The German Soldier in World War II

Stephen Hart, Russell Hart

• Publisher: Amber Books Ltd
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9781782743712
• eBook ISBN:
  9781782744153
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World War II
• Index: History

For the first three years of World War II the German Army was a fearsome offensive organisation, capable of subduing countries in a matter of weeks. Even as the war neared its end, individual German soldiers earned great respect from their Allied opponents for their defensive capabilities and their willingness to fight hard to the end. The German Soldier in World War II uses rare and previously unseen photographs to show the reader what life was like for the German soldier in the frontline during World War II. Whether a tank crewman, panzergrenadier, motorcyclist or artilleryman, every German soldier had their own viewpoint in combat and the photographs in this book reflect that, showing how they fought together, often overcoming unpromising odds or better-equipped enemies. The book includes images of the Waffen-SS in action, and depicts combat from both the Western and Eastern fronts. The German Soldier in World War II is a graphic portrait of the life of the private soldier in the army of the Third Reich, containing first-hand accounts from German Army veterans who served in the war. This book is for anyone interested in the history of World War II and the Third Reich.

Index

Page references in italics indicate photographs

Afrika Division 111

Afrika Korps 111, 112, 113, 114–16, 118–19, 118, 119, 121

aid stations 88, 89

airborne and special forces 61–71

airborne special operations 65–6

airborne troops, impact 66–7

aircraft

gliders 63

at Eben Emael 64–5, 65

DFS 230 62

Junkers Ju-52 62, 66, 67

Junkers Ju-52 air ambulance 89

Luftflotte 3 fighter aircraft 170

Typhoon 170

Wellington bomber 114

Albert Canal 64

Alimov, Gulan ‘Alim’ 94

Allied paratroop landing 179

Almasy, Captain Count 71

alpine troops 161

American field hospital, German prisoners in 86–7

Amiens, capture 108

anti-aircraft half tracks 172

anti-partisan operations 131–3

anti-tank exercises 23–4

anti-tank gunner 30

anti-tank team 125

Anzio

and Albert Kesselring 152–5

battle for 151–2

Ardennes

counter-attack 81

offensive 69–70

Argentan station 169

armaments

anti-aircraft guns

on the Eastern Front 48–9

in North Africa 110–11

anti-tank guns 31, 134–5

assault gun 156–7, 173, 182–3

Big Bertha gun 53, 56

Dora rail gun 56

Flak 36 gun 132–3

Flakpanzers 172

heavy gun 50

howitzers 49–50, 51, 53, 54–5,...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Moulding the Soldier
• Infantry
• Panzer Forces
• Artillery
• Airborne and Special Forces
• The Waffen-SS
• Casualties of War
• France 1940
• North Africa 1941–43
• The Eastern Front 1941–43
• Defeat in the East 1943–45
• The Italian Campaign 1943–45
• Normandy 1944
• North-West Europe 1944–45
• Index