OVERVIEW
Richard Freiherr von Rosen was a highly decorated Wehrmacht soldier and panzer commander. His memoirs are richly illustrated with contemporary photographs, including key confrontations of World War II.
After serving as a gunlayer on a Pz.Mk.III during Barbarossa, he led a Company of Tigers at Kursk. Later he led a company of King Tiger panzers at Normandy and in late 1944 commanded a battle group (12 King Tigers and a flak Company) against the Russians in Hungary in the rank of junior, later senior lieutenant (from November 1944, his final rank.)
Every effort had to be made to retrieve any of them bogged down or otherwise immobilized, which led to many towing adventures. The author has a fine memory and his account is easy to read and not technical.
ANALYSIS
This book is richly decorated with photographs of the author throughout his military career together with other photographs depicting life in a tank company. This book is really about his life at that time and has virtually no political bias that is prominent in other memoirs.
What struck me as I read the book was how much time was spent away from fighting, either through injury or training. In addition, the constant need to maintain their tanks and recover them if at all possible comes through clearly. There is a great story of his towing a Tiger tank with his Tiger tank at night through the Russian Steppes in winter no man’s land towards the German front line.
I found this book hard to put down, and how many times can one say that about a war memoir, particularly from a German soldier? The author had a keen eye for details of interest and writes in an engaging manner. I have no hesitation recommending it to anyone interested in the Eastern Front and in particular life in the Panzer arm of the German Heer.
BOOK DETAILS
- Publisher : Greenhill Books (February 23, 2018)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 408 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1784382663
- ISBN-13 : 978-1784382667
- Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.2 x 1.3 x 9.3 inches
