. . . One of these events, the attempt of the Red Army to cut off and destroy the panzer formations far advanced before Moscow, is little known. In January 1942, when the 3rd, 4th and 22nd Soviet Shock armies set out from the Army Group North area to the south and attacked Kholm, Toropets, Demidov, Vitebsk and Belikie Luki, in order to roll over the rear area services approximately 160 kilometers behind the front and the strong point-like positions and cut off the main body of Army Group Center from its supply of weapons and soldiers, the Eastern Campaign appeared to be lost. The renewed major offensive of the Red Army, which began in November 1942, found these troops - hopelessly opposing massed enemy formations - in a battle to the bitter end. This is especially shown in Velikie Luki, where the defensive strength of 7,500 German soldiers fought to the end paid for with their own lives. Only a handful of soldiers escaped from this inferno. Never before has such detail on this aspect of the Russian front campaign been available in English. Reknowned author Franz Kurowski uses first-person accounts, and never before published documentation to present this, the turning point of the war in Russia.
- Combat stories of eight German infantry soldiers: one paratrooper, two members of the Waffen-SS, and five members of the Wehrmacht - A concluding chapter examines infantry tactics This is an authentic account of German infantry aces, common foot soldiers who were thrust into a blazing maelstrom of bloody horror the world had never seen. On the frozen Russian steppes, under the scorching African desert sun, and in the final desperate battles, they were outnumbered and outgunned and faced impossible odds. Here are the fascinating stories of the men who stared death in the face during some of the most brutal battles ever waged.
With speed, violence, and deadly power, heavily armored tanks spearheaded the German blitzkrieg that stormed across Europe in 1939. Tracks rattling and engines roaring, these lethal machines engaged in some of the fiercest fighting of World War II, from the beaches of Normandy and the Ardennes Forest to the snow-encrusted Eastern Front. In this reprint of the hugely popular book, prolific author Franz Kurowski tells the gritty, action-packed stories of six of the most daring and successful officers ever to command Panzers, including Michael Wittmann, Hans Bolter, Hermann Bix, and others. Timelines mark the milestones of each officer's career.
Each recipient is presented in a capsule biography including dates of birth, awarding of the various Knights Cross grades, and other particulars to rank and career. Each is also shown in a World War II era photograph.
Each recipient is presented in a capsule biography including date of birth, awarding of the various Knight's Cross grades, and other particulars to rank and career. Each is also shown in a World War II era photograph.
The Panzer Lehr Division, a German armoured division during World War II, was one of the most Elite units in the entire German Wehrmacht Heer. It was formed in 1943 from various units of elite training and demonstration troops stationed in Germany, to provide additional armoured strength for resisting the anticipated Allied invasion of western Europe. Its great weakness was that it concentrated the cream of Germany's tank commanders and instructors in a single unit. Due to its elite status it was lavishly equipped in comparison to the ordinary Panzer divisions, though on several occasions it fought almost to destruction, in particular during Operation Cobra. For the first time in English, this book follows the division from Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge to the end of the war, showing how Germans fought Americans at St. Lô and Bastogne. Written in Kurowski's trademark you-are-there style, this includes numerous firsthand accounts based on interviews with veterans.
A narrative detailing a clandestine operations unit ran by the German Army's intelligence service, and its exploits. It gives a rare look into the secret military operations of Hitler's Germany. Trained to be quick, mobile, self-reliant and steeped in local customs and languages, the Brandenburgers operated behind enemy lines around the world. From Western Europe to Romania, Russia, Egypt, Afghanistan, and World War II's other fronts, they seized bridges as well as other strategic targets. They engaged in sabotage, espionage, and other daring missions-often bending the rules of war in the process. Although the unit was dissolved in 1944, its tactics influenced special forces around the world both during the war and after.
