uupon a particularly full discussion of the political background of the Ukraine, especially the Ukranian nationalist movements of the post-World War 1 period. These movements, especially the OUN (Organisation of Ukarinian Nationalists), were fundamental in providing the basis for the new division being for the creation of two early Ukranian formations (Roland and Nachtigall battalions) which fougtht at the outset of the Russian campaign. After the German take-over in the Ukraine, many other units were set up, Notably the German Police 'Schuma' battalions and many German Army volunteer units, generically termed Osttruppen (East Troops). These units are also fully covered in the book - as far as information is avaliable. However, in the later German political system in the major part of the Ukraine, the oppressivce policies of Reichskommisar Irich Koch eventyally led to much anto-German feeling and the setting up of local partisan forces, most priminetly in the form of the UPA. It is this destructive policy by some , but certainly not all German officials which the author argues was a major factor in thje eventual German defeat. The book concludes with the immediate post-war agonies of the ukranian nationalist movement in the face of the horrific Stalinist dictatorship. A full set of appendices are included, covering all known Ukrainian units in the German ground forces, rank and appointment terms in the SS, Police, German Government etc., and the usual Shelf Books treatment of foreign placenames. All in all, this book constutures a complete history of the Ukranian involvement in World War II - a Story of tragedy, Disappointment and, on the German side, What would appear to be gross stupidity.

Breaking the Chains: 14 Waffen-Grenadier Division Der Ss and Other Ukrainian Volunteer Formations, Eastern Front, 1941-45

Jurado, Carlos Caballero

Few would disagree that the loss of 6th Army at Stalingrad represented the turning point of the Eastern front, indeed of WWII in Europe. Heroic as the efforts of the Luftwaffe's air and ground crews were, the defenders could never have been adequately supplied by airlift alone. Could the relief attempt mounted by General Hoth's 4th Panzer Army ever have reached the cauldron across 150km of wintry steppe? Once the panzers had punched a corridor through, 800 lorries loaded with 3,000 tons of supplies were to restore 6th Army's fighting strength and evacuate the wounded; von Manstein intended that Paulus then initiate the breakout, spearheaded by his own remaining armour (some hundred-odd tanks). By Christmas Eve, the relief attempt had stalled on the defences recently manned by the 2nd Guards Army on the banks of the Myshkova river, less than fifty kilometres from the siege lines but still impossibly far for the defenders to have reached even had Paulus willed the abandonment of the city. By then the tank strength of the LVII Panzerkorps had been worn down by twelve days of bitter fighting and the men of its constituent 6, 17 and 23 Panzer-Divisions physically exhausted by constant combat in snow and cold, without any shelter on the open steppe. Finally, the gallant and self-sacrificial relief attempt was doomed - even as the fighting for Vyerkhnye-Kumskiy approached its climax - by the Russian 'Little Saturn' onslaught (16th December) against Armee-Abteilung Hollidt and the Italian 8th Army; as the latter collapsed and Russian tank brigades threatened to overrun the airfields supplying Stalingrad, the strongest formation, 6 Panzer-Division, was urgently required on the far side of the Don. On Christmas Eve, with tears in their eyes, the troops saluted their comrades in the cauldron - now doomed to death in combat or the slower agony of the camps, the fate most feared of all. Dutch researcher Hans Wijers has assembled eyewitness accounts from five veterans of this operation, previously chronicled, even in German, from a seriously incomplete perspective and in English only peripherally: a tanker, Oberleutnant Helmut Ritgen of Panzer-Regiment 11, who as von Hünersdorff's adjutant was at the heart of the tank actions; two anti-tank gunners, Leutnant Günter Höffken and Oberfeldwebel Friedrich Bösch of Panzerjäger-Abteilung 41 (41st Anti-Tank Battalion); a medical officer, Dr Eugen Fritze of Panzer-Nachricten-Abteilung 82 (82nd Signals Battalion) and an infantryman, Oberleutnant Dr Hans Soest of Panzergrenadier-Regiment 4, provide complementary accounts from the perspective of the principal formation - 6 Panzer-Division. In addition, three of the survivors of the Stalingrad cauldron: Leutnant Joachim Stempel of Panzergrenadier-Regiment 103; Funker Ernst Panse, a tank wireless operator of Panzer-Regiment 24 and Hauptfeldwebel Alfred Simmen of Grenadier-Regiment 669; describe their feelings, first of hope and confidence, then of disillusion and despair, as the waning fortunes of the relief operation became known to them. Finally, this volume reproduces some of the key documents involved, including the draft of the never-issued order to break out, signed by Paulus, and records some of the radio messages and telexes crucial to an understanding of this historically remarkable event.

