Peterc wrote:The Germans in Normandy by Richard Hargreaves
Needless to say, but after getting into this, I'm already biting at the bit to pick up "Blitzkrieg Unleashed".
Thanks Peter. Glad you enjoyed it. It means a lot to have feedback after slaving away for years! The prequel is out on September 18 here in the UK.
I just had the proofs for the plate section back yesterday so progress is good by the looks of things, although I've not yet seen the jacket.
Björn Ringström's Antikvariat sells an incomplete one for 2400 krones roughly 290 euro's. Which is also the price i paid for the complete one at Kähnings bookstore. Found using Ilab-Lila or Zvab. i forgot.
I just happened to come across the 207th/281th on a german Ebay dealer named schwarzer-mai. He had some pretty good books for sale. Currently he hasn't got much for sale, but he might again in the future.
Utmost Savagery: The Three Days of Tarawa by Col. Joseph Alexander
II.Pz.Korps at Kursk by Didier Lodieu
waiting for "Panzer Gunner:From My Native Canada to the German Ostfront and Back, 25th Panzer Regiment, 7th Panzer Division by Bruno Friesen" to be delivered by the mailman
What i am really waiting for by the way is the complete 16. Inf Div (Mot). This 2000+ page volume is due to arrive somewhere next week. It was no bargain by any means, but i think it's going to be worth it.
Currently a copy of the 3 volumes on Ebay. Price was 10 Euros per volume but I guess that will rise...
I think I'll buy the CD, much as I'd prefer the books...
wmosner wrote:waiting for "Panzer Gunner:From My Native Canada to the German Ostfront and Back, 25th Panzer Regiment, 7th Panzer Division by Bruno Friesen" to be delivered by the mailman
On page 176/177 is a cautionary note for all authors!
"In part, a two-page outline of the history of the 7th Panzer Division, the
book Uniforms, Organization and History of the Panzertruppe, San
Jose, 1980, by Roger James Bender and Warren W. Odegard, states that
the Division participated, in March of 1944, in the retreat across the
northern Ukraine, and that, in July of 1944, it was engaged in the central
sector of the Eastern Front during the Soviet summer offensive.
The Division was, we are told, transferred to the Baltic States in
August of 1944 as part of the 3rd Panzer Army. It fought in Raseiniai in
Lithuania and later in Kurland and Memel until November of that year. It
was heavily engaged in January of 1945 during the Soviet winter offensive
west of the Vistula.
Finally, we learn that the Division gradually withdrew to the west,
fighting defensively until it surrendered to the British at Schwerin on
May 3, 1945.
My comments regarding these few lines would be, first of all, that,
since Kiev lies in the northern Ukraine, the Chernovtsy area, where at
least part of Panzer Regiment 25 was to be found at the end of March, and
early in April, of 1944, it must have been at what was considered to be the
extreme southern flank of the 7th Panzer Division.
Also, regarding the statement that the 7th Panzer Division was trans-
ferred to the Baltic States in August of 1944,1 can point out that my log of
tank engagements shows some dates between July 7, 1944, and July 20,
1944, attesting to our pre-August presence in Lithuania, one of the Baltic
States. Incidentally, Raseiniai lays 150 km north-northwest of
Leipalingis, named in my log, which could indicate that there; too, Panzer
Regiment 25 may have had something like a flanking role.
Furthermore, I can state that Panzer Regiment 25 was, according to
my log, east of the Vistula during the latter part of January, 1945. Let me
add, with regard to my second-next paragraph, that any 7th Panzer-Divi-
sion troops east of the Vistula must have, by February 2, 1945, been virtu-
ally cut off from the west by the Soviet front line, which then ran along
the Vistula to a point about 50 km south of Danzig.
By February 24, 1945, the Soviet front line extended to the Baltic Sea
just east of Danzig. Farther west, the Soviet February 24 front line lay
about 100 km south of the Baltic coast. It is comprehensible that troops
west of the Vistula, especially those that were there earlier than about
February 2, moved westward in the 100-km wide tract before Pomerania,
too, was overrun by the Soviets. The battle for the part of Pomerania
north of the February 24 front line continued until about the middle of
March.
Finally, regarding the 7th Panzer Division's surrender to the British
at Schwerin, 90 km east of Hamburg-and, by the way, 490 km west-
southwest ofDanzig-I was very surprised, despite the fact that its difficult
way west had apparently led through Pomerania, to find out that even
part of the Division had escaped from the Soviets.
There is no reason to doubt that the authors of the brief history which
I have just commented upon did their best to get at, and publish, the
truth, for, as General a.D. [Ret.] Hasso-Eckard Frhr. von Manteuffel
wrote in his foreword to Roger James Bender and Warren W. Odegard's
Uniforms, Organisation and History of the Panzertruppe: "The authors
have provided a vivid description of the development, organization, and
fate of the German tank units on the basis of a detailed and conscientious
study of the source material."
Contrary to the impression one gets from reading Uniforms, Organi-
sation and History of the Panzertruppe, the 7th Panzer Division did not go
through Pomerania on its way to Schwerin. Page 154 of Hasso von
Manteuffel's book The 7th Panzer Division: An Illustrated History of
Rommel's "Ghost Division" 1938-1945, published in 2000, states the
following:
From March 12th to 24th, 1945[,] the Division was engaged in
heavy fighting round the Danzig-Gotenhafen bridgehead. When
the Gotenhafen bridgehead had to be given up on March 25th,
the Division was moved to the Oxhof[t]er Kampe area where the
fighting continued until April 4th, 1945. The Division was
moved then [sic] to the Hela peninsula and was transferred via sea
to Swinemiunde harbour on April 15th."
No matter what we do we can never get it 100% right!
Peterc wrote:The Germans in Normandy by Richard Hargreaves
Needless to say, but after getting into this, I'm already biting at the bit to pick up "Blitzkrieg Unleashed".
Thanks Peter. Glad you enjoyed it. It means a lot to have feedback after slaving away for years! ...
Credit where credit is due
Over the weekend, picked up a Japanese translation of "Wenn alle Bruder schweigen". Originally published in 1973 by the Association of Soldier's of the Former Waffen-SS, many members here will be familiar with this photographic tour de force, depicting the history of the W-SS. Despite my limited Japanese, am glad to have finally added this title to my collection (in any language!).
On reading further in "Wages of Destruction" by Adam Tooze, would unhesitatingly recommend it to anyone, but a knowledge of basic economic theory increases the value of this text immensely.
I have just finished The Forsaken Army by Heinrich Gerlach and have just started to read The Brandenburg Division: Commandos of the Reich (special operations) by Eric Lefevre.
Just started For Whom the Bell Tolls by Hemingway (last read it 16 years ago); Also a few dozen pages into Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, 1944-1945 by Max Hastings. And the usual biographical muck on Nazi leaders (Gauleiter autobiographies, the multitude of Goebbels' biographies & translations of his diaries, photocopies of documents from SA and SS leaders' files) for my own series of books on same.
~ Mike
"I am a historian before I am a Christian; my object is simply to find out how the things actually occurred."
That looks outstanding.
:X 
![:[]](./images/smilies/icon_study.gif "Study")
