War memoirs?

Capt.Canuck

Capt.Canuck

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Based on the recommendation of members here, I recently read Guy Sager's 'Forgotten Soldier' and Hans Fallada's 'Every Man Dies Alone'. The first is a graphic memoir of a Wehrmacht soldier on the eastern front, and the second is a tragic semi-biographical novel about life in Berlin during the Second World War.

Both were excellent, thanks to whomever recommended them.

I'm looking for some other suggestions if anyone would like to share.

For my part, a memoir I would recommend is Hal Moore's 'We Were Soldiers Once, And Young', about his Vietnam experiences.
 
One that has its moments (and awfully written passages too), is Panzer Gunner: A Canadian in the German 7th Panzer Division 1944-45 by Bruno Friesen. He was (he died last year) young Canadian whose parents were convinced that Hitler was doing things right, and they took their family back to the old country. How wrong they were! No good jobs, rude and badly misinformed locals, and a different set of opportunities. Bruno apprenticed as an electrician but still got drafted. He was a Panzer Mk IV gunner on the Eastern Front. He got several kills and loses a couple of tanks. For a man who later taught English in college, he certainly could have tightened up a lot of the writing.
 
I'm very fond of 'Quartered Safe Out Here,' by George MacDonald Fraser. A very well-written account of his time fighting in Burma with the Border Regiment.
 
Capt Canuck:

Reference "We Were Soldiers Once and Young".

The book is a great read but the movie ended with the Americans leaving the Ie Trang valley battlefield, whereas the book goes on the the bitter end when some units tried to get to LZ Albany (or was it LZ Alpha?) and got slaughtered by enfilade fire.

Book, historically correct; movie historically misleading.

For other interesting books on warfare history may I suggest a quartet of reference media related to Harry Harbord Morant, aka The Breaker.

First...the movie "Breaker Morant", called by Peter Worthington the most perfect movie he has ever seen;

Second...the book "The Breaker" by Kit Denton;

Third...the book"Shoot Straight You Bastards" by Nick Blezynski;

Fourth...Scapegoats of the Empire by George Witton (one of the accused).

Of the four, I would recommend the movie first followed by "Shoot Straight You Bastards".

The appeal of this story is that the British government still today refuses to release the transcript of the trial. Popular criticism has it that the reason is that it would cast serious aspersion on Lord Kitchener and to a certain degree on Queen Victoria and her German connections (the German government was favourable to the Boers).
 
"Defeat into Victory" by FM William Slim.

A real good read.

"Mark of The Lion" by Kenneth Sandford.

The biography of Charles Upham, VC and Bar.
 
To War In A Stringbag by Charles Lamb. (He flew Swordfish torpedo bombers in the Royal Navy. A stringbag was a net bag that many British housewives carried with them whenever they went out in case they found something in the shops. The Swordfish was used by the RN for everything and anything, hence the nickname.)

The Big Show by Pierre Clostermann, a Free French pilot in the RAF.

Samurai! by Saburo Sakai, a fighter pilot in the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Adolf Hitler: My Part In His Downfall, and sequels by Spike Milligan chronicling his service in the Royal Artillery.
 
BRAZEN CHARIOTS by Major Robert Crisp.

Bob Crisp was a famous South African cricket star before the war. This book is his personal account of one month in Honeys in the Sidi Rezegh battles in North Africa and includes an eyewitness account of the famous "cavalry charge" onto the airstrip. For combat, the book is second to none, with Honeys against M-13s and PzKpfw IIIs. Bloody HAIRY!

Crisp ended the war with the Military Cross, Distinguished Service Order and 4 Mentions in Dispatches.

Well written in plain English, this book captures the flavour of the Desert War better than any other I have read. It is not surprising at all that Crisp became a well-known journalist after the War: he could write!

Major Crisp passed away in 1994 at age 83. He was already over 30 at the time of Sidi Rezegh.

If you get ONE book on the Desert War this year, be sure it is this one. Available in inexpensive paperback for almost half a century now.
 
If you've never read Reach for the Sky, the biography of Sir Douglas Bader, you really should. That was one seriously ballsy Englishman, and an inspiration to anyone undergoing adversity.
 
