Feldgrau.net

Many details not found in Tieke's book are included in Raza de Vikingos, Erik Norling's history of the Nordland Division, published by Garcia Hispan in Spain. Norling is of mixed Swedish and Spanish descent, and he was able to work directly with the Norwegian Waffen-SS veterans' association to colle...

It's a really bad book, full of tangents that let Pierik discuss his politics without advancing the history of the unit. I enjoyed Pierik's book Hungary 1944-45 The Forgotten Tragedy, and I expected better of this other one. I was even more disappointed when I found that the English translation incl...

The thing about Mongomery that doesn't get mentioned often enough is that he didn't bungle his opportunities, while many other British generals did, particularly in North Africa. Monty was lucky to have the time and opportunity to stack the deck in his favor in several campaigns, and then did not wa...

Frederick, you've probably heard the nickname for Wehrmacht female signal personnel, the front soldiers referred to them as "field matresses." I'm not sure how much sexual activity actually took place, compared to how much was believed to occur.

In Herbert Walter's photo book on the 1. SS-PD LSSAH, released in English translation by Schiffer, he identifies the Marder with the name "Lausbub" on it as his personal mount during the Kharkov campaign, when he was a platoon commander in SS-PJA 1. As to personal projects, I helped my Bel...

Nate, just for your curiosity, "Lausbub" (rascal or bad boy in English) was the personal mount of SS-Ustuf. Herbert Walther, who went on to assemble three photo books on the Waffen-SS and to contribute to various other projects.

Many were very good battlefield commanders, the best evidence to support this can be found in Yerger's Waffen-SS Commanders two volume set. A list of effective Waffen-SS generals includes Hausser, Dietrich (at least up to corps level, and always with the help of good staff officers), Bittrich, Stein...

Hellmuth Becker represented the last holdover of pre-war SS-TV influence within the division, and by the time he returned from the 16. SS-PGD RFSS, he was essentially isolated, and had almost all SS-VT originated officers as his subordinates, unlike the situation a couple of years and more earlier, ...

One aspect of Eicke's character that no one has brought up is his hatred of the traditional Junker class of Prussian officer. This developed during the First World War, when Eicke was a simple paymaster, and not a frontline combat soldier. As Eicke organized the SS-TV into combat troops during the l...

Many of these figures seem wildly wrong to me. I studied various sources while preparing my Waffen-SS Encyclopedia, and whenever possible, I based the figures I listed on material prepared within the country in question. The Dutch figure of 50,000 is widely quoted, and is seen as part of a total of ...

I agree with what Fons wrote, Oertle's book is one of the best WW2 histories I have seen on any W-SS related subject. It is well worth getting, and the last I knew, some German dealers carried it, but that was a couple of years ago, and it may be out of print (I got mine from an American friend who ...

I'm happy to add the public acclaim for To Battle, it seems to be easily the best book yet on the Galician/Ukrainian Division (I haven't finished it yet). I can also support what Mike and Mark have written, in that there's a great satisfaction in having actually completed a project, and that the mea...

The "Prinz Eugen" was the 7. SS-Freiwilligen Gebirgs Division, a mountain division actually formed primarily from conscription. Its initial complement came from the portion of the Banat (an ethnic-German region north of Belgrade) given to Serbia after WW1. Later, the manpower was supplemen...

Fedorowicz has a translation of Drama zwischen Budapest und Wien in the works. The process has been ongoing for several years, but it may get published during 2003.

Degrelle had no military background at all, none, because as the oldest son of a large family he was exempted from conscription. Most other right wing political leaders in Belgium were Belgian Army reserve officers, and thus they gained commissions when joining the German military. This included men...