With the same drama and excitement as Panzer Aces, Panzer Aces II relates the combat careers of six more decorated German Panzer officers. Extensively researched, these gripping accounts follow the men and their tanks across three continents into some of World War II’s bloodiest engagements. They campaigned with Rommel in the deserts of North Africa, participated in the monumental tank battle at Kursk, and, maneuvering only by muzzle flashes, fought frightening small-unit contests in the dark of night. Master tacticians and gutsy leaders, these men, including Hermann von Oppeln-Bronikowski, Kurt Knispel, Karl Nicolussi-Leck, and others, are legends.
World War II air war companion to Panzer Aces and Panzer Aces II. In-the-cockpit accounts of aerial dogfights by some of Germany's deadliest pilots ever to take to the skies.
Each recipient is presented in a capsule biography including date of birth, awarding of the various Knights Cross grades, and other particulars to rank and career. Each is also shown in a World War II era photograph.
The final stage of the Second World War, with the enemy across the Reich's borders, saw final desperate battles for numerous "fortified places" and blocking positions. Hitler ordered the defense of these fortified places such as Konigsberg and Breslau, Wesel and Kolberg, Danzig, Posen and many others. In these isolated bastions the war-weary German units offered desperate resistance, offered for good purpose. This stubborn holding-on to the last round saved hundreds of thousands of women and children, made possible the evacuation of hospitals and the transport out of surrounded Wehrmacht female auxiliaries. The fates of German soldiers were realized in bunkers and caves, in tunnels and fields of rubble. In the Hurtgenwald as in the Reichswald, during the crossing of the Rhine between Wesel and Emmerich, in the Remagen bridgehead, on the hill at Keppeln, in the Ruhr pocket, as well as in the east of the Reich in the East Prussian pocket, in Pomerania, in Silesia and in the Reich capital. Shocking scenes of apocalyptic battle were played out wherever Hitler's last bastions held out against the onrushing enemy, whether at the frontiers of the Reich or inside Germany itself.
Six riveting, gritty accounts of some of the greatest German tank commanders, including Michael Wittmann, Hans Bolter, Hermann Bix, and others. Timelines mark the milestones of each officer's career.
A tribute to one of the top fighter aces of the World War II, this new full length biography appears here in its first edition. Marseilles' wartime exploits are legendary with the 158 aerial victories, including 17 in one day. He was, and still is, considered by many of the Luftwaffe aces to be the premier fighter pilot of the Luftwaffe-all before the age of twenty-three. Also chronicled is the combat life of JG 27, Marseilles' unit, and the various personalities throughout the North African campaign.
World War II air war companion to Panzer Aces and Panzer Aces II In-the-cockpit accounts of aerial dogfights by some of Germany's deadliest pilots ever to take to the skies This exciting book tells the combat biographies of seven Luftwaffe aces: three day-fighter pilots, one night-fighter pilot, one close-support pilot, and two bomber pilots. This mix of well-known and less famous pilots includes Heinz Bar, who had 221 victories and was an ME 262 ace; Otto Kittel, the fourth-highest Luftwaffe ace with 267 kills; Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer, a leading night-fighter ace with 121 kills; Wilhelm Batz, whose two-year combat career ended with 237 kills in the elite JG 52; Otto Weiss, a close-support pilot in the Hs 123 and Hs 129; Joachim Helbig, who flew the Ju 88 bomber over Malta; and Ludwig Havighorst, who served first with the infantry and then the Luftwaffe, where he flew fifty bombing missions over Stalingrad.
With speed, violence, and deadly power, heavily armored tanks spearheaded the German blitzkrieg that stormed across Europe in 1939. Tracks rattling and engines roaring, these lethal machines engaged in some of the fiercest fighting of World War II, from the beaches of Normandy and the Ardennes Forest to the snow-encrusted Eastern Front. In this reprint of the hugely popular book, prolific author Franz Kurowski tells the gritty, action-packed stories of six of the most daring and successful officers ever to command Panzers, including Michael Wittmann, Hans Bolter, Hermann Bix, and others. Timelines mark the milestones of each officer's career.
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