Douglas Bader used to attend the Commonwealth Aircrew reunions which were held every 5 yrs in Winnipeg. A wartime RCAF vet, whose story I recently recorded, got to know Bader while attending a couple of these reunions. The veteran's wife, a medical doctor and also a private pilot, used to attend these as well. She used to enjoy visiting with Bader and discussing his handicap, which actually turned out to be something of an advantage in air combat. His absence of legs meant that he could withstand higher G forces than normal pilots without blacking out because he had no legs to drain off his blood under heavy G forces. I was surprised to learn that the wartime Luftwaffe fighter chief, General Adolf Galland, used to be a popular attendee at these reunions where my ex-RCAF friend and wife got to know him as well.
 
purple said:
Douglas Bader used to attend the Commonwealth Aircrew reunions which were held every 5 yrs in Winnipeg. A wartime RCAF vet, whose story I recently recorded, got to know Bader while attending a couple of these reunions. The veteran's wife, a medical doctor and also a private pilot, used to attend these as well. She used to enjoy visiting with Bader and discussing his handicap, which actually turned out to be something of an advantage in air combat. His absence of legs meant that he could withstand higher G forces than normal pilots without blacking out because he had no legs to drain off his blood under heavy G forces. I was surprised to learn that the wartime Luftwaffe fighter chief, General Adolf Galland, used to be a popular attendee at these reunions where my ex-RCAF friend and wife got to know him as well.
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That is something I bet you will never forget. I had met Jan Devries of 1st Para a few times as he would show up at the Christmas Levy at the QOR in Toronto. He was quite the Man and it was also a pleasure to say I met him and broke bread with him, not to mention a few pints.
 
Winchester-1897 said:
Does he talk about all the Canadian Prisoners he Murdered in Caan? He should have got the noose.
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Near Caen. I think it ought to be told accurately - he didn't murder them personally, but was convicted for having given orders not to take prisoners. I'm picky because it should be made clear that giving those orders should count as much as pulling the trigger. I agree the death sentence was correct. I don't think that commuting the sentence to life imprisonment was as bad as then letting him out as early as they did (1954.)
 
TheTooner said:
Near Caen. I think it ought to be told accurately - he didn't murder them personally, but was convicted for having given orders not to take prisoners. I'm picky because it should be made clear that giving those orders should count as much as pulling the trigger. I agree the death sentence was correct. I don't think that commuting the sentence to life imprisonment was as bad as then letting him out as early as they did (1954.)
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I stand corrected on the near Caan. My Dad spoke a few times about Meyer as it was kind of personal to him. He lost his older Brother at the Carpiquet Airport in Caan on July 9th 1944 and a good Friend also died in Normandy murdered by Meyers Henchmen.
 
Just read " a rifleman went to war" by HW McBride. Memoirs of an American serving in he CEF during the first world war. Still requirex reading in the USMC scout sniper school. Free download on amazon if you have a kindle. Another of my favouritez is "colder than hell; a marine rifle company T the chosin reservoir" by joesph owens. He was comander of a mortar platoon and provides a detailed first hand account of the campaign
 
Kirk1701 said:
I have only ever read And No Birds Sang by Farley Mowat. It details his time with the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment. My grandfather was a Hasty P, it really gave me an insight into his experiences.
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And No Birds Sang is a wonderful book. I'd recommend his follow up memoir Aftermath as well. Very interesting stuff.

Another one that I'd recommend is the classic Goodbye To All That by Robert Graves
 
Rule 303 said:
Capt Canuck:

Reference "We Were Soldiers Once and Young".

The book is a great read but the movie ended with the Americans leaving the Ie Trang valley battlefield, whereas the book goes on the the bitter end when some units tried to get to LZ Albany (or was it LZ Alpha?) and got slaughtered by enfilade fire.

Book, historically correct; movie historically misleading.

For other interesting books on warfare history may I suggest a quartet of reference media related to Harry Harbord Morant, aka The Breaker.

First...the movie "Breaker Morant", called by Peter Worthington the most perfect movie he has ever seen;

Second...the book "The Breaker" by Kit Denton;

Third...the book"Shoot Straight You Bastards" by Nick Blezynski;

Fourth...Scapegoats of the Empire by George Witton (one of the accused).

Of the four, I would recommend the movie first followed by "Shoot Straight You Bastards".

The appeal of this story is that the British government still today refuses to release the transcript of the trial. Popular criticism has it that the reason is that it would cast serious aspersion on Lord Kitchener and to a certain degree on Queen Victoria and her German connections (the German government was favourable to the Boers).
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X2 on any of theses. The movie is spectacular, not in flash and bang,..but in the courts martial itself. .... being led out at dawn for the firing squad hand in hand with his co-accused, Breaker says to the padre..."for an epitaph......I would like Matthew 10:36",.......as he's led away, the padre stops and quickly goes through his bible to Book of Matthew and reads the verse to Witton who has been saved from the same fate,.it reads,.." and a mans enemies shall be those of his own household".........
 
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