Storm Over the Steppe

Hans Wijers

The SS-Heimwehr Danzig was a paramilitary unit set up by the Germans from their Totenkopf units to establish an armed presence in the Polish-dominated city of Danzig. An unusual unit in respect of it’s size - incorporating engineers, anti-tank and signals units amongst others, it saw action around Danzig during the Battle of Poland in 1939, fighting in the battles for the city (notably the battle for the Polish Post Office) and the surrounding areas. In the latter sphere they took part in actions on the Vistula bridge at Dirschau, the battle for the Westerplatte, finally assisting the German Army forces attempting to take the Oxhöfter Kämpe. The appendices give a full listing of the organisation of the unit, including the names of officers commanding it’s various units. It gives a full Roll of Honour for the fallen and gives details on special medals and awards given to the unit, such as the Danzig Cross. Finally, the book includes the usual Shelf Books treatment of placenames, a glossary of terms and a guide to the rank and appointment system of the German forces.

Si Vis Pacem

English, Adrian J.

Europe

Very little literature exits on the men of the Artillery group of the German army, almost all volunteers, who manned the assault guns (Sturmgeschutz). This book details the actions of Leutnant Alfred Regeniter, covering the six months between his first and last combats as commander of an assault gun unit. The book covers a six month period from early August 1944 - when the collapse of Army Group Centre undermined the German hold on the Baltic States, exposing East Prussia itself to invasion- up to February 1945 when Regeniter was wounded. After leading his troop in furious battles with the Russians in Lithuania and East Prussia, Regeniter was severely wounded and evacuated on a hospital train.

Knight Gunner: The Memoirs of Lt. Alfred Regeniter, 3rd Battery, Sturmgeschutz - Brigade 276, East and West Prussia, 1944-45 (Armed Forces of the Third Reich. Personal Histories Series)

Biographies & Memoirs

Regeniter, Alfred

Leaders & Notable People

In the great struggle against Stalinist Communism which broke out in 1941,'Germanic' volunteers from north-west Europe performed so creditably both in their national legions and in the multinational SS-Division WIKINGthat on the 30th March 1943 a new division - NORDLAND - was established to fight alongside WIKING in a Germanic SS-corps, the cadre being provided by one of WIKING'S three motorised infantry regiments (itself NORDLAND). Thus SS-Pz.Gren.Rgt.24 was set up,, Danish Veterans from the FREIKORPS DANMARK and the NORDLAND Rgr being supplemented with Romanians to make the personel up. Even so, Danes consistenely thereafter accounted for some 12% of the Division, constututing a still higher proportion of officers. Training was carried out at Grafenwohr in May-August 1943 befor the Division was sent to Crostia against Tito's partisans. On arrival on the Eastern Front the Danes were assigned a sector of the Oranienbaum Pocket west of Leningrad: from then on until the end of the war they were committed to a fightinng withdrawal in the face of the overwhelming masses of infantry, artillery armour and aircraft, finally passing into Soviet Captivity.

Nordic Warriors

Landwehr, Richard

Nielsen, Holger Thor

Bujeiro, Ramiro

Ball, Robert A

Lewthwaite, James G

Machine gun bullets could not harm the tiger, now arrogantly destroying the British vehicles as it cruised along the column... In the market square personnel carriers were driven into side streets to clear the area. On the road the vehicles were halted awaiting futher orders. Just below the crest of point 213 commanders were making frantic efforts to bring their vehicles out of the confusion all round them and to get them into action. Wittmann saw them and appreciated the threat which they might pose. He decided to switch targets...

Death in Normandy

Literature & Fiction

James Lucas

History & Criticism

The main text and appendices complement each other, and for the serious historian this book gives a new insight into a little researched group of units, those bearing the title Feldherrnhalle. As the name suggests and the book amply explains, these groups had more than just passing links with the Sturmabteilung, for whom the Feldherrnhalle Arch in Munich was synonymous with the National Socialists struggle for power. The SA leaders the Feldherrnhalle units were perhaps viewed as an extension of their own 'SA Standarte Feldherrnhalle' (The armed 'Guards' unit of the SA) and as near to their ideal of a political soldier as they were ever likely to achieve following the rise to power of their rivals, the SS... Alfonso Escuadra Sanchez has produced and unquestionably erudite work on units whose combat achievements evidently deserve more widespread dissemination. The word 'Elite' is perhaps overused in modern military writing, but it undoubtedly sums up the Feldherrnhalle, whose military prowess was often beyond comparison. For the English language market this volume will soon prove itself to be the primary source for those seeking information on the Feldherrnhalle units.

Feldherrnhalle: Forgotten Elite : Panzerkorps Feldherrnhalle and Antecedent Formations, Eastern and Other Fronts, 1939-1945

Sanchez, Alfonso Escuadra

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